Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
So that's your preference. And if the OP is the same way, then she should be fine with a compact. (But yes, obviously an 8-speed cassette will have wider gear spacing than a 10-speed of the same range, and that's as much a consideration as whether to have two or three up front.)

Myself, with my 50/39/30 x 11-25, I really really notice the absence of an 18-tooth cog on the cassette. The jump from 17 to 19 is just too large for me. If I went to a 50/34 x 11-34, I could have an even broader gear range, but I'd have jumps like that nearly every single gear. It would not work for MY knees or MY leg muscles.

At least with the 10-speed I have a 16; on my old 6-speed (52/42 x 12-21) it was awful having to jump from 15 to 17.
It's my preference, but saying that she's going to have a problem hunting for a gear in almost every gear on a compact is not a true statement - it depends on what she's running on her rear cassette. Especially as we have no idea what the gears are on her current bike - I think she's got a hybrid from the tri thread she posted? So probably 3x8 in the back, so she is probably hunting for gears that work at times, but that's more related to an 8 speed in the back.

If you put an 12-23 rear cassette on your triple, you could get rid of not having an 18 tooth cog, and you probably wouldn't feel like you were hunting for a gear on a triple. A 12-23 would also probably fix a lot of that on a compact for you. Now that may not give you enough gears for hills, and it may not give her enough gears either. Not that I think you should get a compact at all, because you seem happy with your bike - but compact doubles are not as bad as you're making them out to be.

If you're having knee pain, you might want to look into your crank length if you haven't already - I switch my cranks to 165's which is much kinder on my knees.