Do professional Cyclists ever use Triple Chainring Cranks?

cajun_cyclist

Do professional Cyclists ever use Triple Chainring Cranks?

Wheelspinner

Not these days with compacts available, no need. Even those are relatively rarely used.

cajun_cyclist

Thank you for your response.

This is actually a bit of a 'trick' question because according to Phil Ligget himself in "Tour de France for Dummies" book, 2005:

Use a triple, be a wimp?

Most Tour bikes are equipped with two front chain rings which is the same as as the two front cogs. Occasionally, riders have added a third ring- a triple- in the Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain. But those two Grand Tours include mountain stages with more severe gradients than the Tour de France. Adding a third chain ring can increase the possibility of mechanical problems because it further complicates gearing. - page 124

I never would have thought it, glad I worded it in the general way instead of specifically saying the Tour de France.

By the way, this sentence is a bit confusing to me: "Most Tour bikes are equipped with two front chain rings which is the same as as the two front cogs. " I guess that is just terminology.

FJS

Interesting - any ideas when triples were used in the Giro or Vuelta? I'd have thought super steep climbs like the Angliru and Zoncolan were a more recent fashion, introduced when there were already compacts...

Casbar

Im sure if they needed to, they would !!!

inkyfingers

I read somewhere that some riders used triples the last time the Vuelta went up the Angliru, but don't have any reference for it.

Kléber

I remember seeing a triple used for the Zoncolan a few years ago. But it wasn't necessarily needed, it was there to showcase a pro using a triple.

mrushton

They tend to switch out to compacts. When Bertie went up the Zoncolan(?) in 2009 it was aon a 34 x 27 apparently.

iainf72

They don't like triples because it alters the position slightly. So if needed they'd tend to go for compacts.

andyp

The only pro I can remember using a triple is Indurain in the Dauphine one year, when there was a stage finish in the citadel above Grenoble.

RichN95.

mrushton wrote:

They tend to switch out to compacts. When Bertie went up the Zoncolan(?) in 2009 it was aon a 34 x 27 apparently.

Surely the riders who would use a triple would be more Cavendish than Contador when it came to the climbs.

Kléber

I'm sure some used them in 2006 for the Zoncolan. Just can't find the photos.

But like I say, it's more to showcase the triple, to say "even the pros use triples" or "a triple can withstand pro racing". A compact is fine for these guys.

takethehighroad

Kléber wrote:

I'm sure some used them in 2006 for the Zoncolan. Just can't find the photos.

But like I say, it's more to showcase the triple, to say "even the pros use triples" or "a triple can withstand pro racing". A compact is fine for these guys.

Yeah they used them on the Zoncolan in 2003 too

greasedscotsman

Pedant Alert!

mrushton wrote:

They tend to switch out to compacts. When Bertie went up the Zoncolan(?) in 2009 it was aon a 34 x 27 apparently.

Err, Contador didn't ride the Giro in 2009 and they didn't use the Zoncolan either. Are you thinking of the Plan de Corones in 2008?

Kléber wrote:

I'm sure some used them in 2006 for the Zoncolan. Just can't find the photos.

And they didn't use the Zoncolan in 2006 Giro either.

But I'm pretty sure I've seen them used for various stages of the Giro, the Vuelta and also Indurain using one in the Dauphine. I guess it depends on what is avaliable to the teams at that time.

dougzz

Kléber wrote:

I'm sure some used them in 2006 for the Zoncolan. Just can't find the photos.

But like I say, it's more to showcase the triple, to say "even the pros use triples" or "a triple can withstand pro racing". A compact is fine for these guys.

Calling Internation Rescue, Calling.... OK Frenchfighter, we need photos

TheStone

greasedscotsman wrote:

Pedant Alert!

mrushton wrote:

They tend to switch out to compacts. When Bertie went up the Zoncolan(?) in 2009 it was aon a 34 x 27 apparently.

Err, Contador didn't ride the Giro in 2009 and they didn't use the Zoncolan either. Are you thinking of the Plan de Corones in 2008?

Kléber wrote:

I'm sure some used them in 2006 for the Zoncolan. Just can't find the photos.

And they didn't use the Zoncolan in 2006 Giro either.

But I'm pretty sure I've seen them used for various stages of the Giro, the Vuelta and also Indurain using one in the Dauphine. I guess it depends on what is avaliable to the teams at that time.

I think it was the Plan de Corones in 2008, but I heard he had a 32 on the rear, which would be even lower than having a triple. I think that climb goes close to 25% and not fully tarmac, so maybe trying to keep his TT cadence level all the way up?

appletrees

Heras used a triple on the Angliru in 2002:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=23&ved=0CBsQFjACOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fapmforo.mforos.com%2F401712%2F4358827-desarrollo-bestia-en-el-angliru%2F&ei=w4G1TJvdHoKUjAeWr4S2Aw&usg=AFQjCNFwTL0lq4JDzScP_jDHNhyKYcFP5A]

It's in Spanish though.

