Originally Posted by
Andy_K
Possible, yes. Silly, maybe.
If you have the XTR stuff on the shelf and nothing better to do with it, why not? But it would be silly to buy XTR for this.
BTW, the front mech will only work because you're using friction shifting. If you ever went to STI it would give you trouble.
You might also find that the gearing is awkward, depending on the rings on your crankset. A 44-32-22 set, for instance, probably isn't what you'd want on the road.
If OP doesn't already have the front XTR, maybe a triple road front derailleur would eliminate the problems. Or better yet a compact double. I ran that and really liked it. The whole question is why run a Dura Ace cassette, when the XTR lets you go up to a much larger cog? That is what makes the compact crank so suitable. Of course if you already have the stuff, maybe there is less choice. I got the sense OP still wanted the bike to operate like a road bike.