Tom Weaver wrote:
While riding on Cape Cod this weekend, my co-star came up with an
interesting (to me) question: Why do the front and rear shifters work
opposite to each other? Further explanation. We both have Ultegra
integrated shifters. On the right (front), clicking the larger shifter
moves the chain to a larger ring closer to the frame. On the left
(rear), clicking the larger lever moves the chain to a larger ring that
is further from the frame.

Why don't both larger levers move the chain the same direction?

Left is rear and right is front? That's odd. Even odder is that your
rear sprockets are larger further from the frame.

On traditional shifters like downtubes and bar ends, the left lever
controls the front derailer, and moving it 'up' move to a larger
ring/higher gear. Whereas with the right shifter, moving it up also
moves to a larger sprocket, but that makes for a lower gear.

We all need to convert to Rolholf 14s.