My $5 derailleur
 

I'm sure everyone has had the experience of finding an item on sale at one of the web stores, only to find it is being offered in a size other than what you need. Well, I finally got one in my size! My wife had requested that a convert her road bike from drop bar to flat bar. Having some of the parts I needed flat bar brakes, a front derailleur and shifters. I decided on the Shimano RD-R440. I did a quick search and ended on at a web store selling one for $5! At first I thought it will surely not be the size I need (1 1/8 clamp) but it was! and it was the only size they were selling. I've already mounted it and the handlebars and am waiting for the shifters and brakes. I'll advise with pictures when the conversion is done. A new $5 derailleur; for what it's worth, I'm still stoked :thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

that is some nice luck. how come changing the bars required a new fd ?

Shimano fd/front shifters aren't cross-compatible between the "road" and "MTB" segments. And easiest path to flat bar is by going the MTB route. Road-specific flat bar stuff is kinda rare.

As dapac said, flat bar means flat bar shifters which for Shimano means MTB;Shimano makes Road Bar shifters, but they are MTB shifters with a roadie look (what ever that means). While the rear road derailleur and MTB shifter are compatible, the front derailleur and MTB shifter are not (they use a different pull ratio). One could us a MTB derailleur but the cage arc is designed for a max 44/46T chainring and my road triple has a 53T. The Shimano RD-440 is a MTB derailleur with a road cage.