Chainset and Front Mech compatability?

[Iwasgoodonce]

With regards to the Cro-Mega I have just collected, I wondered why there was no front mech fitted. I've just had a thought, (it does happen every now and then) the front mech attaches via a tag welded onto the curved downtube so its position is fixed. The bike has one of those cheap chainsets with the big ring of about the size of a middle ring BiTD.
My question is will the rings be too far away for the mech to shift? Obviously the Alpinestars was designed around proper man sized gears in the 46/48 range. Any one with any experience of this sort of thing out there? Anyone have a suitable front mech for sale? Who knows I may be in the market for a chainset as well!

Many thanks.

 

[cchris2lou]

you need a braze on front mech , pretty rare in the MTB world , but they do appear on ebay from time to time .

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

you need a braze on front mech , pretty rare in the MTB world , but they do appear on ebay from time to time .

Would this do the trick?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHIMANO-DEORE-XT- ... dZViewItem

 

[cchris2lou]

I think so , but i would wait for a second opinion before paying for it .

 

[retrobikeguy]

You need an endless clamp version like on my kestrels, they normally come with a band that slots the back where the allen head is but you dispose of that and use a 'shaped' bolt that fits snug an the bach of the plate.