Originally Posted by
abdon
The thing is that I like to climb and stump on it aggressively, as in shifting while off-the-saddle (no, I don't wonder why I can't get more life out of my chains) and pull on my horns while climbing. I'm wondering if the bar end shifters would dampen my groove by having to move my hands from the horns.
You can climb in the drops...or rather the ends of the drops...if the drop isn't excessive. You can thus shift with the heel of your palm and your ring/small fingers. Your groove may be dampened w/barcons, though.
I have a compact crank, and managed to get the rear Tiagra dérailleur to wrap around an 11/28 cassette. I'm considering going triple but I won't know for sure until I hit the big mountains with a load on.
If you have a long cage (GS) Tiagra RD, you didn't exceed Shimano's specified chainwrap capacity with your current setup. A road triple crankset with that same cassette may require a long cage (SGS) mtb RD.
Originally Posted by
abdon
Also, is there a point on going with the newer 10-speed dura ace shifters vs. the older 9 speed ones? I don't care if there is an extra click. Are the new ones better in any other way?
If you intend to shift in "indexed" mode, then you'll want the shifters to match your cassette. In this case, the BS77 is the 9-sp match.
The first 10-sp generation (BS78) has a friction shifting option. If you don't mind friction shifting, you can put these shifters into service with any rear cassette. For indexed mode, it will only work with a 10-sp cassette.
The latest 10-sp bar end shifters (BS79) lack the friction option and are only suitable for indexed shifting with a 10sp cassette. It's not a matter of it having "one extra click;" it won't match the spacing of the rear cogs.