Seeker, excellent advice, I got there separately, though I might have done something different if I had known the origin of the Nashbar shifter, and that it was 3 compatible.

I tripped over the Riv site, and their high praise for the microshift non-indexed bar end, which they sell in singles. Then I came across an auction on ebay, free shipping to Canada, for a set of microshift 9 speed indexed shifters for 55. I also saw some MS brifters for 140 3x9. I was tempted, but I think there are pros and cons for bar ends, and at 55 bucks with tektro levers at 17, I figured why not. Had I known Nashbar was microshift, I might have hit their sale, but there will always be another build around here. Microshift seems to be pretty good, and may be an option for stuff like the kid's bikes. Plus they ship worldwide, free, which is a big help to some.