Double or treble - Advice needed...

Oceanblue

To cut a long story short I started at 22 stone worked about 3 stone off on the turbo trainer. Decided to hit the roads on my mountain bike and have worked off another stone. I’ve decided to buy a road bike and have pretty much decided to buy a Trek 1.9 but have still a little saving to do.

My dilemma is this. Do I go for a treble or a double? I live in an area renowned for its hills; they’re not necessarily massive but very frequent. On my mountain bike I’ve found myself glad of the treble although that said I seem not to be using it the lower gears as much as I did. (The bike having the full chunky wide tires is also a factor in needing to use the treble) A sales guy introduced the word “compact” when talking about the double and said that I shouldn’t need the treble. Not sure what he meant by compact I thought I’d ask here and for your opinion on which one I should go for.

Any thoughts or opinions welcome…

tmg

Go for a triple to begin with, will enable you to enjoy the riding more and keep shedding the weight

you can always change to a Compact Double at a later point

good luck

ShaunL

I'd go for the compact you'll get enough gears with the 10 speed on the back.

You can select a specific cassette for the back to give you a nice easy ratio.

fastsuzi

normal gearing on the front is about a 39tooth and a 53 chainring, it s a standard for most fit riders and pros on the rroad bike

compact is 34 and 50 a gearing more suited to people not racing, normal riders

if you pick your rear gears for more climbing like a 25-12 instead of a 23-11 you should be fine with compact even go 27-12 or 13

on your mtb you probable have a 22 32 44 on the front and a 32-12 on the back

oldwelshman

Without trying to sound too personal, if your now just under 19st and in a hilly area you will struggle even with a compact with a 27 on the back so would opt for a tripple, you can always change up to higher gears when you get fitter but if you do not have the low gears available, your shagged

bazza59

oceanblue, I'm 16 stone and will have been riding for two years this july. Started at 16.5 dropped to 15.25 but have been more relaxed about what I eat and am riding a little less so back to 16 again. I have started this year to ride more hills in the Dromore (Down) region.

I have a triple on my "good" bike 52/42/30 with 12/25 (8 speed) on the back.
I have used the granny ring (30) once to get up a hill (enagh road) that I couldn't make on the middle ring. Rest of the time I am on the middle ring which works for me.

I have no experience on a compact but would suggest that a triple may be better for you initially and then change down the fitness and weight loss line.
baz

Padre 1

Just acquired a triple as I'm about to do a Land's End - J O'G relay and then the Race Across America. Have managed ok on a compact and am reasonably fit but thought it was better to have as wide a range as possible. I read extensively on the subject before finally choosing; something that helped sway me was the range of middle gear options available with a triple.

Oceanblue

"Without trying to sound too personal, if your now just under 19st"

I'm glad to say that I'm just over 18st now my signature was out of date.

Bazza I'm not far away from you - more towards Slieve Croob. I came out of Kinallen the other day via the Skeagh Rd... Now there is a work out...

Looks like I'll plumb for a triple!

stagger

oldwelshman wrote:

Without trying to sound too personal, if your now just under 19st and in a hilly area you will struggle even with a compact with a 27 on the back so would opt for a tripple, you can always change up to higher gears when you get fitter but if you do not have the low gears available, your shagged

agreed. I am a lot lighter and struggled with a compact living in a hilly area. I prefer a triple and was very glad of a lowly 30x27 battling up holme moss in a howling gale the other day......

Think about it, even on 30x27 if you can spin at 80rpm, thats about 7mph which is a respectable speed up long steep hills ....

Marcosplace

Triple first...then double after fitness aquired....

Oceanblue

Thanks folks - opinion is pretty much solid for the triple, which was always my plan until I allowed the salesman to cast doubt on the wisdom of it. On thinking about it the guy was a little desperate to sell me the bike he had there and then. When I mentioned a triple he did look a little irritated. What he didn't know was I had already picked my supplier and it wasn't him I was just keen to see the bike in the flesh...

Good to know that my original plan of a triple was right!