Kléber

Sorry that was the 2007 Giro, they had triples on the Zoncolan then.

Many riders had the lowest gears possible to scale the terrible ascent of Zoncolan, with 34X29 compact mounted on the bicycle of Maglia Rosa Di Luca, and some riders were even using triple chainsets!

dave milne

They don't use them now I think.

When the races first went up the angliru and the vuelta the compacts weren't around. For the Angliru in 2008, I'm pretty sure it was compacts only at that point. Also they get 53/34 or 53/36 sepcially made, I don't think they use the 50/34 you buy in your LBS

Cleat Eastwood

I remember the plan de corones on eurosport in 08 and there was an american rider (i forget who) and bettini who had both triples and compacts made up and decided on the day which to go with. In the end Bettini went with 34 x 28

shm_uk

cajun_cyclist wrote:

Do professional Cyclists ever use Triple Chainring Cranks?

Yeh, the girly ones do...

le_patron

I bumped into the head of FSA (as in bike bits) on the Zoncolan in 2007. He was staying in the same hotel as Discovery Channel at the time and Sean Yates told him they had 34x28's on.

I don't recall any triples. I do recall lots and lots of suffering.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WukH1Zj3y1Q/R ... C05948.JPG

Pokerface

dave milne wrote:

They don't use them now I think.

When the races first went up the angliru and the vuelta the compacts weren't around. For the Angliru in 2008, I'm pretty sure it was compacts only at that point. Also they get 53/34 or 53/36 sepcially made, I don't think they use the 50/34 you buy in your LBS

While you can get a 53/34 - shifting is incredibly difficult so it's not used often (if at all). They try not to jump more than 16 teeth from one chainring to the next.

Art Vandelay

Article from VeloNews on gearing for the Zoncolan stage this year

Speaking of gearing, you know it’s steep when you see some of the world’s best climbers riding huge rear cogs with a tiny front chainring. With few exceptions, the teams will use the same gears on Plan de Corones on Tuesday as they used on Monte Zoncolan. I saw Ivan Basso riding nimbly in a 36 X 29, while Vincenzo Nibali and the rest of the Liquigas team struggled a bit more with the gear. But BMC’s Cadel Evans was just barely behind Basso where he passed by with 3.5km to go, and he was doing fine with a 34 X 27. He has trained on the critical Giro mountain stages for weeks and knows what he wants on his Easton EC90SLX wheels adorning his BMC Team Machine SLR01. Julian Dean and other Garmin riders came by me with the same 34 X 27 gear.

Damiano Cunego, Gibo Simoni, and the other Lampre riders, as well as Pippo Pozzato and the other Katusha riders pushed their Campy setups all the way to 34 X 29. They will do the same on Plan de Corones. Alexander Vinokourov and his remaining Astana teammates may have had the widest gear range on Monte Zoncolan: 53-34 X 11-28, and their derailleurs seemed to handle it just fine. Carlos Sastre and other Cervelo riders were also using a 34 X 28, as was Rabobank and Ag2R. Stefano Garzelli and his Aqua & Sapone teammates rode 34 X 28 on the Zoncolan, but they will be on 34 X 29 on the Plan de Corones.

Bradley Wiggins and other riders on Sky using oval Osymetric chainrings rode a 38 X 28 up the Zoncolan, while round-ring-riding Sky riders like Michael Barry pushed a 36 X 28. Milram and Columbia-HTC also rode 36 X 28, while Bbox chose Evans’ gearing: 34 X 27.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/05/bikes-tech/counting-teeth-lennard-zinn-rides-the-giros-monte-zoncolon_118438

johny c

Miguel used a triple, on the day when he blew on the Hautacam climb in the tour. (trying to keep up with eventual 'winner' Riis)

No_Ta_Doctor

Wonder what Shcleck was using when his chain jumped....

thegibdog

Pokerface wrote:

dave milne wrote:

They don't use them now I think.

When the races first went up the angliru and the vuelta the compacts weren't around. For the Angliru in 2008, I'm pretty sure it was compacts only at that point. Also they get 53/34 or 53/36 sepcially made, I don't think they use the 50/34 you buy in your LBS

While you can get a 53/34 - shifting is incredibly difficult so it's not used often (if at all). They try not to jump more than 16 teeth from one chainring to the next.

IIRC there was mention on Eurosport this year of riders using a standard outer chainring with compact inner chainring combination. I think this would only be used when the really steep mountain is the last climb of the day as you'll struggle changing out of the small chainring once you're in it.

cajun_cyclist

Thank you for your answers, very impressive knowledge here on the sport, I don't even get the compacts though I know what they are...I don't even think half the people who post here are here on the weekends.