noglider 

I took a ride up a mountain on my newly rebuilt, Claris-equipped Super Course. The gearing is 50-34 and 11-32. Gears range from 29 gear inches to 123 gear inches. I made it to the top without using the lowest gear, but it wasn't easy. I wouldn't mind if my bottom gear were lower, because I expect to encounter tougher hills, and I expect to be carrying baggage on this bike or pulling a trailer. But it worked out fairly well. Coming back down the mountain, I spun out in the top gear to get up to maximum speed which was 41 mph. Not bad.

Front shifting is flawless and quick and beyond criticism. I've been riding road bikes since 1975, so yes, I've used a lot of older bike technology extensively.

Reynolds 

I've been following the debate about shifting. Is it so difficult to learn that you shouldn't shift under load?

Paramount1973 

I seem to have standardized on 8-speed bar end indexed shifting with triple cranksets. I’ve got a stash of 8 speed Shimano bar ends and several NOS and lightly used triple cranksets that will last me as spares for a good long while. I’m currently riding a couple of drop bar 26er mountain bikes set up with 2.15 tires (Tioga Powerblock and Maxxis DTH) as ‘gravel’/go anywhere bikes and a Japanese Bianchi road bike with 32mm Gravelkings. I only have one bike with flat bars, all the rest are drop bar bikes. Another thing I insist on in my builds are cross levers on the drop bar bikes. I commuted with cross levers for several years, got used to them and have them on all of the drop bar bikes.

noglider 

For some, yes. Even in the friction shifting days, I observed some who tried to shift under load with the results you would predict. And there is also the skill of shifting by reducing force at the moment of the shift: that is still useful, as it reduces wear on components and promises a faster and more reliable shift. My spouse still has trouble with her bikes even though they have modern drivetrains. One of the problems is that her legs don’t have any extra torque to provide for an instant right before that moment of the shift.