will be ordering a 2×10 xt setup soon, my current deore shifters dont work well with my tech levers, will the SL-M780 shifters work? i have googled and cannot find any info about removing the windows, on merlin it says you can remove the windows but after emailing them they say they dont know were you can get the blanking plates from?

Not sure, but Hope sell brackets to attach the shifters direct – work great with my XTR/X2 combo; think they also do XT but unsure about anything ‘lower’.

im waiting for a reply from hope but what i see on the net is the matchmakers dont fit the 2012 shifters. dont you need to remove the windows for matchmakers? (ive never used them so just a guess)

The blanking plates should be clipped to the back of the shifter window.

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/tech_support/tech_tips.download.-Par50rparsys-0023-downloadFile.html/17)%20Optical%20Gear%20Display%20Removal.pdf

after some more searching i found this, shifter looks nearly the same as the 780, just a 9 speed

thanks