Braze-on: Clamp or actual
 

The next frame i'm buying in a few weeks here has a braze-on style front derailleur. I've seen braze-on clamps for $2...these work or should i just buy the real thing?

I recently had to replace my front derailleur and found that the braze-on really limited my options when it came to finding a replacement. Of course I'm in college and have limited income so it was important for me to find a good deal. Many of the FD's on ebay and other web sites were clamp, so I had to fight to get the braze-on ones. If I didn't have the braze-on I could just buy any one and buy a clamp adapter if necessary. Also, I couldn't fit an Ultegra FD on my bike because the braze-on was too low to get enough clearance on the big chain ring, even with the FD as high as it would go.

I rarely even shift up there, so i'm not too picky.

A braze-on may not be as precise in shifting some claim, because the extra linkage between the clamp and the actual FD won't be as stiff as a solid piece of metal. I use a clamp on and haven't used a braze-on, so I don't have any personal experience. But when you think about it, how precise do you need your FD shifts to be anyway? And that's assuming it actually does make a difference.

Wait...wha? The only clamps I've seen are so you can use a braze-on FD on a frame with no braze-on, like many carbon fibers. This was often because many grouppo deals from PBK only included braze on FDs. You want to use a clamp-on FD on a frame with a braze-on?