Originally Posted by
phughes
..., the triple offers better a better chainline for the most part. Using the two, or even three largest cogs in back, with the smallest on front, gives a straighter chainline on a triple than if you were using a 1x, or even a 2x. That will wear better when grinding up a hill. The same holds true for using the largest chainwheel up front, and the smallest in the back, and the inner cogs along with the middle chainwheel up front.
That is exactly the way I shift on my 3X8 systems, I consider them to be 18 total gears, not the mathematically possible 24.
And a bike with 18 useable non-redundant gears beats any 1X bike.