Is it possible to set up the right brifter to control the front mechanical stuff (brakes & FD) instead of having the left hand take care of the front duties while the right takes care of the rear duties?

The Soma/SRAM build is happening next week and I would like to know if I can make this request of the LBS and expect it to work.

Is it possible to set up the right brifter to control the front mechanical stuff (brakes & FD) instead of having the left hand take care of the front duties while the right takes care of the rear duties?

The Soma/SRAM build is happening next week and I would like to know if I can make this request of the LBS and expect it to work.

The brakes can be easily swapped between the levers (left lever for rear brake and right lever for front brake), but I'm not aware of any indexed shifter which can be swapped between the levers, except maybe bar-end shifters. The mechanisms between right and left shifters are mirror images of each other, so you can't simply move the right-hand mechansim to the left and the left-hand mechanism to the right. At least not without having reversed actuation (i.e. if you put the rear indexed shift mechanism in the left lever, you'd have to pull the lever outward rather than push it inward to shift).

I wasn't thinking of actually putting the brifters on the opposite sides - I was thinking about routing the cables differently so the left mechanism still actuates in the same manner, but it controls the rear. So the shifting still moves the shift lever towards the centerline of the bike, but it controls the "wrong" derailer.

wouldnt you have the wrong number of clicks though?

No way that would work. You could run it to whatever brake you want, but the shifters have a set number of clicks.

I was afraid of that... I was hoping the "number of clicks" was controlled by the derailleur and not the shifter. Us former motorcycle people know that the right hand should control the front ;-)

Right hand can still control the front brake.
Mine does.
Aussies also know that the right hand should control the front brake.

I still ride dirtbikes as well as bicycles and I have no problem transitioning between front brake on the right to the left. My mind just recognizes the different feel of what I am on and knows what is what.

Never heard of that word.

What the heck is a "brifter?"

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#brifter