What type of triple do you have, that has a 42t middle ring? All the (road) ones that I have seen are 50-39-30.I'd happily ride both (compact and tripple) regardless of the terrain but I'm fairly fit. The fit of the bike is more important to me; fashion/availability dictates 90% of the time that its a double or compact but I found the 42t middle ring of a tripple more convenient for riding in a group; the 34, 36 or 38t compact is too small for me.
My old Sirrus Sport 06 has a 30/42/52 but the newer ones have been downgeared; irrc my ex colleagues 2010 Marin also had a 30/42/52 chain ring.What type of triple do you have, that has a 42t middle ring? All the (road) ones that I have seen are 50-39-30.
I got a 52-40-30, though I did have a 48-38-26 for a while, this helped me to increase my fitness so I could then go back to the 52-40-30, but I have gone through a range of rear ratios, which I am about to change again as I have quite a jump from 18-21 (currently 12/14/16/18/21/24/28 the 30x28 was the same as 26x24), I am now at the point where I don't use the 28 on my rides so I can fit a closer set of ratios.What type of triple do you have, that has a 42t middle ring? All the (road) ones that I have seen are 50-39-30.
I'm guessing that difference is more down to the bikes (hybrid v road bike), as oppose to tripple v compactI have a triple on my hybrid - I don't think I have ever used the granny ring, and a compact on the road bike, I find the road bike is much easier to ride on the hills. (or what passes for hills around here)