Triple v Double

[NbyNW]

I think it varies from person to person and also depends on the terrain that you are spending most of your time on.

I have terrible knees, so I will rely a lot on my granny gear to get me up hills, especially steep ones that occur late in my route, early in the season when I'm getting back in shape. I'd rather slowly spin my way up a hill than dismount and walk it. If I can do the same hill later in the season using a "harder" gear setting and still not feel like I'm mashing, then I view it as progress. By end of season I hardly use the tiny gear at all. And then I start over again the next season.

Then again, I just moved to a place that doesn't have a lot in the way of hills, so unless I travel out of the region with my bike, that little gear is probably obsolete.

With a triple you have to be careful not to cross-chain your gears. Otherwise, I'm glad I have it.

Did the bike shop tell you how long you would have to wait for the double? If that's what you want and you feel strongly about it, I'd ask about an estimated delivery date and then make a decision.

[uk elephant]

I didn't realize I had a double on my new bike until I hit the first steep'ish hill and couldn't get the bike to shift another gear. Oops. Turns out, I've been very happy with my double even on hills. I did change out the cassette for a mtb'ish one which gave me a couple of easier gears for the bigger hills. I now live in Wales with monster hills and this set-up works just fine for me and I'm not a strong rider. I don't think I would now switch to a tripple if I was looking for a new bike, but I'm not certain until I've tried both options I guess.

[OakLeaf]

This has been discussed to death....

It's less about the total range of gears you need, than it is about the range of RPMs you're comfortable pedaling.

With a mountain cassette and RD, you can have very low gearing with a compact. You'll always be able to get somewhat lower with a triple, but usually only by one or two gears. But a triple will let you get closer ratios for any given range of gearing.

Are there "holes" in your current gearing now, where one gear feels too short and the next one feels too tall? Do you need your cassette to be close-ratio for your knees or your muscles to be happy? Do you need to keep your cadence within about a 5-8 RPM range? And in addition to those, do you have many hills over 10-12% in your area? Then get a triple.

If you can tolerate fairly large jumps in gearing, OR you live in terrain without steep climbs (note that many very mountainous areas have built their roads with gentle grades so the trucks can get up them, whereas areas with small hills can be quite steep) - then a compact will make shifting less complicated and possibly a little smoother.

[Crankin]

Oakleaf, you described the need for a triple perfectly! I finally figured out (duh) that the shorter, very steep hills are routine for me, including my own street and driveway. When I read about people doing sustained climbs of 7-8 miles I wonder how they do that, because in my mind they are all at 10% or above. Now i realize those climbs are more like 4-5%.
I am one that prefers to spin up a difficult climb, in the easiest gear possible. Over the course of the season, I do tend to use harder and harder gears on some of these climbs, but I don't feel the need to prove anything. And while I love the feeling of pushing the big gear on a flat, I find one of my knees feels it the next day.
So the granny is my friend. Especially at this time of the year!

[indysteel]

This has been discussed to death....

It's less about the total range of gears you need, than it is about the range of RPMs you're comfortable pedaling.

With a mountain cassette and RD, you can have very low gearing with a compact. You'll always be able to get somewhat lower with a triple, but usually only by one or two gears. But a triple will let you get closer ratios for any given range of gearing.

Are there "holes" in your current gearing now, where one gear feels too short and the next one feels too tall? Do you need your cassette to be close-ratio for your knees or your muscles to be happy? Do you need to keep your cadence within about a 5-8 RPM range? And in addition to those, do you have many hills over 10-12% in your area? Then get a triple.

If you can tolerate fairly large jumps in gearing, OR you live in terrain without steep climbs (note that many very mountainous areas have built their roads with gentle grades so the trucks can get up them, whereas areas with small hills can be quite steep) - then a compact will make shifting less complicated and possibly a little smoother.

Great post, Oakleaf.

I think it might help to clarify, too, that there are "standard" doubles, e.g., a 53-39, and "compact" doubles. While I might the OP is talking about a compact double, it's not clear from her post.

[TrekTheKaty]

STOP IT YOU GUYS! I was thinking about switching from my triple to a compact double (increased fitness over the last year), but DH doesn't want to. Guess I need a new bike

[Cataboo]

Trekkaty - You can run it through a gear calculator - but a compact double with an 11-28 is not that different from a triple with an 11-25. You do have bigger gaps between the gears. But there are 12-26, 11-27, whatever cogs that can be done as well. I don't notice any problems with finding the right gear, but that's just me - others seem to miss certain gears.

I kept one bike a triple & one bike a compact double - and really, I wish I'd gone compact double with both. I just have an easier time with being in the right gear at the right time on the double, and you don't have to worry about cross chaining as much as you do on a triple - a compact double will generally let you get away with being in the 50 chain ring on the front and the 28 on the back. (I know, I'm bad). And I actually climb better on the compact double, which might be related to the bike geometry or something.

But at this point, it's too expensive to bother converting the triple to a compact double (I sold a bike with a double that I could have just exchanged the parts from) - so that bike will likely stay a triple forever, and hopefully I never meet a hill that I require all those gears.

[rubywagon]

I just switched out my compact double to an 11-28 cassette and can't say enough good things about it. I am very happy.

[pinkbikes]

Great post, Oakleaf.

I think it might help to clarify, too, that there are "standard" doubles, e.g., a 53-39, and "compact" doubles. While I might the OP is talking about a compact double, it's not clear from her post.

Exactly! I personally have always ridden a "standard" double and love them. I recently spent some time riding a "compact" double and disliked it intensely, as it did not suit my style of riding.

I tend to be a bit of a lazy thing on my roadie (completely different on the MTB) and drop the front ring if I just want to power up and over something short and hard. With the compact double the gap is too big and I have to fiddle around with the back to be comfortable. And then fiddle around again when I go back up to the big ring.

So when I bought my most recent bike, which is for touring with bigger hills than I like on the roadie, I was quite clear that I wanted a triple so that I had as close as possible to my "standard" double with an extra ring. Going out for its first ride in about twenty minutes! Yay!

[Cataboo]

SRAM red does a double crankset with 52/38 or 52/36 as well as the standard double & the compact double (50/34) - so some of you that don't like the compact compact might like those.

I used to ride a standard double - and I didn't notice a huge difference going to my compact double. I miss the 53 outer chainring just 'cause I'm a bit of a masher - but I do spin and climb much better on the compact double.

Generally if I'm going to shift into the 34 chain ring up front, I simultaneously gear up 2 gears in the back - that usually gives me a pretty even shift downwards and I don't have to hunt for the next gear I want to be in.

[TrekTheKaty]

Thanks, Catriona

[IFjane]

depends on where you live. Colorado? Triple.

Not necessarily. I live in VA at the foot of the Blue Ridge. We generally have short, steep climbs. I also ride in CO every year - in the Rockies - where the climbs can be 15 miles or more. I had a triple for about 8 years & it was fine, but switched two years ago to a compact double and immediately loved it. Maybe it was all in my head but the climbing seemed easier (still does). Last summer I rode the Triple Bypass on my compact double with no issues.

BTW, I am no spring chicken - I am 56 and have only been riding road bikes for about 10 years. So....I guess my point is that if you want a compact, go for it, but if you think you would need a triple then there is nothing wrong with that either. The most important thing is that you are on your bike and having fun!