Bicycle Mechanics - Braze or Clamp Fron Derailleur

I'm thinking of upgrading my 2004 Litespeed Solano to Ultegra 10. It came with ultegra 9.

My questions regard the front derailleur. It has what appears to be a braze-on derailleur with an oversize clamp. The best I can tell with my crappy calipers is that the seat tube measures about 34.9mm.

1) Is it in fact a braze-on derailleur with an oversize clamp?

2) Can I buy a braze-on FD-6600-F and use the existing clamp, or do I need to go with the FD-6600-B that comes with a 34.9 clamp?

Is there a bolt that appears to fasten the derailleur to the clamp? If so, it is a braze-on derailleur and you can reuse the clamp by buying your new derailleur in braze-on form. If there is no bolt but the clamp appears to be a permanant part of the derailleur, you need to buy the new one as the clamp-on version.

My suspicion is that you have a braze-on derailleur with a reusable clamp since I don't think any of the 9-speed Shimano front derailleurs came with a 34.9 mm (1-3/8") clamp. They were only available with 28.6 mm (1-1/8") and 31.8 mm (1-1/4") clamps IIRC.

I know the new Ultegra fd's come in a 34.9 clamp, and I am pretty sure I saw a DA clamp on in 34.9.

With that said I just bought a 2 different sized clamps for my bikes and from now on I am buying yhe braze on's. I just want to be able to switch around if needed.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=21667&subcategory_ID=5115

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=150&subcategory_ID=5115

or this one

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=83&subcategory=1038&brand=&sku=2189&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

sorry, I just reread your post. my reply didn't help.....long day:)

Is there a bolt that appears to fasten the derailleur to the clamp? If so, it is a braze-on derailleur and you can reuse the clamp by buying your new derailleur in braze-on form. If there is no bolt but the clamp appears to be a permanant part of the derailleur, you need to buy the new one as the clamp-on version.

My suspicion is that you have a braze-on derailleur with a reusable clamp since I don't think any of the 9-speed Shimano front derailleurs came with a 34.9 mm (1-3/8") clamp. They were only available with 28.6 mm (1-1/8") and 31.8 mm (1-1/4") clamps IIRC.

Yes, the bolt is there. I was pretty sure it was a clamp with a braze-on der. (stock set up), but I thought I'd ask anyhow.

This may be another stupid question (or anal), but is there a possibility that there are any significant differences (affecting fit up or performance of the der.) between the clamp that came on my bike and the one that comes with the FD-6600-B?

The two derailleurs should both function fine and any minor differences will be eliminated when they are installed and aligned properly.