Originally Posted by cyccommute

I doubt that the shifters will work even in friction mode with a mountain bike front derailer. I never could get bar-ends to work with a Deore shifter. It wouldn't move the derailer far enough to shift to the outer chainwheel.

A better bet (with less problems overall) would be to use a Tiagra front derailer. The Tiagra triple front derailer is a diamond in the rough of the Shimano line. It's easier to set up and more forgiving than Ultegra.