@ArisaemaDracontium, I'm not sure why you say 10-speed Shimano shifters won't work (assuming the rest of the setup is 10sp). You can easily swap in a Shimano mountain derailleur to a setup with Shimano 10sp shifters and cassette, and the bike will shift just fine. The cable pull ratio on both rear derailleur types is the same, so both will work with the shifters.  There is a small difference in cable pull between the road and mountain front derailleurs, but even that is workable, from my experience.

But Mike's questions are related to 9 speed stuff anyway, and in that realm, while he's going to have a little more difficulty finding clean/new shifters, he's going to have an easy time with compatibility.  On my Ti Fargo, I run a mismatched set of Shimano STI shifters - a 105 front and Tiagra rear.  I'd love to score a set of Dura Ace 9sp shifters, but these are what I've got for now, and shift quality is good, so I don't really want for much.