Triple or compact?

[Chris73]

Cheers for the advice folks but i'm at my wits end if I'm honest!

I have a 75 mile charity ride in August but that's probably the only time ill ever get near those kind of figures, unless I find an amazing amount of free time in the very near future. This is highly unlikely with 17 month old twin boys!

I have a £500 budget. I'll go to £550 if the bike is a good buy.

As I said, I have twin boys. Before long they will have bikes which will mean I'll need to get a hybrid. If I bought a hybrid now, would this seriously affect my chances of completing this ride?

Out of curiosity, is this a good buy for a beginner like myself?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moser-bikes-speed-sora-2013/

If not, any suggestions would be greatly accepted.

For info, I live in the Brecon Beacons so hills are aplenty!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Cheers for the advice folks but i'm at my wits end if I'm honest!

I have a 75 mile charity ride in August but that's probably the only time ill ever get near those kind of figures, unless I find an amazing amount of free time in the very near future. This is highly unlikely with 17 month old twin boys!

I have a £500 budget. I'll go to £550 if the bike is a good buy.

As I said, I have twin boys. Before long they will have bikes which will mean I'll need to get a hybrid. If I bought a hybrid now, would this seriously affect my chances of completing this ride?

Out of curiosity, is this a good buy for a beginner like myself?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moser-bikes-speed-sora-2013/

If not, any suggestions would be greatly accepted.

For info, I live in the Brecon Beacons so hills are aplenty!

Why will you need a hybrid because you have children?

Also, do they need factoring in at all on the bike front - it'll be years before they will ever be able to do a meaningful ride with you.

 

[Chris73]

Just thinking they would be able to cycle on tow paths etc..?

Ideally I want a road bike. I like the look of the defy5 and its in my budget. Then this Moser appeared!!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Just thinking they would be able to cycle on tow paths etc..?

Ideally I want a road bike. I like the look of the defy5 and its in my budget. Then this Moser appeared!!

But seriously, it's nice to ride with your kids but even they are 5/6/7/8 whatever they are not going to go far. Nice to do as a family thing butprobably more a romantic notion than anything else. at 5 or 6 years of age which is some way off for your two you'd be just as well walking with them.

The Defy is a great bike - don't know much about the bike you have linked to.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

[QUOTE 2467877, member: 30090"]Lowest gear on a compact assuming a 34t chainring and 28t sprocket: 34/28*28=34 GI

Lowest gear on a triple assuming a 30t chainring and 28t sprocket: 30/28*28=30 GI

Going as low as you can go, a 30t chain ring and 34t sprocket: 30/34*28=24 GI

For the sake of 4 GI (or 10 GI if you want do run an MTB set up on a road bike) you'd rather have a triple and go though the hassle of installing and indexing a triple front mech and more importantly installing a medium or long cage rear mech. Do you have any idea the stigma attached to riding a bike with such a set up or how out of place a long cage rear mech looks on a road bike!

Man up, fit a compact and attack those hills! [/quote]
My set up as of 25th of May
8sp cassette using the 26/23/21/19/17/15/13 cogs the 12 is primarily used as a spacer. the 26th is from the original cassette.
The front is 52/40/30 the rides this weekend have seen an increase in my cadence due to the closer grouping of rear gears.
I will change the acera back to the sora when I get a little time to set it up again.

 

[Chris73]

But seriously, it's nice to ride with your kids but even they are 5/6/7/8 whatever they are not going to go far. Nice to do as a family thing butprobably more a romantic notion than anything else. at 5 or 6 years of age which is some way off for your two you'd be just as well walking with them.

The Defy is a great bike - don't know much about the bike you have linked to.

Going to Tredz tmrw morning to order it. Local to me and same price as most other places online.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

[QUOTE 2473695, member: 30090"]Have you an axe to grind?[/quote]
I cant, I haven't got a grinding wheel.
Though I think the consensus on this thread, has been in favour of triples, because of the closer grouping.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Going to Tredz tmrw morning to order it. Local to me and same price as most other places online.

