I am in the process of aquiring parts for a Surly LHT touring/commuter build. I have purchased the following items:

Wheels-Mach 1 36H rims w XT hubs and DT 2.0 stainless spokes 700c
Tires Marathon 40
Shimano Deore Hollow Tech 44,32,22
Shimano 9 speed cassette 11-34

! want to use eather Salsa Bell Lap, WTB Mountain Drops, or FSA Omega compact bars and bar end shifters. I also want to use a decent, low cost LX or SLX deraillers. Jenson has several, buy
I'm not sure which one I need for my application ( matching cassette, crankset, and bar ends). Thanks in advance for your guidence... I'm 6'0" and weigh 240.

I'll be watching this thread. I just began the same project with a NOS Ultegra cranskset and a matching DA BB.

Top Normal Long Cage should take care of all your needs out back. Go with a Tiagra Front for price and function.

I really like my FSA Omega Compact bars... Haven't tried the others you mention so can't say much about those.

Also.. You can get the Deore LX version of that crank all day long on eBay for under $80 delivered at this time with free shipping.

I'll only comment on the bars. After owning my LHT for over 5 years and having gone through about 6 cockpit changes during that time I think I've finally settled on the Salsa Bell Laps. I've tried traditional bends, Nitto Noodles, WTB Dirt Drops, On One Midge Bars, and didn't like any of them. The flares on the latter two were too wild.

What do you mean by top normal?

Nice LHT looks like my LHT just a few different parts on it.

That means default position at lowest tension is in the small chainring. I've never heard it applied to FD's though.

I was only talking about the RD.. Hope I didn't confuse things.

As noted above, the rear derailer (per Sheldon Brown, or derailleur) doesn't much matter as long as it can handle the capacity you need and matches the shifters (i.e., there may be problems using SRAM shifters and Shimano derailers, or vice versa). The Shimano Alivio M410 Rear Derailleur ($29) would work fine, or if you prefer one step up on the Shimano marketing scale, the Shimano LX M581 Rear Derailleur ($49) is capable too.

This may be old, but could be useful:

https://www.wheelworks.co.nz/drivetrain.php

If you use friction shifters, or indexed shifters in friction mode, most any rear or front derailer will work as long as it can handle the capacity.

No I should learn to read better.

Guess I'll have to look into the e*ay deal as the other one fell through....

Same seller has other sizes.. this is a 170mm length crank $78.74 Delivered with BB. Linky

I stumbled onto a deal that altered my build plans. I picked up the following items in a lot for a total cost of $69.01. These should work great for general road use.
1 - 172.5 Truvativ Elita Triple Crankset 52/42/30
1 - 68/73 118mm Isis Bottom Bracket, English Thread, like new, bearings very smooth
1 - Shimano 9 speed 105 Rear Derailleur, Long Cage
1 - Triple Shimano 9 speed Front Derailleur Clamp on, 31.8, Bottom Pull
I'm not sure if the FD will fit, but even so I thought the deal was too good to pass up!

Those road gears are going to radically change the character of this bike (compared to 22-32-44). However, you might want to sell the Crank and BB, then go with a compact triple with 26-36-46 or similer rings. I think the LHT takes a 28.6 FD but you can easily shim the one you have. The great deal that you got with these bits has opened up a lot of possibilities.

Would I be able to swap out the chain rings on the elita? Would other Truvativ rings from a mtb set fit?

I'm sure you can swap out the chainrings. In fact you will have to since the lowest gearing you can get would be a 30x28. But then you might be OK with that.

Hmm wait. The Elita is 5 bolt, Mountain chainrings are 4 bolt. So nope. You better consult real bike techs.