compact double v triple? (my new bike!)

[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