Lots of great info here.
Just to put my 0.02 cents in here:
I'm currently using a Campy Centaur RD, 13-28 SunRace 7-speed FW with standard 42-53 front Victory chainrings, and a SRAM PC850 chain. I have a couple of Victory RD's laying around because they wouldn't fit larger freewheels in stock form, so kudos to the posters who did the conversion, perhaps one day I'll covert my RD's to fit long cages.
I am super jealous of you guys with compact front chain rings, I can't find one on eBay or anywhere to save my life, would love at least a 40 up front haha.
Pic of my setup below, works decently well with friction shifters.
