It's good to see so many different ideas, and nice to know I'm not totally off the mark, though I've got some learning to do.

It's silly, but triples irk my more OCD side, including more gears than I ever use along with some redundant ones. I could just ignrore it, but since I am building this one from the ground up, I'm curious to try a wide range double with a mountain cassette: 46-30 x 11-36. The IRD one is growing on me and I think will style well with the rest of the build.

The XD with only 2 chainrings and a bashguard, as Tourist and bud have noted, would also be worth investigating.

Since I want to use an MTB rear on a bike with noodle bars up front, I'd looked at the DT friction shifters as a simple way to cut down on cost, complexity, cockpit clutter, and cabling. It would probably be a good idea to investigate the Microshift MTB 10 speed bar ends since they can be indexed to the rear, should my touch at friction prove clumsy. Thanks for the idea, Oly.

It seems like plenty of people use the CC without issue. The suggestion has some up often enough that it won't be ideal, though I doubt I'll be able to take much more than a few days at a time to ride. What would the community suggest in lieu of the CC if I'm not looking for something like the LHT? The Volpe has been mentioned.

Thank you, everyone!