So I am likely a little late to the party; but I just discovered that I can remove those silly little shifter indicators from my SLX shifters. 20 minutes later and my brake levers are mounted inside the shifters. Much better/more comfortable.
Actually a pretty nifty design on Shimano's part.

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It is not enough to fight for the West; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. -Edward Abbey

It's about time Shimano did this!

i look at my indicators a lot...

Diito and I still get confused.

I've been thinking of doing that as well, seems like my brake levers would be in a better position if I swapped the position of the shifter & brake MC. As far as I know, Shimano has had this option for a while... right? I think just not many people know about it.

Instructions (super duper easy) http://www.shimano.com/publish/content/ ... le.html/17)%20Optical%20Gear%20Display%20Removal.pdf

Yeah, my bike is from 2010, shifters are the sl-m660 versions. So the option has been around for at least a couple of years.
You'll need a really small philips screwdriver (like from a jewelers tool kit). I used this tech doc from their website.

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It is not enough to fight for the West; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. -Edward Abbey

Funny, I just did this last week with help from a buddy. I like it much better now, its a lot cleaner looking and allows for different placement of the brake levers. I thought I'd miss them, but so far not a bit.

I don't recall the last time I looked at the indicators. If pedalling feels hard, I downshift, vice versa.

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