Triple Cranksets in Amateur Race

rickhotrod

Any riders using triples in amateur road racing? Or 8/9 speed?

sheffsimon

rickhotrod wrote:

Any riders using triples in amateur road racing? Or 8/9 speed?

Raced on 9 speed last year on road - not a problem. Used to race on 5 speed non-indexed in 80s

Cant think you would need a triple for many UK road races. If you need that granny ring you aint going fast enough or hard enough. More QuadPower required.

nolf

SheffSimon wrote:

rickhotrod wrote:

Any riders using triples in amateur road racing? Or 8/9 speed?

Cant think you would need a triple for many UK road races. If you need that granny ring you aint going fast enough or hard enough. More QuadPower required.

Thats QuadPower™ I'll have you know.

Also yeah, really not necessary.
I wouldn't bother switching over tho if it's your current setup.

Ignore any jibes, presumably this will be a 4th CAT race, so just remember that anyone laughing has been racing for a few years, and TBH shouldn't be a CAT 4 anymore...

sheffsimon

nolf wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

rickhotrod wrote:

Any riders using triples in amateur road racing? Or 8/9 speed?

Cant think you would need a triple for many UK road races. If you need that granny ring you aint going fast enough or hard enough. More QuadPower required.

Thats QuadPower™ I'll have you know.

Also yeah, really not necessary.
I wouldn't bother switching over tho if it's your current setup.

Ignore any jibes, presumably this will be a 4th CAT race, so just remember that anyone laughing has been racing for a few years, and TBH shouldn't be a CAT 4 anymore...

I know, I know but it was late and I couldnt be arsed find the TM thing - sorry Mr NapD.

+1 on the jibes/4th Cat thing, a simple "F*** Off" should clarify things.

Pross

If you currently have a triple set up then just ride with it. It is slightly heavier but that is pretty negligible and I wouldn't bother going through the expense of changing it. If anyone else notices what gears you are riding in a race they ain't riding hard enough! The only possible downside is if you accidently shift down onto the granny ring but you can always block off the front mech to avoid that. On the 8 / 9 speed, again I wouldn't worry. I'm another from the 6 / 7 speed era in the 90's and would quite happily race on a 7 speed even now. The only time you may be at a disadvantage would be on seriously hilly courses where you may have to sacrifice close ratios for a lower gear but then you could always keep a tight cassette spread and just use the granny ring. Just get out there and do it, plenty of time to change your set up if you find you enjoy racing.

rickhotrod

What top gear will i need? Will 50/13 be ok...

teulk

Im thinking of getting a road bike in the next month or so via the "cycle2work" scheme, now already having a Boardman Team HT i was thinking well why not get a road bike with a triple chainset - ive even seen a road bike with 30gears.........Now after reading this thread it seems that a triple is really a no no but why. Whats it matter if thats what you want on your bike ? After all its your bike not theirs and its your comfort that counts not theirs.........I ride for enjoyment and if that means i can take steep hills with a little bit more ease then so be it.

markos1963

teulk wrote:

Im thinking of getting a road bike in the next month or so via the "cycle2work" scheme, now already having a Boardman Team HT i was thinking well why not get a road bike with a triple chainset - ive even seen a road bike with 30gears.........Now after reading this thread it seems that a triple is really a no no but why. Whats it matter if thats what you want on your bike ? After all its your bike not theirs and its your comfort that counts not theirs.........I ride for enjoyment and if that means i can take steep hills with a little bit more ease then so be it.

I haven't a problem with someone buying and using a triple for leisure use(infact I think they are better than a compact) but the OP is enquiring about racing at 4th Cat. Everybody is correct in telling them thats its ok to stay as he is and to not go to the expense of changing but if you are buying new and are planning on going racing then I would say go double(either standard or compact) to keep things simple. There is a weight penalty and there can be shifting problems and in a race situation if you are going to need a triple to get up a hill then you are going to be dropped big time I'm afraid.

markos1963

rickhotrod wrote:

What top gear will i need? Will 50/13 be ok...

Depends on terrain and your ability to spin very high cadence(120rpm+) but i would have thought a 11-23 cassette might be needed. As you have a triple then you will still have some low gears for the hills.

sheffsimon

markos1963 wrote:

rickhotrod wrote:

What top gear will i need? Will 50/13 be ok...

