UnfilteredDregs

SUGINO

79pmooney

Another fan of triples here. Best of all, they give you a 42 tooth everyday ring. A chainring good for 90% of my riding. Then the big ring can be big enough for the fast descents around Portland and the 24 to 28 small enough to get up them as a 60 year old and even my old 7-speeds stay ride-able. For my bikes, see https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...de-most-2.html .

Ben

Inpd

I would agree with you except my Claris Triple was amazing but it did take me an hour to fine tune but then it stayed true for the 8 months I owned the bike. The Claris FD came with trimming on each ring so you hardly got any chain rub except for extreme cross chaining.

12strings

I have Sora components with an fsa triple crank. I too spend most of my time in the middle ring.

anotherbrian

Gives you the option anyways. I have several Ultegra 6600 triples and they all came with 39 middle rings.

I have a recumbent that I need wide gearing on (is 54/39/26x11-32) and I'd looked at the Sugino, but it was ridiculously expensive. Last week I ordered a pair of Ultegra 6800 cranks for $125 each, one with 53/39, and the other 50/34, and I'll mix and match for a 53/34 and see if I can get away with a 36T XT cassette (or go up to 42T with the 11spd).

kingfishr

I put a NOS Campy Record triple 28-40-50 on my Colnago Master and the shifting works just fine with SuperRecord double shifters, I swapped the silver levers from Athena to keep the silver theme. There are two small issues: one was the front derailleur which was slightly too narrow for the 10 speed crankset, so I used a 10 speed triple deraileur and the second is the derailleur capacity which can not handle the 50-29 and 28-29 combo, so have to avoid large-large. I have also moved the same triple over to my Specialized Tarmac using an square taper bottom bracket for week long trips to Mallorca. This shifting is just fine on both, but I wouldn't use it i a road race...

HTupolev

Hmm...

If the derailleur doesn't have the tensionerishness to handle the full range, usually it's better to use too long of a chain and ditch the small-small, rather than go the other way and have a bad large-large. An accidental shift to a bad small-small merely makes the drivetrain go slack; an accidental shift to a bad large-large can rip the rear derailleur off your bike.

kingfishr

But to ditch small small on triple would defeat the entire purpose of the triple. Most of the time I am not on the large crank, not an issue. But it does require attention when on the large crank. Campy 10 speed would have been a better option due to greater capacity

HTupolev

How does it defeat the purpose of the triple any more than losing large-large does?

kingfishr

My bad, I was thinking small large, but for my purpose when I use the triple I am in the middle or small ring 90% of the time, on long climbs it's not unusual to stay in the small chainring for a couple of hours using the full range of gears, but might be worth reconsidering the alternative...

Inpd

Loved my 52/42/30 triple and lived on the 42 except when climbing steep hills which is rare in my part of town.

But then I got a new bike and really wanted to try the 5800 series given the great comments. Went with a 39/53 with 11-32 cassette because the 39 is close as to the 42 as I'm going to get in a double and the 32t cog I'll use for climbing.

Lazyass

I have to cruise in a 39T. 42 is a little too big and a 34 is WAY too small. I can't stand compact cranks.

UnfilteredDregs

Where'd you look? Best I can find is Alex's Cycle for $350...?

TimothyH

As other have said, a properly set up triple will shift just as well. Having a matched set of rings is key.

joejack951

Not only that, Shimano's triple FD for the 6600 series has a cage that is so finely matched to that 39T middle ring that you can't use it with a 42T middle ring. I tried. The 5603 FD will shift a 52/42/30 crankset but the downshift to the 30T is a little slower than I'd prefer. I need to pull that derailleur off and do some grinding I think. Or switch to Campy.

StanSeven

This just isn't true across the board. Most people with both will say tripples aren't as quick and are finicky in comparison. Yes, a few differ and say otherwise. The big difference is lifting the chain up to the larger rings. It takes much longer. If there wasn't an issue then there's no reason for all bikes to not have tripples.

Lazyass

I've had 3-4 bikes with Shimano triples, and many MTB's. Never had issues shifting, ever. You're actually the only person I can recall who has said they aren't as quick and finicky. I don't know how they can be less "quick", the shifters are basically the exact same as their double counterparts except for an extra tooth on the indexing gear, and they're only finicky if you don't know how to tune it.

joejack951

Most people can't adjust their own stuff and shops would rather not spend the little bit of extra time to get a triple shifting right (the middle ring does require more finely set tension than a double bike). I never have slow upshifts. With my not perfect combination of 5603 FD and 52/42/30 crank I do have a slow downshift from 42 to 30 but I'm also not using that FD with its intended crankset (50/39/30). My 9 speed bike with a 52/42/30 and Ultegra 6503 FD is quick on all shifts.

People like to bag on triples for the added weight and 'unnecessarily low gears', as if their needs are every body's.

noodle soup

There are plenty of triple cranksets, but shifter options are limited. SRAM never made them for drop bars, Shimano only makes entry level versions, and Campagnolo only offers Athena as a triple. Barcons and DT shifters are passable for touring bikes, but I wouldn't want them on a road racing style bike.

MKahrl

How well a front shifts mostly relates to that moment in the shift when the chain is on hooked on one chain ring and is trying to hook on to the other chain ring. If the tooth difference between the two rings AND the ring diameters are right then the chain links length will perfectly match the teeth on each ring resulting in a smooth shift. So depending on ring choice a double can be smooth or not smooth and same goes for a triple albeit with twice the opportunities.

Triples can have a problem if the middle ring is too small and is "hidden" from the chain when shifting up out of the small ring. This doesn't come up that often.

Great combo: Half-step plus Granny with 5 cog on rear!!!

joejack951

For Shimano users at least, the question becomes do you really need anything better than Tiagra (now with 10 speeds and hidden shifter housing)? I've heard enough people on this forum that have made Campy double brifters shift a triple crank so there are a lot of options for those users.

Inpd

Errr no. The 5700 105's had a triple STI (see Shimano 105 5703 Triple STI Shifter Set | Chain Reaction Cycles)

joejack951

Looking at all the latest iterations of Shimano's groupsets, the only triples left are Tiagra and lower. Ultegra 6700 had a triple version, too. So did Dura Ace 7800.

Inpd

Your right, in the 5800+ there are only doubles. But I did contact Shimano USA as I was seriously looking at the 5700 triple. What they told me was they are still producing and supporting the 5700 but 5800 had the latest technology (paraphrasing).

patrickgm60

+1 (except for the MTB part.) Also, my understanding is that manufacturers have eliminated most triple cranks, not because they are obsolete, but for the purpose of cost savings and parts interchangeability.