Wavshdr, that is very interesting indeed, and a lovely custom build. Obviously you thought out very carefully what you wanted, and went for it. What are the advantages, though, of changing between front chainrings by hand, rather than having a front derailleur? I assume you have to stop the bike to do this. I can see that it would save somewhat on clutter, and it's one less thing to get damaged. Rivendell has used a similar idea on one of their bikes: the Quickbeam, I think. Still, it seems a little awkward.