SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
You don't need to carry a heavy touring load to benefit from a triple. Anything with flat bars, mudguards and a rack is much better if equipped with a triple. They aren't very aerodynamic and they weigh more than a stripped down fair weather bike. Triples give you the gearing range whilst keeping the size of the largest rear sprocket down and being able to use low cost drivetrain consumables and have sprocket spacings that aren't super sensitive to minor indexing maladjustments or frame flex. No problem with chain clattering or ghost shifting under load if something is very slightly out of adjustment.
I mostly run 28/38/48 chainrings combined with 14-28 freewheels which gives me a 27" bottom gear on a 700c wheel. I can get up pretty much anything whilst remaining seated and without having to get off. To get that gearing with a 34/50 double I would have to have a 34T sprocket on the back, which means having a cassette with a smallest sprocket of 11 or 12T which would never get used in the big front ring and might as well not be there. I don't need anything smaller than a 14T rear cog, and the highest overall gear of around 93" with my set ups is plenty.
