Compact or Triple

Dave-REP8

Hi Guys

Just wondering what people would advise. I am currently looking to buy a new bike and build up to eventually riding JOG LE. I will be doing this with panniers (not a massive load). As the title suggests I'm just wondering whether people think it is necessary to get a bike with a triple chainring or whether it is manageable to climb with panniers with just the two?

Any help would be great

Thanks

heatonrider

it depends where you live and how strong you are .. lots of people favour compacts but a true touring machine needs a smaller ring at the front. Purists want 2 rings. Personally i prefer the smooth changing of the triple plus i am a woman living in a hilly part of the uk. i would go triple evey time - i have 4 bikes all with triples and that includes my carbon roadie.

TommyEss

I'm a lot fitter than I was but still use my granny ring - I'm no racer, so don't consider the weight penalty as too big an issue - I do like being able to use 30x27 to get up the steep stuff, cos sometimes it gets a bit too much.

Especially so if you've got anything in those panniers - I'd recommend triple all the way.

Weejie54

You might be glad of a granny ring if you are climbing Berriedale!

Dave-REP8

Brilliant, cheers for the answers guys and gals. Thought that might be the case although thought that maybe I'd get away with a compact!

With this in mind any one have any reccomendations?
Had Trek 1.2T and Merida 901-27 in mind. Any suggestions would be great thanks

Cheers

TommyEss

Firstly - what's your budget?

Secondly - if you're doing such a long ride, you want to make sure it fits you properly - so get a proper fitting - then choose whatever bijke within your budget fits you.

peter_andrew

Hi
Would strongly advise a triple
peter

rf6

Triple. Definitely. Ignore the snobs!

Andrew N

Go with the Triple.

I've used compacts and triples and wouldn't have thought the extra weight for a triple would be too much of a problem on your trip.

You'll be happy for the extra gearing on the hills!

Enjoy.

allezcourage

I've just got back from a tour up the west coast of Scotland which included Arran, Mull and Ardnamurchan. I carried around 15 kilos in my panniers, which was as little as I felt I could get away with while camping. As my bike is not a pure tourer, I did the trip on a 34-50 compact with an 11-28 cassette. On the first day I was face with some 'character-building climbs' which made me wish I had a granny ring to drop into. However, the body soon adjusts and I got on fine, even on Mull. The gearing suits me far better for the riding I do all year round. I say go for a compact double. Good luck with the LEJOG plans.

blorg

Triple for proper loaded touring with panniers etc. Wouldn't even consider a compact for that. If I have a halfway heavy load (even 10kg) and are doing a long tour I will get tired and need it for the hills.

A compact is fine for very light saddlebag touring. I've done the Raid Pyreneen with ~3.5-4kg in saddle and bar bags on 34-27 lowest gear and it was fine. More than enough. That is a short tour (4.5 days) but certainly hilly.

This is of course my own opinion of what is right for me.

LEJOG I think you could probably use either, a compact would be OK if you are not carrying much. Certainly people do it on road bikes.

stratcat

If you are carrying any load or heading for serious hills get a triple at the very least. I know there are some hills around here that I can get up on the lowest gear of my 105 triple. If I had panniers on with anything in them it would be very very hard to do and no fun at all. I would be looking at mountain bike gearing on a fully loaded tourer.

If you do any research into gearing even on mtb gears you would be able to get up to high twentys mph depending on how strong your legs are and that sounds a bit fast for touring imho

satanas

Ask twenty people, get twenty answers. Unfortunately, none of us know how strong you are or your riding style, or degree of style-consciousness, so it's hard to advise. It's almost certain that nobody else will recommend *exactly* the setup that would suit you best.

IMO there are three basic scenarios:

1. Sometimes ikes to potter, may carry quite a bit of stuff, comfort more important than speed or style. Use MTB-size triple chainrings with a large road cassette (such as 12-27) or preferably a MTB cassette. Zero credibility with roadies though.

2. Want to go relatively quickly, won't carry lots of baggage, but keen to ensure you have close ratios and a wide enough range not to suffer badly on long climbs. ("Audax gearing.") Road triple, or maybe something a little smaller with a moderate size cassette like 12-25, 12-27, etc. Few style points but at least not MTB stuff(!).

3. Ex-road racer, wannabe or macho low RPM pedaler who is determined not to lose any more street cred than possible. (Since you're talking about panniers you've already blown this, sorry.) Use 53x39 (or maybe smaller) double crankset and whatever cassette will do the job - maybe 11-21? :shock: Anything lower than 34x29 at the worst is unacceptable as "Nobody uses lower gears than that in the Giro or Vuelta!"

I sort of agree with blorg, but would go a little lower for Raid Pyrenean or the Alps - I like to spin. FWIW, I used 34x30 as a low gear for lightly loaded touring (~10kg max.) in the Alps quite a while back , but wound up using the lowest gear for virtually every climb. One or two more gears would have been more pleasant on steeper back road climbs.