Triple or compact?

[Hacienda71]

I had to change the large ring on my compact after 1 year as I had worn it out. The reason, the drop to the little ring is a horrible jump to make, so I would rather run a sheeite chain line than drop to the little ring while simultaneously changing on the cassette as well to maintain a regular cadence, riding with a bad chainline wears your front rings suprisingly quickly. My triple was bought second hand 3 years ago and all three front rings are still going strong.

 

[doog]

Triple if you live near hills and value your knees.

 

[Hip Priest]

I wish I'd got a triple to start with. I've got a compact 50-34t with 11-26 cassette and steep hills (12% +) are an absolute bastard. Even mile-long climbs of 8-10% are tough, as I can't maintain a high cadence.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

One of the things I like about triples is the way you can have only small step changes on the cassette - good for steady cadence - yet still have a wide range of gears. Oh, and once you've got the indexing nicely set up (or use bar end or friction shifters), they're just as smooth changing gears with less of that changing down at the front and then immediately having to change one up at the rear because the front end shifting is too big a change.

 

[simon.r]

I run both and in many ways the triple is a far smoother drive train than the compact. What I mean by that is the jumps between gears. On a triple you get the same smoothness as a double but with the extreme ratios you get with a compact. It has got to the stage that when I change/wear out my front small ring on the compact I am likely to replace it with a 39.

I'll go with this ^. My fairly new bike has a compact double, my older bike has a triple - I find it easier to get the 'right' gear on the triple and the granny gear option comes in handy from time to time

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I've found on a triple I could leave the front alone much more and ride mostly on the rear, but when I did need extra zip or climbing, gear change combos were more intuitive to my plodders brain.

With a double I find I have to concentrate on the gears more intently throughout my ride & think which combo I'm in and want to go to so as not to start hearing chain chatter from the front mech.

doubling is more of a technique and an art than tripling and you do get an odd sense of satisfaction hitting every change combo just right to not miss a beat, but its also more of a pain when you just want to pedal along with you brain off the hook for a bit.

 

[inkd]

As a beginner I have a triple on my sirrus BUT I can honestly say that I have not used the small cog on the front (sorry for my lack of tech speak) as A, I find pedalling like mad and not getting far. B, In the new forest there are only inclines not hills. So I personally don't see the point in having a triple.
As mentioned above, take a few bikes out for a test ride and see which suits your needs.

 

[Banjo]

I look at a triple as a double with an extra ring for occassional use on steep hills when you are tired.

On the recent Cyclechat South Wales Betws ride some very experienced riders were wishing they had a triple.

It may sound odd but I think you will do less shifting between chainrings with a triple than with a compact double as you will spend most of your time happily on the middle ring.

 

[MaxInc]

I find pedalling like mad and not getting far.

This is my feeling too even on the compact, at some point it feels like it would be better to just walk As a beginner the ideea of a tripple was interesting but when I've chossen my bike, it was low on the priority list.

 

[Longshot]

Ditto. I spend most of life on the middle ring on my triple (another Sirrus). The small ring only ever gets used for the really steep stuff and, as a fat bar steward, I'm not giving that up any time soon.

 

[User28924]

Personally I find the benefits of the triple on my bike are the fact that I can sit in the middle chainring the majority of the time, maintain a steady cadence with small ratio changes on shifting. There is less hassle changing up the front. I'm reasonably fit, relatively light, and live somewhere flat. I don't need the inner ring per-se (though it doesn't actually go much lower than most compacts), and I don't think this is the main advantage. On my fairly entry level bike, is the 100g going to make any difference whatsoever? No.
As far trimming and adjusting, personally it's not something I've yet had to to do since receiving the bike (800 miles later) and it's still shifting as well as it was. A half turn of the barrel adjuster is all.

Having said that, if and when I buy another bike it will have a compact or standard, purely because, for better or worse, it's fashionable and pretty much every bike you can buy has one, and I'm not going to the added cost of replacing shifters.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I use the inner ring (30th) where the middle groups of gears overlap the low on the middle ring (40th) for example
a 40x24 is 43.88" a 30x19 is 41.53" going to a 21th rear is the same as a 40x28 (37.57") combo, but from the 19 (41.53") to the 17 (46.41") is like a half gear, which can be useful when climbing.
40x24 is 43.83"
40x21 is 50.10"

 

[pawl]

Sound logic except you missed the point of a triple in that generally (on a road set up) you wouldn't have a 28T sprocket - the triple lets you have a nice narrow range so you get fewer jumps as you ahve sthe wider range on you chainrings. I ride a compact, but I can see the appeal of triples.

Agree. I have both compact and triple.i prefer the triple as I find the jumps between the 50 and 34 rings a bit much with triple the jumps are not so big.I tend to use the compact equipped bike for shorter rides during the winter.Use what you are comfortable with not what current fashion says you should use.Cycling is about enjoying your self.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Just a little afterthought: there have been a good number of posts on here about the Triban. Though it's a much loved bike, owners have often talked about the upgrades, the grumbles and the lowest quality components on their VFM bikes. However, I don't remember any about them changing from the standard issue triple to a compact/double. Admittedly, the Sora cassette wouldn't take much more than a 28 teeth ring so a compact would mean an automatic drop in gear range. But the point here is that it's not been an issue. (At least, it hasn't been an issue that I've noticed.)

 

[Powely]

After reading this thread, I'm going to get a triple on my next bike, for smoother gear changes and more range (if I understand it right). Then change it to a double should I feel the need. Rather have the option of more range at this point, still class myself as a beginner.