Nice - enjoy your new bike! Stay safe.

Thread has headed off over the horizon (triples/helmets/carbon/dogs all end up the same) but it was really all about your bike.

Keep us all up to speed with your progress please - as a newbie it would be nice to see more newbies posting in the Newbie Progress thread!

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

[QUOTE 2467877, member: 30090"]

Do you have any idea the stigma attached to riding a bike with such a set up or how out of place a long cage rear mech looks on a road bike!

Man up, fit a compact and attack those hills! [/quote]

My road bike is a triple and I have fitted a Shimano Deore MTB long cage rear mech on it to lower the gearing further (and allow for even bigger cassettes if required), I honestly could not give a flying **** what it looks like or the stigma attached. It gets me up hills with my dodgy knee that I am positive a compact could not. This was posted in the beginners forum not one of the more advanced sections, I am sure the OP is probably finding hills hard enough to give a crap about the stigma attached by a a particular band of "roadies".

 

[ColinJ]

I had some young guys overtake me on the mega-hilly Pendle Pedal sportive a few years back. One of them noticed that I had a triple on my bike and made a joke about it. I think the word 'granddad' was involved ...

100 yards further on, we turned left at the crossroads at Quernmore and began a very tough climb. Halfway up I caught up with them as they walked their bikes up the steepest part of the ascent. I took my bottle from its cage and enjoyed a long drink as I cycled past them. I couldn't resist it - "Get yourselves triples, lads, it will save you wearing your cleats out walking up the steep stuff!"

 

[TheDoctor]

When I upgraded the Carbon Uberbike from Sora to 105, I went from a triple to a compact double.
I still regret it...

 

[Gravity Aided]

I always run triples on the touring bikes, although the greatest weight I've ever had to carry on mine was the groceries. Most of my touring gear is ultralight, but a couple of gallons of milk,some bottled water, and the balanced diet balanced in the panniers can add up to a training ride. Keep the granny, you never know what you'll get yourself into.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 2467877, member: 30090"]
For the sake of 4 GI (or 10 GI if you want do run an MTB set up on a road bike) you'd rather have a triple and go though the hassle of installing and indexing a triple front mech and more importantly installing a medium or long cage rear mech. Do you have any idea the stigma attached to riding a bike with such a set up or how out of place a long cage rear mech looks on a road bike!
[/quote]


The majority of cyclists don't give a hoot about the aesthetics of a long cage mech. Fitting a triple and indexing it is no more hassle than fitting a double. The granny ring will rescue cyclists at the end of a long day in the saddle when the gentlest of hills become insurmountable to those on a compact.

There's no macho element to having a double ring set up. Sensible cyclists ride what makes them comfortable and the ride enjoyable. Masochists, pro rider wannabees, and losers ride what they perceive to be 'sufferfest' personified.

Only tossers stigmatise those whose bikes don't comply with the perceived wisdom of the day.

 

[ColinJ]

[QUOTE 2475314, member: 30090"]My post (even though it had what I'd call a generous amount of smileys) seems to have a hit a nerve with a few posters in this thread.[/quote]
It does!

I know from experience elsewhere on CC that smileys do not 'heal the hurt', having been lambasted when I meant no insult!

 

[Chutzpah]

I've always used triples until my latest bike. I now run a triple on one bike and a compact on the other. The difference in actual range between the two isn't huge, the only difference really is mental - having the "get out clause" in my head of another chainring to drop in to.

At some point I'll probably change the triple to a compact as I so rarely need to utilise it. My commute has changed and it's nowhere near as hilly as it used to be. The triple was useful when I was gaining fitness and on my old hilly commute. I've heard some people talking disparagingly about them, but at the end of the day ride what's comfortable (those who talk them down are the type that yell "rule 5! Man the **** up!", then don't go out as soon as a rain shower appears).