KtownScott

I bought my first road bike last year. I found a Trek 1.5 on CL that fit the bill but It was a triple. I thought no big deal I have riden triples on MTB's and hybrids for years. But the problem I am running into is alot of rubbing on the front derailleur. Usually worse in the big sproket. I took it to one shop that told me of what he called a half shift on triples. I talked to another shop that said " I've never heard of a half shift". Is this just something that trigger shifters on mtb's do better? I am really getting anoyed with the shifting of this bike. Does a compact double shift better? Just asking because that's what I have been hearing.

10 Wheels

I have two triple bikes.

The Front dérailleur just needs adjusting.

Homebrew01

" .. half shift .."

Does he mean "trim" ? That means moving the deraileur a small amount to stop the rubbing. Campy shifters let you move one small click at a time either direction to stop chain rub. Other brands and models are different in their trim functionality ... or lack thereof.

ColinL

Some triples have trim but you shouldn't need it in the middle ring.

berner

Yep, deraileur adjustment. The Park Tool company has a great web site the is a complete maintenance manual. The link is for front der. adjustment. Follow the adjustment procedure step by step like a recipe and don't leave any step out. https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...ur-adjustments. My triple shifts crisply, smoothly and with almost no noise.

rdtompki

And find a better bike shop

rearviewbeer

My front shifter requires 2 clicks for each ring...

StanSeven

Sta away from the shop that never heard of a "half shift." That's the trim adjustment which you find by shifting gradually - you'll feel two clicks instead of one.

I've had two triples and they don't work as well as compacts in my opinion.

Carbon Unit

I have triple and it shifts just fine. I will eventually replace it with a compact. My Campy triple does have trim settings when I was in high school, trim had a different meaning.

dprayvd

..

Velo Dog

Indexing a front derailleur is like indexing a light switch...

dprayvd

Even now

Mithrandir

I'm using Shimano 105 shifters on a triple. Works flawlessly. I highly recommend them.

fordmanvt

Ultegra triple here, and without trimming I only get rubbing in the six most cross-chained gears, with trimming, zero rubbing.

Bike Gremlin

10 in the back, 3 in the front. When in the front middle, I have an option to move front derailleur half a shift left-right. That helps stop rubbing when moving chain in the back. It makes it easy to move from second smallest in the back, to second largest without any rubbing. When in the big front ring, I can moove up to 5th smallest without rubbing, while the small front ring is used with largest 3 in the back (for really big hills).

I'm happy for having triple so far. 39 front is just perfect for 90% of my rides. Small front is rarely used, but I do use it sometimes. Don't know how tricky would compact be on flats (34 seems rather small, 50 a bit too big).

and1homer

+1

Steve530

KtownScott,

Your triple should shift fine. A compact is easier, but you may have to trim the front derailleur a compact, too. Also, I find that I shift the front on my compact much more often than on my bike with a triple. Once you get used to shifting the triple, you may find the low gear really useful on some of the hills.

Steve

Campag4life

What Steve said...though I am not convinced a compact is easier having owned both. In some ways a triple is best IMO...and why I believe it took so long for compacts to come of age. To cover a wide range of gear inches there is a big gulf between small and big ring on a compact and requires constant shifting in the 16 mph range which is where many ride or cross through frequently when riding rollers. The middle ring of 42t is a sweet range on a triple. To make a compact work since I ride mostly flat land...I changed my 34t inner ring out to a 38t. Now my compact is more of a baby big boy crankset...small ring is much more usable for my riding. If living in the mountains, I would give strong consideration to a triple.

fstshrk

I wonder if the cyclocross 48/36 chainrings are a good match for some of us :-)

mpath

There's no need to be apologetic that it's a triple.

dstrong 

When you're on the big chainring, having pushed the shifter as far as it will go, you should not have any FD rubbing on the smallest 3 - 4 rear cogs. Once you shift the chain to the middle of the cogset or to the larger cogs, you might get rubbing. At this point you should be able to lightly touch the smaller shift paddle until it clicks and the FD will shift slightly inboard. This should stop the rubbing w/o shifting to the middle ring. This is the "trim" function referred to above. If you can't get the FD to move, then the FD may need adjustment.

The reason this function doesn't exist on MTB shifters is that the "big ring" on an MTB is usually 42 tooth (the same as the middle ring on a road triple), so the resulting chainlines between the MTB and road big rings are completely different. I don't need to trim when I'm in the middle ring of my road triple.

pgjackson

Get a compact and end the madness. Unless you live and ride up and down extreme hills or you have serious knee issues, you don't need a triple. A compact is much less complicated and you can use every gear without grinding. As long as you keep the triple, you will always wonder if a compact would be better.

StanSeven

^ Agree. Compacts provide 20 gear combo's. Unless someone rides in very steep mountains, that's all you need. And a compact is much simplier

dprayvd

I wrote another missive about this triple/compact claptrap, with Velo Dog's acute "light switch" summation buttressing my conlusion(s) regarding the triple/small block drivetrain; I realize I've no further contribution: we like what we like & I'm pleased all of us ride.

roccobike

I had a 105, triple up until this year. I had an 06, 10 speed set up and YES, it had a half shift to move the front derailer over when riding in the middle ring and the 10th rear gear. I did have some chain rub on 10th if I didn't half shift it, nothing I couldn't live with, but why not just half shift. I don't know if all 105 10speed triple shifters have the half shift.
I don't think the 105 9 speed has it.
Despite what others have said here, I think the first bike shop you went to called it right.