Triple in the front
 

Are there any triple chain ring road bicycles being made?

Mike Adams

Nothing that's both quality and mainstream, and it's getting rare even on low-quality mainstream. Triples are out of fashion, and there are zero high-end triple cranks being made by the large component manufacturers. I wish this weren't the case, because even with 11-speed cassettes, they'd make a lot of sense on some allroad bikes (to facilitate a super-wide range without giving up gear spacing). But it's how things are.

If you want arrangements of gear ratios that aren't provided by current 2x road groupsets, you'll have to bodge something together on your own.

Shimano Tiagra in ten-speed--https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/product/component/tiagra-4700/FC-4703.html--could possibly run an 11-speed chain on it, I'd imagine.

Yes.

Don't some touring bikes have triples?

This post sparked my curiosity about chainring options on todays bikes. I was surprised to find after looking at some of Giants bikes that only their Entry level Escape flat bar road/hybrid bike still uses a triple chainring.

What is disappointing is that even the 3 x 7 speed drivetrain on my 2018 Giant Sedona has more evenly spaced gears where it counts than many of their road bikes costing many times more, even with their 11 speed cassettes.

I'm sure this can be corrected easily enough at the time of purchase at a competent bike shop though.

I think the 50/34 double chainring would still have a wide enough gear-inch range for most road biking. And a 46/30 might be good enough for light touring.

Yes, but...
Cheap lower quality stuff for tooling around. They are out there, but don't expect any get respect on BF.

With 11 on the rear it is very hard to get the the gears all right and anything that shifts nearly as well as the simple low range/high range. Many (me) are building new bikes as 1X.
A triple has Q factor and shifting issues and not available in better setups.

It amazes me how much shifting the rider with the most modern drivetrain wants to do. One tooth jumps sound great until you realize you have to do a lot of shifting to get anywhere in your range.

Worst-case chainline difference between double and triple, assuming that the triple is well-designed, is a few millimeters. Not a particularly big deal.

I think the biggest problem with modern triples is that they've been bludgeoned by poor design practices, unfortunately.
Quality triples paired with six-speed freewheels routinely had q-factors in the low 140s. Allowing for the outer cog being a few millimeters farther outboard on 11-speed, a 3x11 triple would reasonably be expected to be in the upper 140s. But - perhaps thanks to the lack of permutations permissible in two-piece cranks - the drivetrain manufacturers play it safe, and then add a bunch of room on the NDS to keep things symmetric (which is silly and pointless). So instead, modern road triples usually have q-factors in the 160mm ballpark. Absolutely bonkers.

Pretty much any modern well-designed crank shifts smoothly and consistently every time. Since triples usually have smaller jumps than doubles, they typically shift snappier and need less compensatory double-shifting than doubles.

Although, my view on this issue is probably colored by my tendency to throw a friction shifter at every problem. I don't presently have any triple cranks in my stable with a brifter-actuated front derailleur.

Many/most touring bikes and many hybrids with triples still. I have a 25 year old Trek 520 - the new 2020 model still comes with a triple.

I don't do much loading touring anymore, but when I did I appreciated the granny gear. I still hit that gear on big climbs unloaded, but on my new road bike that is 2x I can get within 5% of that gear - since the bike is lighter, it ends up pretty close to equal.

I've replaced my old hybrid and the 520 with a Jamison Renegade with a 1x drivetrain that has a low gear just as low as the 3x could reach. I sacrificed speed at the high end but it just helps force to me increase cadence and I am not a screamer of a descender anyway. There is definitely a bigger jump between gears, but no double shifting ever - pretty much a wash. This bike will be my touring and what today is called gravel biking - rail trails, towpaths, gravel roads, biking with my wife, etc.

Like I said, whole lot of shifting going on these days. Shifting the front with 3 rings reduced a lot of that.

In my experience with lots of triples over the years the only "shifting issue" is the person setting up the FD. Just sayin' ;)

As a note for the OP, if looking for a triple solution see what Wickwerks can offer you in terms of triple chainrings. Their chainrings shift amazingly well.

https://pbase.com/jhuddle/image/169055613.jpg

https://wickwerks.com/

I totally agree that triple set-up for proper indexing is critical. My own attempts at doing my own triple road bike re-cabling have often been problematic due to my failure to follow the instructions correctly. Installing new cables, taking the slack out of the new cable is not a simple matter of putting it in the 30 tooth ring, shifting the front shifter to “low” and pulling the cable taut. I learned the valuable lesson that the orange set up block matters - it advances the front derailleur midway between the granny and middle ring for the initial set-up where the inner wire is pulled taut. This important detail allows the adjuster barrel to be used to fine tune “trim” clicks and assures spot on clicks between all 3 front chainrings.

Does Wickwerkes made a dedicated road triple chainring set? I clicked on the link and did not see any. My preference is for a true road triple such as a 53-39-30 combo as came standard on Ultegra 6603 or Dura Ace 7803. Keeping these older cranksets running like new involves replacing chainrings periodically and the supply of these chainrings is something that I worry a bit that (the supply) will dry up. So if Wickwerkes does offer a road triple replacement chainring set for Shimano road triples, I would be delighted.

He's got more stuff around than on the site it seems. If you don't see what you want just hit them up via his contact info.

It was just months ago that I got the setup you see in the pic. That's on my Lemond Versailles road bike.

Thanks! I will contact them. My favorite drivetrain is 3x9 or 3x10 road. I have some used cranks I am using that work well except they already have ,peerage miles on the rings. Also, I completely scalloped out the mid (39 tooth) ring on my Ultegra 6603 triple crank after 15,000+ miles and many different chains.

Yes. But even they are becoming rarer as the 1x with a moon-sized large cog craze has taken off. The rise in popularity of "bikepacking" (minimal gear, usually off-pavement) has also spawned the "adventure bike," which often comes with a double up front. The Trek 920 is an example.

I'll stick with my triple for touring, thank you, despite Mr. SRAM telling me I have been doing it all wrong all these years. The only thing worse than not having a low enough gear is not having close enough steps when climbing long distances with a full load, possibly on dirt/gravel.

I prefer the 53-42-30 setup I have on my Racing T crankset. Since I'm not racing, I can do a whole lot just moving around on the 42.

Shimano triple rings from various levels are still available, but now might be a good time to lay in spares... :thumb:

Right
 

I put a Sora 2 piece triple in a bike. Cost all of $50.

Thank you for all of your responses. Some really good answers....

I used triples in the Colorado mountains for years, but when 11 speed came out, I switched to a 50/34 compact crank in 2009. Now I'm using the new Campy Chorus 12 speed with a 48/32 crank and 11-34 cassette. It has a low gear that's lower than most triples. I had a 53/39/28 triple crank and as large as 29T rear sprocket. The 32/34 low gear is a hair lower. The compact is easier to deal with than a triple.

Try and find a DA7800 left triple brifter. I took that road for the old woman as far as I could take it. It was a great setup for her but she is now making do with Ultegra DI2 compact.

The fact that I don't know of any that do triples (as well as the price) has kept me from electronic shifting.

I was worried about the same thing when switching the one Lemond over to a triple setup this year. In all honesty though, I posted a WTB at a couple forums and within hours had a NOS one heading to me and another one offered. Yet when searching for ones for sale I was striking out unless it was either tore up or crazy expensive.