Is it true nobody makes triple cranksets anymore?

[sarahkonamojo]

I assume when people refer to the jump, they are referring to shifting the chain ring/front derailleur. Is this correct or are there other jumps in the gearing. (Don't know why there would be. But must ask.)

[OakLeaf]

Any time you shift there's a jump. It can be small (like shifting from your 11 to your 12 in back) or large (like shifting anything in the front, or like shifting from a 15 to a 17 in back - which is one particular shift that both Crankin and I find to be too big).

To get a wide range of gears with fewer chainrings, you need a wide range in back, and that means big jumps. Just for example, a 9-speed Shimano Deore 11-34 is 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34. Now, you're talking about circumferences, basically, so a 4-tooth jump from 26 to 30 isn't as huge as it would be from 11 to 15, but it's still big. Sheldon Brown (RIP) has a handy-dandy gear calculator that can give you a better idea of the gear ratios, but you still have to do the math yourself if you want to figure RPM at any given speed from one gear to the next.