9 speed or 10 speed for my new bike build up?

[hawkhero]

Going with the Microsoft 10 sp. XT rear dérailleur   Now looking at brakes and wheels. Velocity dayad rims with LX hubs. Not sure on brakes yet

[DaveB]

The biggest annoyance I had on the back roads of Kentucky were drivers who refused to pass even when they could see well ahead and I waved them by.  We ran across a few of them and I found them really annoying.

I've had this happen in several places, not just KY.   The real problem isn't with the driver who won't pass, it's with the cars trapped behind them.  They tend to blame the bicyclist, not the incompetent driver in front of them. 

Note to Slow and Slower: Yes, the recent generation of Shimano 10-speed barend and downtube shifters do lack a friction option.  It's unfortunate but friction shifting a 10-speed cassette is a bit tricky due to the close cog spacing and barend and downtube shifters are so reliable that perhaps the friction option as a bail-out was deemed unnecessary.

[staehpj1]

Note to Slow and Slower: Yes, the recent generation of Shimano 10-speed barend and downtube shifters do lack a friction option.  It's unfortunate but friction shifting a 10-speed cassette is a bit tricky due to the close cog spacing and barend and downtube shifters are so reliable that perhaps the friction option as a bail-out was deemed unnecessary.

At first I thought that it was a shame that they eliminated friction mode for the rear derailleur and then upon thinking about it I realized that I have never used friction mode anyway in recent years, at least on newer bikes.  Even on my older 7 speed bikes indexed shifting has been pretty flawless.  In fact my 7 speed with indexed 105 down tube shifters is one of the most reliable and smooth shifting bikes I have ridden.

I do find indexing kind of pointless for the front derailleur, but it works well enough and is pretty reliable so I won't complain.

[SlowAndSlower]

At first I thought that it was a shame that they eliminated friction mode for the rear derailleur and then upon thinking about it I realized that I have never used friction mode anyway in recent years, at least on newer bikes.  Even on my older 7 speed bikes indexed shifting has been pretty flawless.  In fact my 7 speed with indexed 105 down tube shifters is one of the most reliable and smooth shifting bikes I have ridden.

I do find indexing kind of pointless for the front derailleur, but it works well enough and is pretty reliable so I won't complain.

While I am waiting for the new 10 speed MicroShift bar cons, which BTW retains a friction mode. I threw my old Shimano 9 speed bar con into friction mode to shift the 10 speed set up and it was as predictable delicate. I would not want to do the ole half step with 10 or 11 speed.

I view friction mode more as "plan B" for wacked derailleurs and slack cables than for broken index shifters.