mmm i've never had barbs... but thats because they are notorious for fin nipping. i would be very cautious about combining them with slow moving gouramis that have long pretty fins. i personally wouldn't do it but if you want to give it a go make sure you have a back up plan for housing/returning the fish.
maybe go for the gouramis and some tetras? or maybe some rasbora? how big is your tank and what have you already got in there. i wouldn't risk any barbs with anything slow or long finned. i think barbs are usually kept in groups anyways ie of like 6 or more
I have 2 poweder blue gouraimis with 10 regular rosey barbs and they do fine, but they are in 180g so that may have something to do with it. Keep in mind with rosey barbs, males are orange, females are yellow, so get a good ratio.