Triple on a road bike - yay or nay

[wafflycat]

Mine all have triple chainsets.

Triples & doubles come and go with fashion. Currently the fashion is for double 'compact' chainsets. I am glad I am not bothered by fashion. I need and like a triple chainset.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i think the snobbery about triples comes about because you don't see the pros using them (although indurain used to, apparently).

of course, if had a mechanic who would fit the perfect ratios for each day's ride, i wouldn't need a triple, but until then…

 

[Ian H]

i think the snobbery about triples comes about because you don't see the pros using them (although indurain used to, apparently).

Yes, but they're racing. No one here's talking about racing bikes.

 

[Bloke]

Another question - are the new triples compatible with a ten speed block yeah? And what kind of redundancy do you have in the gears - can you be in the smallest ring on the front and smallest at the back, and largest at front and back or is that too much crossover? - Can the middle ring at the front use all ten ratio's at the back?

 

[Ian H]

I set mine up as a fairly close-ratio double plus an escape ring. So in other words my set-up is closer to racing, if you ignore the granny ring, than your wide-ratio compact.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Another question - are the new triples compatible with a ten speed block yeah? And what kind of redundancy do you have in the gears - can you be in the smallest ring on the front and smallest at the back, and largest at front and back or is that too much crossover? - Can the middle ring at the front use all ten ratio's at the back?

yes. the length of the rear mech will determine how big a big sprocket you can handle. a short arm mech is reckoned to be good to about 27, but i've seen a clubmate with 34 on a long armed mech. my tiagra groupset came with a long armed mech.

 

[Greenbank]

It's all about what it'll be used for.

For 10 mile TTs and fast training round Richmond Park or the Surrey Hills I'll use the Wilier with a compact double. Most of the time I'd be on the big chainring and only on the smaller chainring for the hills. A triple on these kinds of rides would be overkill, I just wouldn't use the small chainring.

If I'm on a hilly 300km Audax that goes the length of the peak district twice (South to North to South) then I'll take the triple. Most of the time I'll be on the middle chainring with the big chainring for long downhill sections and the small chainring for grinding up the hills.

For me, a compact setup for these rides start off ok but then get annoying once I get tired and I want to flick between gears that are just below the bottom of the large chainring.

A 100 mile sportive is somewhere in between, so I'd probably err on the side of a compact rather than a triple. But if I was buying one bike to do more varied types of riding, including slogging up and down hills in the depths of winter, it'd be a triple.

 

[GrasB]

Another question - are the new triples compatible with a ten speed block yeah?

Yes

And what kind of redundancy do you have in the gears - can you be in the smallest ring on the front and smallest at the back, and largest at front and back or is that too much crossover? - Can the middle ring at the front use all ten ratio's at the back?

The manufactures considered wisdom is you lose the top 3 gears on the bottom chainring, the top & bottom gear in the middle chainring & the bottom 3 gears on the top chainring. Usually you can get away with a losing 2 gears on the top & bottom chainrings with a full cassette selection from the middle without things getting noisy.

 

[jimboalee]

i think the snobbery about triples comes about because you don't see the pros using them (although indurain used to, apparently).

of course, if had a mechanic who would fit the perfect ratios for each day's ride, i wouldn't need a triple, but until then…

Become a mechanic who fits the perfect ratios for the day's ride.

All the calculation software is on the internet.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Triple is fine on a Road bike and offers more flexibility over uncertain terrain or when you're knackered etc. with very little downside.
Compacts have IMO a nasty hole in the their ratios requireing more double shifting than a triple and frankly I can't be arsed to mess about with 2 levers to find the next gear I want.
Triples, hubs and fixedwheels are the only decent gearing options unless you're racing!

 

[MacB]

Triples, hubs and fixedwheels are the only decent gearing options unless you're racing!

what about a super compact, say 26/42 or 29/44, this gives pretty darn close to a Rohloff and avoids double changes as the inner would only be a bail out.

 

[Ian H]

what about a super compact, say 26/42 or 29/44, this gives pretty darn close to a Rohloff and avoids double changes as the inner would only be a bail out.

So effectively a single ring with a granny. The only trouble for me would be the need for a wider-ratio cassette. I like narrow changes and the ability to keep a constant cadence - keeping the rhythm going.

 

[Bloke]

THanks for all the answers lads. Appreciate it.

One more for ye:

The advantage of a compact for me was that all I had to buy was the two front sprockets and fit them, everything else stayed as it was. So it was a cheap and effective mod.

-With the triple, is it as simple as that? I'm getting from some of the posts that the rear mech might be triple specific. - Is the front derailleur specific as well for dealing with three ratios?

-I suppose what I'm asking is, if I go for a new bike with a triple and I fancy changing back (to a double or compact), does it entail purchasing a whole new chainset?

 

[Greenbank]

-I suppose what I'm asking is, if I go for a new bike with a triple and I fancy changing back (to a double or compact), does it entail purchasing a whole new chainset?

Depends on exactly what make/model/year of gears you have, but you may need to buy a new:-

* rear mech - triples mean there is a greater difference between the smallest and largest chainrings meaning that the rear mech has to be table to take up a larger amount of slack chain. This is the 'capacity' of a rear mech. In general, you'll probably need a new rear mech if the existing one is a short cage. Medium cage you might be ok swapping between compact and triple. Long cage you'll be fine. If you have a triple and go to compact then you'll be fine, there's no problem running a compact with a long cage rear mech (although the purists will scoff at anything but a short cage rear mech).

* bottom bracket - triples often require a different length bottom bracket axle as they need to be slightly further out and have a larger Q-factor. A double or compact may work on it but will not be perfectly aligned.

* front mech - sometimes you might need a new front mech for a triple, but a triple front mech should handle a double.

* front STI/Ergo lever - sometimes you'll need to change the ergo/STI lever too if you move from double to triple or vice versa, as you don't want to be able to over-shift and ship the chain

Again, this is a generalisation as Shimano/Campag/SRAM, groupset name (105/Ultegra/Centaur/Veloce/Red/Force/etc) will differ, even from year to year.

So, no, it's not just as simple as swapping the chainset over.

A good bike shop will be able to help you. A crap bike shop will too, but their advice might be rubbish.

 

[GrasB]

Triple is fine on a Road bike and offers more flexibility over uncertain terrain or when you're knackered etc. with very little downside.

<snip>

Triples, hubs and fixedwheels are the only decent gearing options unless you're racing!

This is a personal view, IME the extra shifting complexity of a triple is a real downside as I have to think much more about chainring selection. The only triple which kinda works for me is a 26/36/48 but then I so rarely use the 26t chainring don't see much point.

Compacts have IMO a nasty hole in the their ratios requireing more double shifting than a triple and frankly I can't be arsed to mess about with 2 levers to find the next gear I want.

I find I need to double shift on triple chainring swaps anyway. Maybe having bar-end shifters at my finger tips on bull horns or up until recently grip shifts on flat bars means that double shifting is double shifting be it a 1 or 10 gear change at the back. Not having used STIs or thumb shifters in a long time maybe that does limit your ability to double shift smoothly but I just don't know.