Originally Posted by John E
When matching a front derailleur to a set of chainrings, one needs to know both the double and the triple shift capacity. If the advertised capacity is 18T, you should probably make sure the middle ring is no more than 18T larger than the granny.
Ah, that's good to know. I believe this derailleur
is designed to work on triple rings. I wouldn't go over 22T total difference (between large and granny) anyway because of chain wrap capacity limits on the Cyclone RD (though I've read elsewhere that tooth difference between the granny and middle ring can virtually be ignored in calculating chain wrap if you are careful never to run granny ring with small rear sprockets.)
The biggest drop I have ever tried with a close-ratio road front derailleur (a Shimano 600, which is probably comparable to the Cyclone II) is 52-48-34, which seems to work fine. I was delighted with my previous setup, 48-45-34 / 13-15-17-19-21-24, with the Shimano 600 in front and a short-cage Cyclone II rear derailleur.
That last setup sounds like a half-step plus granny, right? I'd be looking for a relatively low gear, though, as a bailout. I manage riding around here with a racing 52/42 front and wide range rear 13-32, but the geography is such that occasionally I'll run into an extremely steep but short hill. Hills are erratic rather than rolling where I ride.
So, I'm considering a half-step plus granny like 50-45-28 on front, with a 13-28 (or if I can ignore the granny in calculating chain wrap, maybe up to a 32 in the rear).
Or, maybe I should just run a double up front, like a 50-36, with a 13-32 out back, though the steps on such a setup would be pretty drastic.