I’m going back to 2X after being 1X for like 10 years…is there a “better” front derailleur for small chainrings like 42/34? I seem to remember the tail of the cage hitting the chainstay in the past. As if you couldn’t get it low enough and you needed to run a big gap between the top of the big ring and the cage.
It’s for a surly crosscheck and I’m going with a friction shifter on the downtube if that matters.
Thanks guys!!
Joe
Yes, you can definitely run into issues with the FD cage hitting the chainstay with such small rings. I used to run 46/34t with a 105 5600 FD and it baaaarely cleared. I doubt 42t will clear with a regular shimano road FD.
Since you are running friction shifters, you could get a mtb FD and run that. Or, IRD has the Sub-C FD, and Shimano makes the CX70 FD. Those should work with road STI levers.
Oh yeah, an mtb derailleur that makes perfect sense! Thanks 
A triple FD, that’s a good idea too. Time to scour eBay! Thanks guys
You may want to look at Shimano’s new GRX (gravel) series. They are intended for slightly smaller chainrings (eg. 48-31), and are also moved slightly outboard of road chainrings.