Sorry for the delayed response, lauver.
Just took a few pics of my bike to explain to another forum member what I'd done. My hybrid is a mountain bike frame and fork, with mostly road components. And the wheels are more cyclo-cross, with as big a tire as the frame will allow. Comfort was my goal here, with simplicity a close second. I run a two ring crank with 7 speed freewheel. I can't climb mountains, and on long downhills I'm short on gears. But for the majority of the cycling I do, it's a great setup.
Getting the front derailler to work was a challenge. You see, I like old French parts, but the frame is designed for the modern and popular Japanese parts. My front derailler is a bottom pull, as when it was made all frame pulled the derailler from the bottom. Most new frames are top pull. So, I designed and made a pulley system to allow me to operate the bottom pull derailler from the top pull lug. I used a cable pulley from a 3-speed bike to change the direction of cable pull 180 deg to get it to work. Have never had any issues with it.