I have a bottom pull XTR front derailleur in my parts bin -- it seems a little chuncky looking to me on a cross frame, but I am wondering if the wide inner plate would work well to make sure no chains were dropped when downshifting. Does anyone have any experience or opinions?

I have experience with MTB FDs on MTBs. They can drop chains.

it may work okay depending on what size rings you're running. I usually just run an ult., but I've had friends run XTR on 46 big ring sets ups with out too much trouble. Is it chunky looking cuz it's a non traditional swing front der? (I always get the "top swing" "bottom swing" labeling confused, I just use "traditional" and "non traditional") I just ask b/c some of the older xtr front ders. look downright svelte compared to some of the big behemoths of today.

it is a top swing, bottom pull XTR 952. I don't know that it will work mainly due to seat tube angles.

isn't the curve of the cage different for the smaller ring diameter? I had one on an older specialized that was speced w/ a triple from the factory, it always threw the chain off after we swapped to a double w/ a narrower BB, it was a mid line shimano bottom pull if memory serves. Swapping to ultegra fixed it