Depends on terrain and your ability to spin very high cadence(120rpm+) but i would have thought a 11-23 cassette might be needed. As you have a triple then you will still have some low gears for the hills.

53-12 FTW!

givecyclistsroom

Yes I race with a triple - it is the same bike I use for the etape and Fred Whitton. I have never used the middle or small chainring in a race. I do not see having a redundant small ring as any more of a problem than a redundant middle ring. The weight disadvantage is tiny and not likely to be the reason I don't score points. Because it's a triple the bigring is larger (54) which is quite good for racing.

oldwelshman

markos1963 wrote:

rickhotrod wrote:

What top gear will i need? Will 50/13 be ok...

Depends on terrain and your ability to spin very high cadence(120rpm+) but i would have thought a 11-23 cassette might be needed. As you have a triple then you will still have some low gears for the hills.

Why 11-23? When would you need a 11?
If you use 50/13 at 120rpm that gives you 36mph which I would believe is well fast enough for a 4th cat race.
I race with a compact and 12 -23 and never spun out as yet.

100%

I think markos means that if you can spin at 120 rpm you should be fine...otherwise you may be better with a bigger gear spinning a little lower cadence until you get used to spinning the pedals faster and smooth?

That's how I read it anyway.

Cheers,
Steve

jibberjim

oldwelshman wrote:

Why 11-23? When would you need a 11?
If you use 50/13 at 120rpm that gives you 36mph which I would believe is well fast enough for a 4th cat race.
I race with a compact and 12 -23 and never spun out as yet.

I've spun out a 50x12 in a 2/3/4 road race as a 4th cat, tailwind, slight downhill, the 2's on the front early in the race hammering to split the field after some draggy uphill. Got pretty gapped whilst spinning out, but the road was rolling and it soon came back pedallable and I got back on. Certainly don't think there was any situation where I was actually needed the gearing, but there was still a moment of panic with the gearing - although I actually thought I'd simply lost the ability to change gear any more...

markos1963

oldwelshman wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

rickhotrod wrote:

What top gear will i need? Will 50/13 be ok...

Depends on terrain and your ability to spin very high cadence(120rpm+) but i would have thought a 11-23 cassette might be needed. As you have a triple then you will still have some low gears for the hills.

Why 11-23? When would you need a 11?
If you use 50/13 at 120rpm that gives you 36mph which I would believe is well fast enough for a 4th cat race.
I race with a compact and 12 -23 and never spun out as yet.

Fair enough with the 12-23 I was thinking more of the OP having a closer ratio gearbox(yes I realise that 12-23 is even closer) as he has the luxury of a triple.

oldwelshman

jibberjim wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

Why 11-23? When would you need a 11?
If you use 50/13 at 120rpm that gives you 36mph which I would believe is well fast enough for a 4th cat race.
I race with a compact and 12 -23 and never spun out as yet.

I've spun out a 50x12 in a 2/3/4 road race as a 4th cat, tailwind, slight downhill, the 2's on the front early in the race hammering to split the field after some draggy uphill. Got pretty gapped whilst spinning out, but the road was rolling and it soon came back pedallable and I got back on. Certainly don't think there was any situation where I was actually needed the gearing, but there was still a moment of panic with the gearing - although I actually thought I'd simply lost the ability to change gear any more...

You need to learn to spin faster if you spun out on 50 x 12 At that speed I usually sit in behind someone and no need to pedal then
I can manage up to about 50 mph before spinning out so not needed a 11 as yet, I prefer to keep ratios closer for the flat and drags.
Probably the 4ths cats did not know how to floow the wheels properly to draft :?

Pross

givecyclistsroom wrote:

Yes I race with a triple - it is the same bike I use for the etape and Fred Whitton. I have never used the middle or small chainring in a race. I do not see having a redundant small ring as any more of a problem than a redundant middle ring. The weight disadvantage is tiny and not likely to be the reason I don't score points. Because it's a triple the bigring is larger (54) which is quite good for racing.

