delbiker1 

I built up a Fuji Ace that was gifted to me. I used mostly components/parts that I had on hand. That includes a triple Sora crankset, 50/39/30. I had never had a triple before. Today, for the first time, I actually used all three rings, and was glad I had the 30T, 74 bcd. It was really windy, steady NW at about 20 mph with higher gusts. Heading east on the way out was great cruising. Spent a bit of time on the Bethany Beach boardwalk, and then headed back home. I have been having knee issues and I was really feeling it in the right knee going into the wind. I dropped into the inner 30T and wound up using the 30/19 gear combo most of the return ride. It really took the pressure and stress off my knees. I have 28mm tires on it now. I have not done a ride with 32s, but I did try the fit and it is no problem, plenty of clearance. I am really liking this bike with this set up. It feels like it is going to become my latest errands/commuting bike.

bcpriess

Triples are awesome in hills and wind. Wouldn't trade mine for anything.

Camilo

I love my triple and always have!

Although I have three compact double bikes (low gear 34X28) and they work fine for me, my gravel/all around bike that I use a lot at home (2 miles of rough roads out of my driveway) and take when we go trailer traveling around the US and Canada has an old Ultegra 6503 triple with a 30t small ring and Duraace 9 speed bar end shifters. I use it with a 11-32 cassette with the big gravel wheels/ tires and a 11-25t or a 28t cassette with the skinny road wheels. The high gears are actually higher than the compact doubles I have (52X11 vs 50X11). The front and rear shifting are smooth as silk, no difference I can tell between the more "racy" bikes and this one.

I love that bike and it would (will?) be the only bike I keep if I have to downsize.

My wife's gravel bike has a 48-38-28 (or something like that) old Suntour MTB triple with a 34t big sprocket on the cassette, with the 6503 shifers that used to be on the bike the 6503 crank above came off of. Same story, just an excellent riding bike.

The carbon fiber road bike I built up for her last year has a Shimano 5703/105 road triple crank adapted to a press-fit bottom bracket and Ultegra 6703 10 speed shifters. She loves it and it is a damn good bike for a aging person who lives in the hills and doesn't like to stand up to pedal.

All the bikes with the large cassettes use Deore XT rear derailleurs which shift perfectly with road shifters.

I tend to get kind of argumentative with the old saws "triples don't shift as well as compact doubles" (totally false!!) and "triples are hard to adjust" (also false) or worse yet "you can get as low gears with a compact double as a triple (just defies logic) or "why would you need any lower gears than you can get with a compact double (why? because I do!)

There's no such thing as "too low" gears!

Miele Man

When I was building up a bicycle back around 2001 I elected to use Campagnolo Mirage and Veloce parts. I used Mirage where they were the same as the Veloce but a lot less expensive. That was only the front derailleur and the Ergo levers. However, when considering the Veloce crankset I looked to the future and aging of myself and figured a triple would be nice if I ever needed lower gears. I got the 30-42-52 (I wanted 30-40-50 but the shop charged extra for the 40 & 50 rings) and I'm really glad I did. That 30 ring comes in mighty handy on a steep climb into a strong headwind.

I hope you enjoy your triple as much as I enjoy mine although it sounds like you do.

Cheers

freeranger

Glad for the triple on mine as well. And no problems-shifts like a dream. If I ever feel the need for another road bike (unlikely), will probably be a dbl, just because that is what most are equipped with now. But I'll be sure the low gear on the cassette has more teeth than my current ride!

kcblair

Same here, Y'all. Las year I installed a Veloce 52-42-30, with a Campy racing triple in the rear. 13-32. Just love it. The tripe shifts , Campy perfectly. And to squeeze out a lower gear, I swapped the 30T for a 28T. Not many hills around here I can't climb. KB.

delbiker1 

My triple also shifts really well. It took a bit of tweaking to get it there, no big deal. I am looking at 26 or 28 tooth ring just to have it available. I really do not have hills here on Delmarva but plan on some auto travel over the upcoming holidays, with the bike.

mcours2006

I like my triple commuter. I wouldn't say I love it. I do like the 39t with the 9 speed 11-28. In fact I rarely shift out of it. Heavier bike, big 38 mm tires, and often loaded with gear or groceries means that I am almost always right in the middle of the cassette with the middle ring.

BobbyG

The triple works well on my mtb-based commuter/utility/snow bike. My two road bikes have doubles, and they work well, but only after having had the rear hearing replaced with a wider spread (and a lower ring up front on the '84 Nishiki. It's hilly in Colorado Springs and I'm not getting any younger.

indyfabz

A triple has been known to come in handy from time to time.

one4smoke

What is that, about 10-12% gradient?

indyfabz

No. Must be the angle of the shot. Probably no more than 4%. The sun was finally starting to emerge, causing me to stop and shed my arm and leg warmers. My touring shoes are like clown shoes. Have to take them off to get the leg warmers off. Wasn't worried about sitting on the side of the road. Don't think I had been passed by a car for 20 miles. Only a couple came from the opposite direction.

A few days before I did hit a ruling grade of about 10% climbing a pass in ID.

