Triple v Double

Thanks, Catriona :)

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Originally Posted by Syndirelah

depends on where you live. Colorado? Triple.

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Not necessarily. I live in VA at the foot of the Blue Ridge. We generally have short, steep climbs. I also ride in CO every year - in the Rockies - where the climbs can be 15 miles or more. I had a triple for about 8 years & it was fine, but switched two years ago to a compact double and immediately loved it. Maybe it was all in my head but the climbing seemed easier (still does). Last summer I rode the Triple Bypass on my compact double with no issues.

BTW, I am no spring chicken - I am 56 and have only been riding road bikes for about 10 years. So....I guess my point is that if you want a compact, go for it, but if you think you would need a triple then there is nothing wrong with that either. The most important thing is that you are on your bike and having fun!

I am testing the 2.1 triple next week. I think i will be happy with it. I plan to ride with a cycling club in Westchester NY. I anticipate pretty big hills and having not riden a bike in over 25 years means the granny gear will be needed and appreciated.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I have a compact double on my road bike and I'm very happy with it. This is all I've ever known on a road bike though. Currently my terrain varies from flat, to rolling hills, to hills with a 8-12% grade over a couple miles. There occasionally has been times on those long steep hills where I wanted to shift down more and couldn't. However, I was still able to make it up the hills. Those instances have been rare though, and the more I do hills (it's fairly recent that I began incorporating them), the less often that happens of course. Anyways, good luck on making your decision!

-Jessica

I bought a bike with a compact double because I got a great deal on craigslist. It replaced a bike with a triple. I found that I had lost my bottom 2 lowest gears. I live in the Santa Cruz mountains, and some of the hills are either very steep or very long or both. When I went to get a bigger rear cassette (for a 10 speed), they (Shimano) said there was no such thing. It turns out that a company called IRD does make one. Pairing that (12-32) with a long cage road bike derailleur that was meant for 10 speed works just great (not a mountain bike derailleur that is meant for 9 speed). Anyway, I got my low gears back and now like the compact double better. On the triple, it seemed that I was either riding on flat or downhill where I was in the large front ring. Or it got very steep and I needed the small front ring. It seems that I almost never used the middle ring and it was just an extra step to shift through it. the double with a bigger rear cassette seems to be the best of both worlds. Perhaps you could special order your new bike like that instead of having to pay to change it out later.