Bob Hovey says it's "safer" to have shifters on the bars, but I'd say "safer than what?" In 25 years of riding with dt shifters, I have never crashed because of the location of my shifters. Just like I reach for my bottle, food, or route sheet when it's safe to do so, I can and do shift only when it's safe to do so. That would also be because I have not been brain-washed by the marketing hype into believing that I just always pedal at 90rpm. If I can't shift, for safety reasons, at a certain point in time and thus can't have the gear I "need," then I just pedal the "wrong" gear until I can shift. Seems pretty straightforward. (I have also never needed on-bar shifting to win a field sprint at the end of an ultramarathon race, so don't need on-bar shifting for that supposed advantage of being able to shift while standing.) My two cents! Thanks for everybody else's two cents, including Bob's: makes us rich with wisdom and variety of insights!