Thanks to everyone for their advice. I eventually decided to order an NOS Suntour Cyclone Mark II front derailleur from the '80s with a flat outer cage. It works like a champ, is much better looking than a modern derailleur (to me), and was only $10 more than a new Claris.
I think I could have solved this problem by using a 9-speed chain on my 8-speed cassette, but at some point it became a personal vendetta to get the 8-speed drivetrain working on this bike. Thanks again! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8df236c7-80b0-4c44-922c-8bf821d61c98%40googlegroups.com.
