Re triples, it's tricky because it's hard to get sti shifters that will work.
On my light tourer it has 10 year old 9 speed technology, 50/39/30 changed to a 26 granny. Works great but I'd prefer a 48/36/26 with a smaller granny. One of my wife's bikes has a ten speed 11-36 and 48/36/26 but uses trigger shifters.
My heavy duty expeditiony bike is full on mtb triple 44/32/22 and 11-34, but it was set up specifically for some Latin American trips where I knew I'd be carrying a crapload of stuff and riding on bad roads and some stupid steep stuff. A crankset this small would be frustrating lightly loaded, it can be for me,but works great when carrying 40lbs of stuff and especially in very mountainous areas.
This bike has drop bars but I use gevenalle shifters which are unique in how they work and are placed.
sti is so much fun to use, it seems the recent doubles and wide cassettes are a neat option.
and as I brought up, you can always go with a tighter cassette if you don't need a 21 gear inch low. I used a 21 g.i. low for a long time and find it works well, but again depends on all the various factors, load weight, riding terrain and your legs.