Double or Tripple chain ring?

madturkey · June 2008

Have to disagree with the "this gear will get you up anything" crowd. It's all dependent on fitness etc.

I have a triple with a wide cassette on the back (34 I think - anyone else with a Tricross will know what I'm talking about) and I'd be lost without it. Going up some hills in the downs recently with a much more experienced mate he commented that I was fresher than he expected at the top of the hills. Pretty slow though!!

A friend training for the etape has a compact and a huge granny cog at the back but really wishes he had a triple.

redddraggon · June 2008

madturkey wrote:

Have to disagree with the "this gear will get you up anything" crowd. It's all dependent on fitness etc.

OK does this make it better? If your not unfit/fat a compact will get you up anything.

madturkey · June 2008

redddraggon wrote:

madturkey wrote:

Have to disagree with the "this gear will get you up anything" crowd. It's all dependent on fitness etc.

OK does this make it better? If your not unfit/fat a compact will get you up anything.

Most recreational cyclists, like me, of which I expect there are many on a Beginners forum, would probably appreciate a triple. Cycling over the Jura mountains later this year I know I will.

geoff_ss · June 2008

redddraggon wrote:

madturkey wrote:

Have to disagree with the "this gear will get you up anything" crowd. It's all dependent on fitness etc.

OK does this make it better? If your not unfit/fat a compact will get you up anything.

Anything? Possibly anything short and sweet. I climbed the Ventoux from Malaucene 3 weeks ago and that's 21 km at between 8% and 13%. I can assure you I welcomed my 22 x 23 next to bottom gear and was occasionally tempted to take the lowest (22 x 25).

13% for a km or so isn't a problem on a much higher gear but after an hour or more of relentless climbing relatively mild gradients become progressively harder as muscles fatigue.

I'm not overweight (11st 7 at 5' 9") and I'm fairly fit. However I'm also 68 years young so my muscles don't work quite so well as they did 20 or even 10 years ago.

I rode a fairly hilly 100km todays in the Peak District and I like the quiet, steep lanes. Whilst I didn't need the 22x25 I did use the 22t chain ring a few times and enjoyed the ride climbing mostly in a seated position.

Don't judge other people by your own 22 (?) year old legs. Eventually, even you will learn to appreciate low gears and triple chain sets which weigh very little and offer a useful escape route.

Geoff

redddraggon · June 2008

Geoff_SS wrote:

Don't judge other people by your own 22 (?) year old legs. Eventually, even you will learn to appreciate low gears and triple chain sets which weigh very little and offer a useful escape route.

Geoff

I recommended to my nephew to get a triple, he got one, but I wouldn't recommend one to anyone else off the performance of his, no matter how much faffing about with his triple I do it won't work right. When he shifts from middle chainring to little chainring the chain falls off (although I think I may have sorted have that).

From my experience (albeit short) doubles are far more reliable - I'd rather not have to stop mid climb to put the chain back on when it's fallen off the triple.

However this problem with the triple is probably because it's Shimano, therefore I reckon if you buy a triple campag is the only option

geoff_ss · June 2008

My Shimano triple works perfectly as does my wife's.

I've been using triples for years as they're just about essential on a touring tandem but our current ones are on singles and the chain has never come off in normal use. You just need to adjust them properly and modern ones are far easier to set up than the crude one's we had 30 years ago.

Perhaps I'm just a naturally good mechanic

Geoff

ANC · June 2008

Difficulty is I've not ridden a compact or double so i appreciate i can't give both sides. My LBS built mine with a 48-26-26 on the front and 11-32 on the back, and I'm happy with that...I don't race, I do like to roam at will including on my extreme local gradients, and as a 64 kg, 5'9" weakling, with less than perfect joints, I ain't churning no big gears.

On a recent famous sportive, 70 miles in of 100, i was on the second to bottom gear in the saddle on the big 25% hill. Massive respect to those out of the saddle on the doubles who made it, but there was a lot that didn't.

I guess you can't have everything. Maybe not on the same bike.

alfablue · June 2008

I have a triple Ultegra chainset and mechs, with old RSX sti shifters (equivalent to Tiagra?) on my Audax bike; I needed to tweak it after the bike shop did a lousy job on the setup, since then it has been 100% reliable over several thousand miles, always shifts fine, never dumps the chain. I am not too proud to admit I need the triple, especially on the hills around Bath.

richk · July 2008

As a beginner, I went for a triple (Xenon) & haven't regretted it. The 30/25 has been more than welcome on several occasions. However, a year on, I'm that much fitter I'd probably now consider a compact as the triple can be a bit fiddly to adjust correctly.

Gary D · July 2008

I really can't understand this problem with adjusting triple chainsets and perceived shifting problems?

My 2 road bikes have both got triples. My best bike has Shimano 105 throughout and shifts really, really smoothly both going up or down the chainrings, I have never dropped the chain and don't get chain rub - even on the extreme gear combinations (not that I would ever accidently use them of course :oops: ). That was set up by the LBS from new.

The other bike has Sora shifters, 105 mechs and a Deore chainset. Again, absolutely no problems whatsoever. Doesn't shift quite as smoothly as the other bike but I think that is down to the shifters more than anything. That one I set up myself from scratch and it was the first time I had done any work on a bike for a loooong time :shock:

Gary.

Rich Hcp · July 2008

I went for a triple for versatility, I don't regrest it.

I'm almost 43 and have one weaker leg (I can only oput the right one on the floor to push off) and fairly fit. The escape route of the smaller chain ring comes in handy sometimes!

It's never missed a change (Ultigra) and I'm happy.

Foe me, and this is my preference raher than saying what others should do, I'm very glad I went for a triple.

bendertherobot · July 2008

Just gone from a compact double to a triple because the demo bike they had only had a triple on it.

Will I use it? Probably not on my commute, and probably not on the hardest hills.

Would I have wanted it on the Dragon Ride. Definitely.

So, even if I use it twice a year on a hill then great.

CrookedCucumber · July 2008

redddraggon wrote:

madturkey wrote:

Have to disagree with the "this gear will get you up anything" crowd. It's all dependent on fitness etc.

OK does this make it better? If your not unfit/fat a compact will get you up anything.

Unless you have seriously poor dental health, your teeth will be sufficient for opening beer bottles. Nobody with good dentistry really needs a bottle opener.

That you have the strength/fitness/dentistry to do something doesn't mean that you should, or that anybody else should.

Double or Tripple chain ring?

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