Wow, where do you race that is flat enough to do all your racing on a 54t chainring? :shock:

jibberjim

oldwelshman wrote:

You need to learn to spin faster if you spun out on 50 x 12 At that speed I usually sit in behind someone and no need to pedal then I can manage up to about 50 mph before spinning out so not needed a 11 as yet, I prefer to keep ratios closer for the flat and drags.

When you say you can manage 50mph which is only about 160cadence, can you do that and still put meaningful torque into the pedals such that you're accelerating to close a gap. Because for me, whilst I can still turn the pedals comfortably at 130+ it's tough to put out more than a few hundreds of watts at that cadence.

So it wasn't "spun out" in the absolute sense of unable to turn the pedals, just that I could no longer put in as many watts as I needed to.

oldwelshman wrote:

Probably the 4ths cats did not know how to floow the wheels properly to draft :?

Well with the tailwind descent, speeds were high, but certainly the accellerations were needed as I had to pass people who were getting dropped.

sheffsimon

Pross wrote:

givecyclistsroom wrote:

Yes I race with a triple - it is the same bike I use for the etape and Fred Whitton. I have never used the middle or small chainring in a race. I do not see having a redundant small ring as any more of a problem than a redundant middle ring. The weight disadvantage is tiny and not likely to be the reason I don't score points. Because it's a triple the bigring is larger (54) which is quite good for racing.

Wow, where do you race that is flat enough to do all your racing on a 54t chainring? :shock:

Plenty of races round these parts (Peoples Republic of South Yorkshire) where I would always be in the big ring, which is 53t for me. Undulating rather than flat or hilly. 53x12 for the finish on one of the regular circuits, long slight downhill until the last 100 yards or so.

ozzzyosborn206

my training bike has a compact and in chain gangs i can go full gas and stretch everyone out but as soon as we get to a 'sprint' and have no more gears and can't change my speed, i spin above 110 comfortably too

oldwelshman

jibberjim wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

You need to learn to spin faster if you spun out on 50 x 12 At that speed I usually sit in behind someone and no need to pedal then I can manage up to about 50 mph before spinning out so not needed a 11 as yet, I prefer to keep ratios closer for the flat and drags.

When you say you can manage 50mph which is only about 160cadence, can you do that and still put meaningful torque into the pedals such that you're accelerating to close a gap. Because for me, whilst I can still turn the pedals comfortably at 130+ it's tough to put out more than a few hundreds of watts at that cadence.

So it wasn't "spun out" in the absolute sense of unable to turn the pedals, just that I could no longer put in as many watts as I needed to.

I can only do this on a descent, not the flat obviously
I an put meaningful power in to maintain that speed but not accelerate.
If it is not a finish I would just spin the pedals soft or get in aero position and draft. As you probably know the faster you go the more power required to overcome air resistance so not too difficult to draft at that speed.
On flat obviously I would be doing 30 to 40mph on an effort.

160 cadance is not that easy to do I am not a big gear sprinter anyway as you probably guessed, I do not recall every using my top gear in a sprint yet, and most of the sprint I do sat down. Probably as I ride track so much I guess.

oldwelshman

jibberjim wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

You need to learn to spin faster if you spun out on 50 x 12 At that speed I usually sit in behind someone and no need to pedal then I can manage up to about 50 mph before spinning out so not needed a 11 as yet, I prefer to keep ratios closer for the flat and drags.

When you say you can manage 50mph which is only about 160cadence, can you do that and still put meaningful torque into the pedals such that you're accelerating to close a gap. Because for me, whilst I can still turn the pedals comfortably at 130+ it's tough to put out more than a few hundreds of watts at that cadence.

So it wasn't "spun out" in the absolute sense of unable to turn the pedals, just that I could no longer put in as many watts as I needed to.

I can only do this on a descent, not the flat obviously
I an put meaningful power in to maintain that speed but not accelerate.
If it is not a finish I would just spin the pedals soft or get in aero position and draft. As you probably know the faster you go the more power required to overcome air resistance so not too difficult to draft at that speed.
On flat obviously I would be doing 30 to 40mph on an effort.

160 cadance is not that easy to do I am not a big gear sprinter anyway as you probably guessed, I do not recall every using my top gear in a sprint yet, and most of the sprint I do sat down. Probably as I ride track so much I guess.