To reiterate what olds'cool said, on a lot of bikes, the shift from biggest to smallest cog will often require a slight trim of the front derailleur. I have a lot of 80's bike in my stable, and it's not true for all of them, but true for many. But no big, with friction, you have an infinite number of increments to use.

FWIW, the little cogs are intended more for use with the big chainring (both on the outside) and the big cogs are intended mostly for use with the small chainring (both on the inside). It's what mechanics and tinkerers with old gear refer to as minding your "chainline." It's not something I even noticed until I started to mix and match component groups and started assembling 2x7 and 3x7 drivetrains, etc. Heck, I never even noticed the difference in width and length and stepped contours of FDs until I started messing with this mix-and-match stuff, and obviously, it makes a huge difference.