Reliable shifting on a triple

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Wondering what people are using and how reliable it is. I'm particularly but not necessarily thinking of touring here. Nothing worse than being caught in the wrong gear on a fully loaded bike as you come around a corner, as stopping and getting into the right gear and starting again is nigh on impossible, as you can't easily lift it or get the mass moving on a slope.

My most reliable bike is a 20 year old Marin Bear Valley, 7 speed, never misses a shift, though curiously I've broken three chains on it now, last one last weekend on tour.

The least reliable is my Audax running 105 gearing and I occasionally drop the chain or it takes a few revolutions to catch. Because of this, I've not considered using it for touring, as a dropped chain on a fully loaded bike might turn out to be a right arse and leave me covered in oil. So in order to consider it, I need to improve it's reliability.

So recommendations for reliable shifting most welcome?
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Wondering what people are using and how reliable it is. I'm particularly but not necessarily thinking of touring here. Nothing worse than being caught in the wrong gear on a fully loaded bike as you come around a corner, as stopping and getting into the right gear and starting again is nigh on impossible, as you can't easily lift it or get the mass moving on a slope.

My most reliable bike is a 20 year old Marin Bear Valley, 7 speed, never misses a shift, though curiously I've broken three chains on it now, last one last weekend on tour.

The least reliable is my Audax running 105 gearing and I occasionally drop the chain or it takes a few revolutions to catch. Because of this, I've not considered using it for touring, as a dropped chain on a fully loaded bike might turn out to be a right arse and leave me covered in oil. So in order to consider it, I need to improve it's reliability.

So recommendations for reliable shifting most welcome?

For what it's worth my Thorn tourer had Shimano XT mountain bike 3 x 9 and always worked OK. The triple bit was just friction rather than indexed. I had bar-end shifters (dura ace intended for tri bars) but am half-way * to converting to a Shimergo system of brifters

* by "half-way" I mean I've taken it all apart but not put it all back together
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
My mid 1990’s orange mtb never had any problems and I still take it up into mountains with its 3 x 8 gearing. It’s only me with a very small ruck sack.
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
This is the set up I'm using on my Specialized. 9 speed, Alivio rear mech, microshift front, Deore crank with Sora shifters. Runs very well and shifts are perfect but the front seems to go out of adjustment fairly regularly.

IMG_20180908_112752.jpg
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Rohloff hub for me. Problems shifting and being in the wrong gear are a distant and unhappy memory. Iirc you always had to shift down to a low gear before you came to a stop otherwise restarting was a real PITA.
 

Heltor Chasca

Out-riding the Black Dog
Rohloff hub for me. Problems shifting and being in the wrong gear are a distant and unhappy memory. Iirc you always had to shift down to a low gear before you came to a stop otherwise restarting was a real PITA.

That premium price is a salutation to the high quality German engineering. Listened to a LMNH podcast where a guy toured for several years and didn’t service his Rohloff, to the point it sounded like a tin of gravel. Then would just send it to Germany where it was fixed like new and returned. All FOC.
 
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OP
OP
C

Crackle

..
A Rohloff is well overkill for my needs.

Looking online, a common theme is the use of mtn bike components on touring bikes. There are of course exceptions but a quick search definitely throws up a trend.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
I've only used Shimano and find if set up properly, they all work well.

Tiagra, Sora, Deore and STX RC. Heck, even the kidsTourney triple works well when it's clean and lubed.

Getting caught in the wrong gear is common and the best thing to do is go back down a little change down and turn back up.
 
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OP
OP
C

Crackle

..
Ah, deda dog fang. I've got that on a couple of mtn bikes. I think I'll get one for the roadie as well in that case.
 
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