Yes, the whole point is to get rid of the front derailer.

Tabor, did you include the Salsa bash guard to avoid chain drop or just to put something in the place of the missing chainring? Or both? The Salsa bash guard sure looks cool.

Also Tabor, which XT rear derailer did you decide to use? I read on Sheldon Brown webpage somewhere that a low-normal would work better with a bar end shifter, which is what I want to use. I dont understand why it would matter, though.

Is it your Surly Pacer that's set up as a 1x9? If so, that's good new for me, since my chainstay will be 1.5 cm longer, which should reduce the cross chaining problem just ever so slightly.

So I can buy everything, including whatever crank I want, except for the bottom bracket. And then adjust the chainline as close as possible with the bottom bracket with the correct spindle length. Is this correct?