I would not compromise on gearing to save the paltry cost of deraillers, especially a rear derailler. My suggestion for you to get the most versatile road gearing would be to get a road triple, replace the granny ring with a 24/26/28 (depending on your cassette choice), and then add an appropriate cassette. Even with a standard road triple and 30 tooth granny ring, you can get below a 1:1 ratio by using a wide range cassette (for 10 speed, you'd need to use an IRD cassette though). My commuter is (well, was but no need to get into that now) set up with a 52/42/30 triple and an 11-32 cassette (9 speed). Tons of low end for steep hills and heavy loads and no compromise on the top end. I used a 105 triple front derailler and an XTR rear derailler (slight splurge but I couldn't pass it up for $100).