Originally Posted by
Andy_K
I've got a set of the M590 shfiters and they're outstanding. I used to have M770 Deore XT shifters and I can definitely see the family resemblance -- lots of trickle down technology there. The M590's perform very nearly as well as the XT's. I'm not a fan of grip shifters, so going to trigger would be a no brainer for me.
On the rear derailleur, I'd be tempted to stick with a MTB mech. They work fine with road cassettes and wouldn't limit your future options. Jenson USA has an M581 LX for $39 right now. If you go road, don't go cheaper than you need to. I bet if you look around you can find Tiagra for about the price of Sora, and I've been able to find pretty good deals on Ultegra in the past.
Having done a number of 1x? in the past mixing mtb/rb componentry the above advice is spot on. You
may want to invest in a Paul Chainkeeper as well. Pricey, but really
does do the job concerning chaindrop. Sram makes a series of Road/CX cassettes that may suit your needs as well.
www.nashbar.com They've got a medium cage Ultegra on sale for 79.00, but I'll bet you cab find one cheaper someplace online or good/used on CL.
+1 on the megarange, too. When one is going 1x8 or 9 a closer ratio cassette is preferable.