IK_biker - thanks ... seeing the JTek compatibility chart is helpful.

B.Carfree - I'd really prefer to stay with the crankset and shifters I have so your recommendations are great. However staying all Campagnolo doesn't seem to be an option and still get to the gear range I want - biggest Camp. cog is 29. Not sure where else to go with that. The Sugino crank will take small rings down to 24, I think, but even dropping the big ring to 40, to keep the spread reasonable, gets me a smallest gear of 24.7 GI, and a top end of only 89.2. Not where I want to be.

So Shimano conversion is where I'm heading. Just ordered the new freehub from White - $150! Ouch. So then, I'm going with 10 sp with a 11-36 Shimano cassette. Given the strong recommendations on the 9 speed mtn RD (i.e. the M592) that seems like a good choice. Are there other recommendations re best (i.e. cost effective, durable) cassette and chain? Also the FD I currently have is not working great. Maybe after the other changes it will do better with further adjustment. It's a Sora model, put on after the original Athena model broke in 2, and was what the shop in Newport OR (Bike Newport, great guys!) had on hand. It has a fairly small radius - tho it doesn't look like a triple - but no idea of its teeth capacity.