Eben Weiss, the guy behind Bike Snob NYC, has an article up on Outside Online about changing all of his bikes to friction shifters.
Don't confuse friction with downtube. You can put your friction shifters on the downtube, or on the bar ends, or if you're just that insistent on keeping the shifters close to your brake levers, you can use bar-mounted thumbies.
But with friction shifters, you'll never have to worry about groupset compatibility again. And yes, it's a skill you need to learn, but you'll have it within a ride or two. And the occasional missed shift is part of the fun.
Both of my bikes are set up with friction shifters. I can set one to index for when I need to... but the next time I expect to need to is when I'm teaching a bike maintenance class in the fall. (In other news, I'm teaching a bike maintenance class in the fall.)
And if it's good enough for the Bike Snob... well, I'm going to stop apologizing for my bike preferences, let's say that.
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