Great work darkris, exactly the kind of thing I've thought about doing...shimano 3x8 is a good choice since road and mtb are basically compatible except for the fd and brakes.

This type of conversion is quickly getting even more difficult since newer bikes have disc brakes which get to be a little pricy to swap (or you'd need travel agents). Hydraulic brakes make it even tougher, since there aren't any lower end road hydro stuff as far as I can tell.

I figure if I ever try something like this, I might take the easy road and go with something like gevenalle's audax/eurodax shifters.