One of my old bikes I had set up with friction shifting bar ends as a triple, using a newer triple FD, worked fine. Then I decided to gear up my single speed and use a 7 speed STI triple drivetrain I had sitting around. I had to use the FD off of bike 1 and although I have a 2nd triple FD I could use on bike 1, it needs the clamp which I would have to buy. My question is, prior to index shifting was there a specific double and triple FD? I have an old ALTUS FD that works great as a double, has the range to swing full range over the 3 rings, it just is not quite enough to make it work and shift up, possibly not big enough parallelogram to work. So were there 2 different FDs back in the day?

So were there 2 different FDs back in the day?

Define "back in the day." There certainly were double and triple designs in the 80s, before index shifting, and probably before that. However, with friction shifting, a good double would shift a triple, no problem. There was an assumption that the rider had some skills :) With the advent of MTBs and the (often) need to shift under full load, the separate triple FD became a lot more common. With index shifting, you become more dependent on FD design, because you lose much of your ability to finesse your shifts.

Shimano ALTUS. It is a 1980 component, came with a bike as a double ring FD. The simple solution for me is buy the problem solver clamp and use the triple FD I have on hand. The ALTUS handles the first 2 rings perfect in the stand and then just can not get the big ring. So I guess back in the day is pre 1980.