bike building advice

1. Veloce shifters have thumb levers, too ...
   
2. Campagnolo shifters can use almost ANY front derailleur ...
   
3. almost all rear derailleurs have an "adjuster" ...
   
4. good components will last longer than most people would like
   

* to state what may-or-may-not be obvious, Campagnolo & Shimano indexing are not the same ... Shimano-compatible wheels are ubiquitous & the choice of Cassettes is much broader ...

• and, many will indicate that you need to use Campagnolo/-compatible Wheels & Cassettes with Campagnolo shifters ...
  

However, both 10-and-11 speed Campagnolo shifters are compatible with various combinations of Shimano components than others ...

[IMG]cdn.cyclingforums.com900x900px LL 1eb6f6e6 Campagnolo Shimano shift ratios.jpgOpen ↗[/IMG]

Most 9-speed Campagnolo rear derailleurs are compatible with their 10-speed components, so if the 9-speed Mirage rear derailleur looks like a 10-speed Campagnolo rear derailleur, then it is ...

9-/10-speed Campagnolo rear derailleurs MAY-or-MAY-NOT be viable with Shimano shifters (I haven't tried this) ... by my reckoning, they are close to being equivalent to a 10-speed Shimano rear derailleur (again, I haven't tried this).

8-speed Shimano & Campagnolo indexing are close enough that they generally interchangeable.

• I use Campagnolo shifters with Shimano derailleurs & Casssettes, BTW
  

Many thanks for info, big help. Ref question 4, not sure if you were saying go with old campy or buy new stuff?

FWIW. Slightly OT, but my strongest two recommendations are always ...

1. straight, 14g SS spokes rather than double butted SS spokes
   
2. AND, almost any Campagnolo shifter over the rest which are available ...
   

Having said that, since 'I' am slow to adapt ... I really like the Campagnolo V2 shifters AND while the functional benefits of the shape of the more recent V3 shifters has always been apparent for riders who had already developed the habit of using bar ends on their MTB handlebars, I was not one of those, so the taller horns were not as strong a selling point as they should have been for me ...

• BUT, after several years, I find them to be aesthetically acceptable & my current "project" bike is slated to have a pair of Campagnolo V3 shifters!?!
  

Which is a long way of saying that if I were you then 'I' would choose either 10-speed or 11-speed Campagnolo shifters RATHER THAN a set of 8-or-9-speed Campagnolo shifters due to the limitations of Campagnolo's 8-and-9-speed shifters. BUT, the choice between V2 & V3 should be based on YOUR aesthetic sensibilities ...

• figure on a set of Campagnolo shifters off of eBay will set you back from between $125-to-asmuchasyouwanttopay ...
  
• used, sometimes new at the low end
  
• sometimes, a little less
  
• ~2x as much from your LBS
  

The less expensive Campagnolo shifters are essentially as-good-as the more expensive Campagnolo shifters ...

The Xenon-based V2 shifters (aka QS, except for the Chorus QS) are limited in NOT being readily rebuildable ...

With the V3 shifters, the less expensive PowerShift design is also apparently borrowed from the elegant & actually-quite-excellent Xenon shifter's internal mechanism with the V3 variant finally (i.e., apparently) being rebuildable.

I have some V1 Campagnolo shifters whose shape I was never keen on ... but, while I do think that I may set up a semi-"retro" bike with one set, YOU should avoid any of those, IMO.

Many thanks for update, much appreciated.