compact double v triple? (my new bike!)

[Veronica]

That graph could totally be done with a compact double. I do stuff like that all the time with a 50/36 12-27. That graph isn't nearly as bad as the earlier one in that a lot of the hard hills are only around 200ft gains. I don't get out to that terrain as often as I'd like to do 65+ mile rides, but I can hang on for 50 just fine. With a 50/34, there'd be no problem at all. My cadence doesn't go below 60rpm on a hill.

Ahhh... that's my point. The second graph is rollers, not our typical terrain. That ride was 90 minutes away from me, probably two hours away for RHG. And she plans 100 miles.

V.

[aicabsolut]

Ahhh... that's my point. The second graph is rollers, not our typical terrain. That ride was 90 minutes away from me, probably two hours away for RHG. And she plans 100 miles.

V.

Gotcha.


As for the 100 miles part, if I kept training for it instead of training for short road races and crits, I would still keep my compact for the rolling terrain. I can hit a hill at mile 50 and feel better than I used to on a hill at mile 20. With the right training and enough calories, that shouldn't be the big factor. For me, climbing 1000 feet at a time, as opposed to a couple hundred, would be the deciding element.

[SadieKate]

Exactly! The ride on Saturday was roller after roller after roller. I used my granny for two short sections that were longer because the granny was there but I probably could have made it fine without it (a low of 40x28), but change that to a climb up Mt. Tam? Oh no, I love that little ring. Gives me lots of options for changing up my cadence.

[Trekhawk]

Exactly! The ride on Saturday was roller after roller after roller. I used my granny for two short sections that were longer because the granny was there but I probably could have made it fine without it (a low of 40x28), but change that to a climb up Mt. Tam? Oh no, I love that little ring. Gives me lots of options for changing up my cadence.

Im still re-living the fact that I actually passed some people on those two short sections and yes I was in my granny.

Trekhawk who wouldn't be without her triple here in Northern California.

[Kano]

I'm fairly new, compared to the amazing women I bow to here, but there are hills all around us in Boise, and while I don't exactly head for them yet, my immediate response to the IDEA of a bicycle last spring was "better have plenty of granny gearing for the hills" and when we looked at road bikes for me this year, I flat out refused to consider the one that didn't have a triple, even though it rode beautifully! DH frowned a bit cuz it was going to cost more, but he rides with me, and knows -- I'll use all those gears! (so far, I've just played to make sure they work! we haven't been to "my" hill yet with the new bike -- he hasn't been at all yet this year)

Karen in Boise, who wishes the wind would go away!

[Aggie_Ama]

I have been staying out of this because I think the locals give the best advice. BUT I will say as a triple rider the confidence factor is a biggie. In Texas we have a lot of just nasty steep hills. Nothing like these mountains, but I will find that I am in my smallest gear. Even when I was very strong last year I still needed the granny on occasion, but I haven't met a hill in Texas I couldn't climb. When I shopped for my new bike I just didn't have the confidence for a new shifting system AND a compact double. Some of it is physical, some of it is mental. But my bike makes me happy and that is that.

Aggie_Very Proud FRED with a Triple on Carbon_Ama