I'm having a new bike built and will have a choice of installing either a compact double or a triple. I live in a very hilly place and have been using a Dura Ace triple 9 speed with a 12-27 on the back. I also take my bike on multi-day rides over varying terrains. The triple is good quality and it's worked fine. I also have an old Ultegra 7 speed that I converted to a compact double. It's ok but since it's a 7 speed it has big jumps between gears, so it's not a good comparison to the triple.

With the options out there today with the compact doubles (i.e., SRAM Apex or running a Shimano 10 speed mountain rear derailleurs with a 10 speed cassette) I'm considering perhaps a compact double with the ability to get the gears for the big hills. However, with the compact I'm still concerned about big jumps between gears and constantly having to shift the front derailleur. Many times with the triple, I can stay in the middle ring for much of the ride and have small jumps between gears. I do have a few knee issues and am getting older!

So, sorry for the long-winded post, but which would you recommend and why?