Double Chain Ring...yikes

[violette]

I had a OCR3 and it had triple chain ring. I bought a Roubaix, and it only had double. It never even crossed my mind that it would be harder to go up hill! and boy, is it. Did someone here go from a triple to a double?

[motochick]

What are your double rings? Compact? What is your rear cluster? My hubby and I went from a triple to a compact on our tandem and all we do is go uphill. If we now what you have on your new bike, maybe we can help you get the right combo to make the hills easier. There will be a difference but it doesn't have to be so drastic.

Brenda

[Peanut03]

I have a triple right now, but I never use the "granny" gear. I originally got the triple because I was afraid I wouldn't make it up a hill. So it was strictly for emergency purposes. I think I've used it 3x in 7 years. I use the 39x53 chain rings and it seems to be fine for me. My new bike will have a compact double and I'm curious to see how that works for me. I think the compacts are 34x50.

[Jo-n-NY]

I have a triple right now, but I never use the "granny" gear. I originally got the triple because I was afraid I wouldn't make it up a hill. So it was strictly for emergency purposes. I think I've used it 3x in 7 years. I use the 39x53 chain rings and it seems to be fine for me. My new bike will have a compact double and I'm curious to see how that works for me. I think the compacts are 34x50.

Wow! I consider you a very strong rider. I rode the Bloomin Metic a few years ago. The ride was described to me as rolling hills. Some of those hills were so steep I by all means did not consider them rolling. Yes, that was a first time for me using my granny gears. I sure you will have not problem riding those hills with your compact.

~ JoAnn

[littlegrasshopp]

I am interested in this same question! I have a compact double. I seem to be in the lowest gears all the time! We will come to a hill and half way up DH is telling me to shift to an easier gear and spin...I am out of gears!! We are considering changing to a tripple. I have campi components and DH has said we can convert easily. The current shifters will work with the conversion.

[OakLeaf]

One thing I noticed when I was running gearing charts a week or two ago, was that a stock Campy double is considerably taller than a stock Shimano double. Before you do the triple conversion, you might just try shorter gearing on your double.

[violette]

Sorry, I don't know was a compact and cluster is???

[aicabsolut]

Sorry, I don't know was a compact and cluster is???

How many teeth on the chain rings? 53/39, 52/39, 52/38, 50/36, 50/34, etc.

Size (range) of cassette? 12-27, 12-25, 12-23, 11-23, etc.

[Pedal Wench]

One thing I noticed when I was running gearing charts a week or two ago, was that a stock Campy double is considerably taller than a stock Shimano double. Before you do the triple conversion, you might just try shorter gearing on your double.

They're both typically 53/39 -- same on Campy and Shimano, but I know Campy has a 13/29 cassette -- that I use religiously!

[OakLeaf]

They're both typically 53/39 -- same on Campy and Shimano, but I know Campy has a 13/29 cassette -- that I use religiously!

Yeah, I see now that I look more into it, top-end racing bikes generally come with 53/39 whichever gruppo they have. But lower-end bikes and "sport-tourers" like the compact version of my Synapse seem to come with 50/34.

Anyway yeah, it's a combination of how strong you are and how steep and long your hills are. Back in the day I could power up most anything with a low gear of 42x21. Not any more

There aren't a lot of 20%+ hills around here, but there are enough. I know where most of them are, and they're the ones where I use the puppy gear. If I rode more I'm sure I could get strong enough again that I wouldn't need it... but that's just not where I'm at right now. So I'm happy with my triple

[kfergos]

I am interested in this same question! I have a compact double. I seem to be in the lowest gears all the time! We will come to a hill and half way up DH is telling me to shift to an easier gear and spin...I am out of gears!!

Me too! This is very timely, since I've been thinking about either going for a triple ($$) or getting some smaller gears. My ratio is 46/38 in the front, 12-27 in the back. Does that make me a total wuss to want lower gearing than that, and to never really use the 46 in daily use?

[chicago]

I'm soon going from a triple to a compact...

[violette]

I checked this morning; on the big ring, it says 53-39 and on the small ring, it says 39. Is this bad ???

[motochick]

It is not bad, but more important to know is what is the biggest one in the rear. Count the teeth.

Brenda

[Andrea]

I checked this morning; on the big ring, it says 53-39 and on the small ring, it says 39. Is this bad ???

In my (humble) opinion, it's not necessarily bad. Before you go out & spend money on a compact or triple, check your rear cassette. For help on the hills, the cog with the most teeth should have 26 or 27 (or even more, but that can leave you missing a few gears in the middle that you'd want on the flats). Buying a cassette with that gearing will cost less than a new crankset.

Give it a chance. Yes, it's going to seem harder at times, but chances are, if you keep pushing yourself, you'll get better at using the slightly harder gearing to climb hills. To quote something that another TE-er said to me once: "No self-doubt, please!"