I bought a cyclotourist in 1977. It was a 32 42 52. The cogs were suntour winner 5 speed 13 X 26 mated to a Shimano Crane GS rear derailleur and later to a short cage shimano Crane. The first der. I used was a suntour spirt. It had a reverse spring that work nicely but it forced the shift from the 32 to the 42 by way of the 52. Next was a suntour cyclone with the cage extender. I think I bought that in 1978. The chain got caught on the extender and I removed it. The Cyclone better as I could coax it onto the 42 directly the majority of the time. In 80 or so I tried a shimano 60 and it worked OK but in small small the chain dragged on the bottom of the cage which was Ok since that combo is not used. In 82 or so I bought the Shimano De Ore road group. Loved the rear der. but the front was problematic with the crank. Too wide and in order to get the chain quiet on the 52 13 combo it brushed the inside of the crank arm. Some judicious reshaping made it workable and never missed a shift.
I have heard that the Suntour AR and ARX front der. work very well with the Cyclotourist but have not tried them.
I am not a fan of half step plus granny. For a brief while I tried a 52 46 30 set up. I didn't like all the shifting. I like having the middle ring situated for a nice range of rear shifts gets me through the with the low and big ring for the wind and hills. I can see the logic of the 38 52. My suggestion would be to lower the big ring to a 48 or 46 and use a freewheel that the smallest cog starts with a 13 or 12.
Going below a 46 makes for an ascetic problem as the front der. will not nicely match the contour of the crank and does affect the shifting performance negatively.
Howard Darr
Clymer PA