But always remember: The triple is only useful if you remember to use it. The same day I hit 10% I was on later on my third pass of the day. Thompson Pass from ID into MT. It's the Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde of passes. 9 miles long from the town of Murray. The first 4.5 miles are easy. The second four 4.5 miles average slightly over 7%. The final 2 average close to 8%. I was cruising along nicely on the easy part then struggled like you wouldn't believe once things got steep. I had to take frequent breaks. Thought something was wrong with me physiologically. Then a lightbulb went off in my head and I thought to myself "I don't remember shifting into the small ring." Looked down. Sure enough, I was still in the middle ring. I wanted to slap myself upside the head.

tomtomtom123

I have a 44/24T double. 20T jump is fine as long as you spend some time adjusting the FD correctly. The chain will rub on the outermost 3 cogs when on the inner chainring, but I don't need to use those gears since they overlap with the gears on the outer chainring anyway. A chain catcher is then required. So then I have a fairly uniform and linear shift pattern, and don't need to worry about which of the 3 chainrings of a triple I am on, since there are only 2 options on a double with the same gear range.

xroadcharlie

My 2018 Giant Sedona is my first triple chainring bike replacing a double on an old mountain bike. The first several months I kept it mostly on the 2 largest (48 & 38t) rings. But lately I decided to use the fd for big jumps between gears rather than have to shift through 2 or 3 gears on the cassette.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the low end 28/38/48 Suntour crankset functioned. Shifting smoothly and consistently 95% of the time with the Shimano Altus derailleur.

I really don't need the extra range of the triple though. The 48/40t double with a 14 -34t cassette on my old mountain bike pretty much covered me for any paved or firm gravel hills I encountered. It's only on a steep hill I sometimes ride with soft gravel and loose stones that I might use my lowest 21 gear-inch sprockets on my newer bike.

More important to me than the # of chainrings is proper spacing of the cassette cogs. Even though my new bike has only 7 speeds, the ones I use most (16, 18, 20, 22, 24) are more closely spaced than most 9 - 10 speed new bikes I've looked at. Go figure.

Chuckles1

I've never ridden a bike with triple chainrings. Figured they were a PITA to adjust, and often seem to be standard equipment on low end bikes. Figured they were for novices and out of shape middle- aged occasional riders. After reading all the positive comments, I'll think differently next time the new bike itch strikes.

Getting older, so recently put some lower gears on a double, and appreciate the reduced stress on surgically repaired knee joint. If a triple comes standard with a wide gear range and isn't a maintenance headache, they sound good for serious recreational riders like myself.

Drew Eckhardt 

I rode 50-40-30x13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21 in the 8 cog era because that allowed a 13-19 straight block for plains rides east of Boulder, CO with a low like 42x28 for mountains west.

After shifting my front derailleur 10X more including 5 cog compensation shifts with 50-34x13-23 9 cogs having the same spacing and range, I moved on to 50-39-30x13-14-15-16-17-17-19-21-23-26 10 cogs.

That has an 18 cog missing with 50-34x13-29, works to 30 MPH in the 39 ring eschewing the small cog, and could be adjusted with a 24 or 26T inner ring for a low like 34x34 or 34x36 without compromising gear spacing.

delbiker1 

When I first installed the triple FD, it did take a bit of time to get it shifting properly, but not much more than a double. I think the maintenance/upkeep is going to be no different than a double, other than another ring to clean. I do like having the wide gear ratio while keeping the rear cog tooth count tighter.

Retro Grouch 

What's your cassette?

It's hard to explain to people but the only thing that matters is the drive ratio and not so much how one achieves it. With monster cassettes both in terms of number of cogs and largest cog size, I see the value of triple cranksets diminishing.

tomtomtom123

I have 12-34T 10 speed cassette, with 44/24T chainrings. It has 519% gear range, with fairly close gear spacing at the top, and larger jumps at the bottom.

Oldguyonoldbike

I put a triple on one of my road bikes about a year and a half ago and I love it. To be honest, I rarely use the small ring, but when I do it's because I need it and I am very happy to have it. The compact double has all but killed triple cranksets on the market, which is a shame. I'm willing to put up with the minor trouble of setting up a triple front derailleur in exchange for the smaller steps between gears.

Bill in VA

I always had a double in the 52-42(or 40) range, but when I got my 50-39-30 triple with a 12-30 cassette it was a big improvement. I rarely use the 30 tooth front, but when you need it, you NEED it and HAVE it.

seypat

Dang, look at how many times you have to shift to get from one end of your range to the other end and back! That's a real pain when riding V shaped rollers. That alone would keep me riding triples.

tomtomtom123

Why is it a pain? It only takes 1 second to shift 4 to 5 gears in a single trigger press on a Shimano rapid fire shifter, when going from small to larger sized cogs. Shifting from large to smaller sized cogs needs individual single presses, but that's like half a second longer to do. The chain follows half a second later. I don't see why it's any more difficult than a triple. I would assume a triple would be more difficult since you have to move through 3 chainrings more frequently while having to deal with chainrub and trim. With my double chainrings with 20 teeth jump, I only shift between them on average once every 10 minutes. So 1-2 seconds every 10 minutes is only at most 12 extra seconds per hour (compared to a double with smaller jump). I also don't need trim when using a SRAM YAW double FD. There's no chain rub on the YAW FD.

delbiker1 

The original post was not meant to start a back and forth discussion on which is better, the triple or double. The OP was simply stating that the triple was a new experience, and that it is likeable to him. Your preference is just that. I do not see the need to bring up argumentative points to show why your choice is the better one. Ride your fixie/single, your double or ride your triple, accept that others make other choices. There is no right or wrong here.

spelger

I don’t get the criticism of the adjustment of a triple. True, I don’t have a double but I find the adjustment of my triple to be no more difficult than the adjustment of the RD. Happy I have a triple. As others have said, nice to have that little guy when you need it.