Originally Posted by
fstshrk
+1 on this. The Deore XT stuff seems to play very well with the Tiagra brifters. I know some touring purists like bar end shifters, but I am comfortable with my brifters.
A few years ago Shimano introduced a new system called "Dyna-Sys". Dyna-Sys derailleurs have different cable pull ratios from road shifters and, as a result, they don't play together at all. This year, Deore XT and up are Dyna-Sys.