Fixed riding has ruined love of gears

Nowt wrong with the frames, but technology has moved on so much with gears. As much as I want to love downtube shifters for the retro appeal, they're a pain in the arse to use in comparison to modern ergo/sti levers

Technology hasn't moved on since the 1930s, when Sturmey Archer introduced fully-enclosed, maintenance free, indexed, handlebar shifted hub gears.

Derallieurs in comparison are barely any more advanced than the flip-flop hub.