Compac double vs triple

[Crankin]

Not sure if I can add more to this discussion, but for what it's worth, I have had 4 bikes with triples in the past 12 years, and this year, I also bought a custom bike with a compact double, that has "mountain gearing" on the rear cassette.
I also had 2 bikes with 650 wheels and my present carbon road bike has 700 wheels. I am short (5' 1", barely).
The wheels: I never noticed a difference when I made the switch, in terms of speed. I felt "higher up," with the 700s if that makes sense, but no difference in my riding speed. My custom bike has a more relaxed geometry, and I do have to be careful of toe overlap, but only on very tight turns. Since I am not the kind of rider that does tight turns often, I only think about it when I am turning into my driveway, from one certain direction.
Triple/compact: I had no trouble shifting with double, in terms of "learning." I thought I might, but it was kind of intuitive for me. I did have trouble finding the sweet spot, which for me is the 16 cog, which I don't have on the compact. I have very, very low gearing on my bike with the compact, as this is the bike that is used for travelling, as in mountains/steep hills. Initially, my speed was down a bit on this bike, because I felt like I was always spinning in too easy of a gear or my legs hurt from too hard a gear. But, I started riding this bike more, and eventually, this difference went away. I think, I got stronger, and am used to riding in the big ring, 17 cog. I try to ride this bike about 30-40% of the time, so I don't lose this edge.
I use the small ring on the compact for hills where I might stay in the middle ring on my triple (such as in Strawberry Hill Rd, for those from the Boston area), as I feel it gives me a little more leeway and I don't want to be "caught" in a gear that makes me mash.
Take the advice of others, get a rear cassette with a lower gear, and you're good to go. I've even done this with my triple; I started with a 12-25, went to a 27, and this year went to a 28. I really don't need a 28, but I live on a big hill, I'm not so young, and my plan is to save my knees, so I can keep riding.

[indysteel]

I did have trouble finding the sweet spot, which for me is the 16 cog, which I don't have on the compact. I have very, very low gearing on my bike with the compact, as this is the bike that is used for travelling, as in mountains/steep hills. Initially, my speed was down a bit on this bike, because I felt like I was always spinning in too easy of a gear or my legs hurt from too hard a gear. But, I started riding this bike more, and eventually, this difference went away.

While I do still have my 16 cog, this was my experience as well. With my compat, I also find myself either mashing or spinning at times, but I have gotten more used to it over time. Like Crankin, I more or less "hung out" in the middle ring of my triple, and I sort of miss the ease of that and the ability to fine tune my gearing.

I switched to a compact originally because the triple's wider q factor (a fancy term that basically means the width between the pedals) aggravated my right IT band. Campy has a new triple coming out soon with a narrower q factor, and I'm seriously considering getting it. The shifting on my old Campy crank was great once set up properly so I don't care all that much that compacts are generally easier to shift, and I could care less about weight savings.

[malkin]

For me, the only advantage of 700 wheels is that we don't have to be so careful about keeping two sizes of tires and tubes. We are pretty far from organized here, so this is an advantage.

Well, I guess now that we have folders, we do, but they are easy enough to tell apart.

[sgf726]

Both of my bikes have a compact double, they are both 50-34 in the front and my road bike is 11-28 and my tri-bike is 11-25.

I have been ridding the compact doubles for about 6 years, I ride in fairly hilly terrian and when I had the triple almost never used the lowest gears. I tended to ride 80% of the time in the largest cog and go to the middle for hills. I still ride most of the time in the large cog and only switch to the smaller cog for steep or longer hills.

I actually find the double much smoother and easier to use than the triple and with the 11-28 I really don't think you lose much from a standard triple.

[Koronin]

While I do still have my 16 cog, this was my experience as well. With my compat, I also find myself either mashing or spinning at times, but I have gotten more used to it over time. Like Crankin, I more or less "hung out" in the middle ring of my triple, and I sort of miss the ease of that and the ability to fine tune my gearing.

I switched to a compact originally because the triple's wider q factor (a fancy term that basically means the width between the pedals) aggravated my right IT band. Campy has a new triple coming out soon with a narrower q factor, and I'm seriously considering getting it. The shifting on my old Campy crank was great once set up properly so I don't care all that much that compacts are generally easier to shift, and I could care less about weight savings.

This is also my issue with the compact double and my reason for really looking at changing the bike to a triple. The not being able to find the sweet spot is aggravating to me.

[indysteel]

This is also my issue with the compact double and my reason for really looking at changing the bike to a triple. The not being able to find the sweet spot is aggravating to me.

I hear ya. I feel like Goldilocks some days on my bike. This gear is too big. That gear is too small. Part of it is that I'm lazy. I've gotten better about shifting between chainrings, but the middle ring of my triple spoiled me, so I often don't shift between chainrings when I really should.

Oh well, as somebody upthread reminded us, many of us used to get by with just 10 gears or less. I guess I'm spoiled in more ways than one.

[Koronin]

I hear ya. I feel like Goldilocks some days on my bike. This gear is too big. That gear is too small. Part of it is that I'm lazy. I've gotten better about shifting between chainrings, but the middle ring of my triple spoiled me, so I often don't shift between chainrings when I really should.

Oh well, as somebody upthread reminded us, many of us used to get by with just 10 gears or less. I guess I'm spoiled in more ways than one.

That is exactly my issue as well. I love the middle ring on the triple and it also spoiled me in not needing to shift much. One thing my husband was looking at was just swapping the smaller ring on my compact double with what would be equivalent to the middle ring on the triple. I live at the coast, it's not like we have many hills around here, unless you count the bridge to Emerald Isle.

[ZenBiker]

I was having doubts similar to the OP when I bought my first road bike, a compact double, after riding a hybrid with a triple. I expected to zip up hills because of the lovely carbon road bike, and instead I was struggling with them. I felt like I needed some lower gears. (These are hills I didn't really even try on my hybrid).

BUT - I now love my compact double. Three things happened to change my perspective:
- I did the math and realized I hadn't really given up very much in terms of my lowest gear. (I have an 11-28 cassette on the road bike).
- I got stronger
- I got better at knowing when to shift and how to breathe on a hill

Now I can ride hills - I'm not the fastest in my group, but I'm not the slowest either. And if I keep riding I will just keep getting better. So the limiting factor was never my bike, it was the engine (me). if you love being on your bike because it fits, you will ride more, and you'll be able to do everything you want to - unless you literally want to climb mountains, then I'm guessing a triple would be in order!

Can't comment on the wheel size, I haven't had a chance to compare.

[Chile Pepper]

I love my compact double, but I remember how weird it felt when I first switched from a standard. After about a month, something just clicked and I never thought about it again. Maybe you just need to give it time.

[ny biker]

When I had a triple I only ever used the big chain ring when I was doing spinning tapes on the indoor trainer. I mostly used the middle ring, and used the small ring for steep hills.

With the compact double, I mostly use the smaller ring. When I use the larger one it tends to bother my knee (I have a patella tracking problem), though I do sometimes use it when I know I'll be on flat ground for a while. When the cassette wears out and needs to be replaced, I plan to have a chat with the LBS folks about possibly getting a smaller large chain ring so that I'll have something I can use with less pain.