"Gooserider" wrote in message
...

Some people have a difficult time taking a hand off the bar. My mother
being one of them. My dad bought the two of them matching Raleigh touring
bikes with stem mounted shifters. Mom wobbled badly when she tried to
shift, which she used as an excuse to quit riding.

I think bar-ends are FAR better for novice riders than stem-mounted ones.
Stem-mounted ones have the same problem that I have with downtube ones: the
require you to move your hand inward. That throws my balance way off,
whether I'm reaching for the stem or the downtube.

With either brifters or bar-ends, my hands stay at the outside of the bars,
acting much the same way as a tightrope walker with a balancing pole.