Triples and low gears

[SadieKate]

Apparently, many of the pros at the Giro today used triple cranksets.

From http://www.velonews.com/tick/html/stage175.html
There are several riders who've slapped triples on today. Even the maglia rosa has opted for 34X29... that's the sort of gearing you'd put on a mountain bike. We've had MTB doubles on some of our cross-country bikes and that's about the gear choice, too. Again, this is a Category 1 climb only because the Giro doesn't use the hors categorie designation.

I was snickering (in empathy) at the bike shop the other day. One of the local racers was complaining about the crappy shifting of her compact double. She said that if it weren't for the stigma of a triple and the crap she'd get from the other racers, she'd have a triple always. For one thing, they shift better in the pressure of racing a mountain stage because the spacing is smaller.

I just find the cultural taboo against triples interesting, when people who like triples don't typically have a taboo against doubles. Fire away at me if you want want, but if the big boys can use triples so can we. Pick your gearing for you and your terrain, not due to cultural peer pressure.