Bicycle Mechanics - Will SLR440 work with deore derailleurs?

I'm upgrading a bike and found some nice shimano slr-440 (3x8) shifters for $20. They are marketed as flat bar road shifters. My cassette is an 8 speed shimano with a deore rear derailleur. The bike is a 700c hybrid that will be getting a shiny new rigid fork later this week. (Not really relevant, I just like to stroke the bikes ego)

The bike shop guy thought these parts should work well together, but the twenty year old slightly stoned seeming LBS employee's understanding of bike mechanics can't begin to rival the Bike Forums Collective Hive Mind. I just wanted another opinion before I go to the trouble of installing this and it doesn't work.

If they wouldn't work, would you keep the shifters and put something like a sora derailleur or get deore trigger shifters?

That said I hope it will work. (obviously) :)

Thanks,
Brian

The rear will work, all Shimano rear derailers use the same pull ratio, expect for 8-speed Dura-Ace and the new 7900 Dura-Ace. You'll need a matching Shimano 440 front derailer, and I have left out some of that part number.

Shimano front derailleurs use different standards "road" vs "MTB"/"flat-bar road". What front derailleur is on it now?

You'll need the matching flat-bar road front derailleur for larger road chainrings (50T and greater), but a MTB front derailleur will work best for smaller MTB chainrings (48T and smaller).

+1 with Jive turkey. The flatbar road levers work at the same ratio as MTB front derailleurs and will work with any rear (except the one of Dura Ace 8's).

You did not mention if your arrangement is for top pull or bottom pull front derailleur.

All of the Flatbar front derailleurs are bottom pull with the MTB ratio and the cable pull arm and mechanism in a more upright position (like all road front derailleurs) so that they can be used on a road frame where there is no clearance between the seat tube and the tire.

The current front derailleur is a C101. I can get it to shift into 1st and second when the shifter is in 1st and third respectively. It can also be set into a permanent 2nd or 3rd using the adjuster screws. So I think I'll need a new front derailleur, although for the moment the best thing seems to be using it as an 8 speed. I also just discovered the many sizes of derailleurs. Nothing is ever simple with bikes. :)

It has not escaped me that the problem may be my tuning abilities, so I'll fiddle with the parts some more.

I wish I could get this one to work in 2nd & 3rd since I never use 1st. Any advice there would be much appreciated as well.

This is a really interesting thread! I currently have deore shifters with an LX front derailleur used as down-pull. Works well, but the dual pull mechanism fouls the rear mudguard, so I am looking for a down-pull only MTB ratio derailleur.

Local bike shop advised me to buy the 440 shifter pods and use a road front mech - i.e. they think 440 pods use road ratio!
If the 440 series front derailleurs are basically MTB ratio, down pull only, then buying one of those would solve the clearance issue and save me a lot of money and hassle.
The deore shifters pull c. 9mm of cable per gear on the front. Can anybody confirm what the 440 shifters pull?

The 440 will pull the right amount of cable for your MTB derailleur. Or to put it another way, your current MTB shifters will pull enough cable for a 440 derailleur. You cannot use a standard road front with either of these as the ratio will be wrong.

Yes, buy the 440 front d and save money.