Gears, cranksets, and mountains....help!

[alpinerabbit]

More a remodel than a repair, the cheaper ticket is the compact double which will get you up anything if you have the right cassette.

[SadieKate]

Why is a compact necessarily cheaper? A lot of shifters are triple compatible. She may have to swap out the BB as well as the front der, just like she would for a triple.

What gearing does your tour company/leader/guide/whatever recommend for the chosen route? The various routes can have different amounts and types of climbing? Are you carrying your own gear? The more gear you have on the bike, the lower the gears you'll want.

[KnottedYet]

Depending on the type of crank and such you have, you might be able to just toss a third chainring on your existing spider.

My new road bike came with a double, but the spider had bolt spots for a third ring. $19 for a nice Salsa granny, a few minutes of my LBS's time (they didn't charge for that) and now I have a triple.

The front der didn't shift sweetly with the third ring, so the guys traded a longer cage for it. Again, no charge, but I gave them some beer...

[madscot13]

after looking at rebuiling my bike, it looks that it would be the most expensive thing. Its the price of the crankset, maybe the bottom bracket, and the shifters. most STIs can only do double or triple. so if you want Ultegra it will be more than 500. BUt I think sometimes you can find just the right or the left shifter.

[SadieKate]

As far as I know only upper level Shimano (Ultegra and Dura-Ace) are double or triple specific. Up through Shimano 105, the shifters are compatible with either. All Campy shifters are compatible with either. It depends on what Amatron has on her bike already and the age of the components. Even BB and front ders can need to be changed if she just changes her chain rings. The curves need to match.

Yes, freqently single shifters can be purchased.

Of course, there is always the possibility that she does have a triple crank without the inner ring mounted. You do see that. You also see doubles run with only one chain ring (I've done that). A mfg could have left off a chain ring and sold it as a double, or a previous owner could have removed it. A few cranks just happen to have bolt holes in the right spots; those are uncommon but not unknown.