Compact vs Triple

[OakLeaf]

I wonder if distance makes a difference, too. And whether you're riding with others. For a short ride, maybe you can "live with" an uncomfortable cadence; if you're alone, maybe you can maintain your preferred cadence but not ride your first choice of pace. But if you're going to be out for hours - or if you're trying to stay with other riders - you don't have that luxury.

With a compact, yes you can get some pretty low gears, but you're going to be losing gears in the very range that you ride the most. That's not just an issue for racers. IMO it's just as important for less strong riders. I wonder if the preponderance of strong but casual riders on this board is the reason there seems to be so much preference for compacts.

Also, if you're running out of high gears, that means you're not going to have as much momentum on descents to propel you up the next hill.

Of the two groups I ride with, in the stronger and faster group (B/A-) about half of them run triples; in the slower group (C+/B+) ALL of them do. The slower group is mostly composed of people who ride 7-10,000 miles a year, just at a slower pace.

As has also been pointed out when the topic has come up before, it depends on how much you plan to haul, too. If you're commuting or touring, your needs are very much different from a day rider's.

[aicabsolut]

I wonder if distance makes a difference, too. And whether you're riding with others. For a short ride, maybe you can "live with" an uncomfortable cadence; if you're alone, maybe you can maintain your preferred cadence but not ride your first choice of pace. But if you're going to be out for hours - or if you're trying to stay with other riders - you don't have that luxury.

With a compact, yes you can get some pretty low gears, but you're going to be losing gears in the very range that you ride the most. That's not just an issue for racers. IMO it's just as important for less strong riders. I wonder if the preponderance of strong but casual riders on this board is the reason there seems to be so much preference for compacts.

Also, if you're running out of high gears, that means you're not going to have as much momentum on descents to propel you up the next hill.

That's not necessarily true. Even in races, I rarely run out of gears on either end. Therefore, the range of gears that I need the most is precisely what I have on my compact.

The 50/12 is plenty of gear for me for sprinting, unless there's a major tailwind or downhill sprint. Most of the sprints in my races tend to be uphill, and there, it's my legs holding me back and not my gearing. My cassette is a bit spaced out, but I don't have a big problem finding the right cruising gear. It can get more challenging in a TT, and sometimes it can be hard to draft off of someone with vastly different gearing at the low end of the cassette (where the jumps between cogs is greater for me).

As for descending, I can hit over 40mph on descents where I've outspun my hardest gear. That's fast enough for me. Depending on what's next, that momentum may not do that much for the next climb. It certainly won't help in mountain regions where you have really long climbs and really long descents. It only helps on rolling terrain where you are constantly going up and down. There, usually the descents aren't enough that I'm really wishing I had a 53 up front. In fact, I like being able to pop over some rollers in the 50 and not having to shift so much.

I don't have any problems staying with a group or riding for 4+ hours in the mountains because of my compact. If I can't keep up, then a triple isn't really going to help me much. I'd be able to spin a little faster, but I'm still not keeping up with the boys running standard cranksets. My compact only *possibly* holds me back on the flats when I'm getting dropped at 30+mph, but really, would i be able to sustain that speed with harder gears for any longer? Doubtful.

I don't think that distance makes much of a difference or being a strong casual rider (whatever that means) versus a strong serious rider or a racer or whatever. Instead, crankset preferences seem to have a lot to do with riding style, strength, terrain, joint health, and similar factors. For example, if I'd be hitting those 20% grades regularly, I'd want a triple to 1) keep my knees happier, and 2) reduce the chance that I'd have to get off and walk because of #1 or when my fitness lags. Overall, the compact works just fine for me.

Also, based on your group ride examples, it seems like a triple is needed because of your terrain. As a counter example, I ride with one faster group back home and I'm probably the only one with a compact (everyone else has standard gearing and itty bitty cassettes)--because it is FLAT. How long you ride or how strong you are and what your preferred cadence is relative to your strength is only part of the equation.

[lunacycles]

Switching a bike like the Madone to a triple with mountain bike-like gearing in the rear (anything lower than 27t, usually) will not only necessitate a new cassette, but also new brifters (and sometimes new derailleurs). MTB cassettes (11-32, 11-34) are 9 speed and the Madone is set up for a road 10-speed, hence necessitating different shifters if you make that switch--in order to shift properly.

So it is a major deal, labor and parts wise, to make the change (basically a new drivetrain), and don't be surprised if the LBS has to charge you something additional to the bike price to secure both the sale and any kind of profit. That being said, if you really want the low gear options, the time to decide that is when you are purchasing the bike as the shop will be most willing to do what is necessary at minimal extra charge in order to get the sale.

If set up properly, a triple crank shifts as well as a compact (often better, imo), and adds more options at minimal weight penalty.

Margo