Cheers

bazza59

oceanblue
good luck with the new bike.If you haven't committed to a supplier yet, try Hanna's in Lisburn, they have some good deals on Treks at the moment.

You're a braver man than me tackling skeagh rd early in your cycling career. I avoided hills for the first year and its only now that I go looking for them
Apparently Dree Hill is the real test of a hill, I did it once (downhill) and even that was scarey.
baz

Oceanblue

Hanna's is exactly were I'm going - best customer relations I've experienced yet and I've been in many many shops. There is a lad in it called Gavin and I'd recommend him to anyone!!

The problem round here is that you face hills or don't go out - Dree hill is on my to do list. A few Saturdays ago I took the head staggers and got to Finnis so I could at least Isay I've been to Dree Hill - I just fail to mention that I didn't climb it. I just hope people don't ask or I'll look like Ben out of the apprentice and Sandhurst...

Hell below zero !

If its shimano you ride I don't think the double/triple STI brake/front gear lever can be used on both so if you decide to change you would need a new STI lever to match. So when people say buy one and then change later its very expensive.
Campag on the other hand theres no problem in swapping from triple to double as they can be used with the same Ergo levers.

John.T

Shimano triple STIs will work a double OK. The dearer double ones will not work a triple.

Gary D

Hell below zero ! wrote:

If its shimano you ride I don't think the double/triple STI brake/front gear lever can be used on both so if you decide to change you would need a new STI lever to match. So when people say buy one and then change later its very expensive.
Campag on the other hand theres no problem in swapping from triple to double as they can be used with the same Ergo levers.

Not true I'm afraid!

105 10-speed and Tiagra and Sora 9-speed left hand shifters are all double/triple compatible

To the OP.
Definitely go for a triple. In reality, if you compare the gear ratios between a 50/34 compact with a 12/27 cassette and a triple with a 50/39/30 chainset and a 12/27 then the triple actually only gives you 1 more lower gear - but when you are struggling it is invaluable. What I find is more important is the useful range of gears. The jumps between the 2 rings on a compact are just too great and will always require multiple shifting.

Gary.

pottssteve

I'm in my 40's, 82kg ( ) and ride hills like this:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/hong-kong ... 0343250061

I couldn't do them without a triple, but it's getting easier...!

I'd agree with Marcosplace.

weepiglet

Oceanblue wrote:

Hanna's is exactly were I'm going - best customer relations I've experienced yet and I've been in many many shops. There is a lad in it called Gavin and I'd recommend him to anyone!! /quote]

Hey Oceanblue, glad you're finally sorted. Have been out quite a bit on my 1.9 which I got in Hanna's and have to say that I am really pleased. It's due a free service in a few weeks which is good as the front derailleur needs a bit of fine tuning due to the chain rubbing and it even came off yesterday on a fast section which was quite funny!!

I have a double which I was happy to take as the triple would have taken a few weeks longer to get but so far so good and even Purdysburn hill near where I live is a breeze.

I know you'll enjoy the bike.

Oceanblue

Purdysburn hill - now you're just scaring me... ;-) Thanks for the pointer to Hannah's, I wouldn't have known about them other wise...

nferrar

Personally I'd go the compact route with a 12-27 or 28 on the back, less faffing about adjusting the front and less likely to get chain rub, the gearing wouldn't be much harder either if the triple version comes with a 11-25 or something. Nothing wrong with triples per se IMO, I just think a compact is a neater solution.

keef66

I'm happy with my 105 triple. Set up perfectly by Epic, I dialled out a bit of cable stretch during running in, still shifting sweetly. No chain rub in any combination of front ring / rear cog due to the trim function of the front shifter/mech.

I think if I'd gone for a compact double I'd be swapping front rings too often, or forgetting to and ending up with a lot of cross-chaining. I suspect I'd also have bigger jumps between gears.

As it is I have a closely spaced 12-25 10 sp cassette which gives me little jumps in gearing so I can maintain my preferred cadence, and up front I have a big ring for serious downhill, a little ring for serious uphill, and the middle ring for just about everything else.