Originally Posted by
Litespud
disagree - pins/ramps are going to enhance chain pickup regardless of whether the FD is indexed or not
They will, but they're also only particularly meaningful in standard configurations. Certain tooth designs can in general have an impact on chain pickup and release (like how Uniglide tends to shift more lightly than earlier designs), but actual shift gates really need correct chainring pairings in order to do their job. My experience with chainring models that have "pins and ramps" without specifying a pairing is that they don't seem to accomplish much.