seypat

I had a transition last weekend that was so abrupt that I lost my momentum before I could get to the end of my range and fell over. I got on the granny first and was trying to grind it out while moving up the cassette. Momentum stopped and I couldn't get a foot down fast enough. Got up, shifted the rest of the way to the end of the cassette, rolled down to the start, and went back up. Luckily, there were no other riders/bystanders to witness the fiasco.

Also slowly passed a teen walking up a hill with a skateboard. Looked down and I was climbing at 4.1mph. Slow enough that we had a conversation.

LarrySellerz

Wait the fall of the tripple is a Big Gravel thing? That was my gut feeling but I thought that the switch away from tripples happened before Big Gravel took over, but this was before my time.

LarrySellerz

Thats covers a lot of territory but I wouldn't be happy with the low end or high end on that bike, maybe on dirt roads it would be fine

mstateglfr 

You arent riding wrong and others aren't riding wrong. There is no right or wrong. That is obvious, yet people still seem to post like they are accepting of their way not being right. It's goofy to see.

Your triple drivetrains are 3x9 at most, correct? Adding more cogs in the back allowed a ring to be removed from the front. Again, it isnt eight or wrong to use a double or a triple. Ride what you like.
With that said, your theory that compact doubles taking over because they are cheaper is absurd.

mstateglfr 

Compacts were not made before for a couple reasons-
- cassettes at the time were not designed to handle a compact double up front. 11t cassettes weren't a thing and there weren't enough cogs to make wider range cassettes useful.
- the industry largely split drop bar drivetrains into either road bike with very tough gearing or wide range touring triple.

You claim profits are why compact doubles exist?...how? What was saved by moving to them? What was sold that otherwise wouldn't sell?

You live in a hilly area. Others live in flat land. Others live in a mix of hills and flat. What works best for you may not be what works best for others. This is aside from strength, since you brought that up, and is entirely terrain based. What you need is not universal, regardless of strength.

mstateglfr 

Compact doubles became popular before gravel took off.
Also, 11sp allows for tight jumps and wide range.
Your history is jacked up- time for you to come up with another reason and base it on something other than reality.

Fredo76

I just LOVE the term Big Gravel, and had to try using it. My post was in jest, of course. But only half-so.

My "history" has a four-decade absence, ending two years ago. What happened?

Speaking of jacked up, somebody needs a chill pill! I hope you brought enough chill pills for everybody...

t2p

but have you done the dirty dozen !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_...le_competition)

.

PeteHski

Triple mate, triple, triple, triple. Just a single p. Got it yet?

Also got F.all to do with Big Gravel. Alternative reality stuff there.

vespasianus

No, no they are not. They are everything that is wrong with this forum and why it is becoming a laughable place.

surak

That's probably countable with Di2 data, but I can't be bothered considering rear shifting is easy and intuitive, so those shifts are basically free for me. On the other hand -- quite literally -- back when the only road bike I had was a Tiagra 4700 double, my left wrist gave out during a long ride due to the strain from upshifting the front ring too often. That played a role in splurging for Di2 when a deal came along.

Anyway, most less experienced riders are avoiding difficult terrain / not able to figure out which chainring to be in even with only 2 chainrings, let alone 3 (TBH even I can't be bothered, I hate how slow it is to hunt around for the right gear combo with 3x on my tandems).


No nibbling around the cassette here.

I don't even find having a 1x to be a major issue in a paceline as I've become more adaptable with my cadence. 1x is still going to be 11 times easier than SS on a hilly ride.

seypat

Viva la 110/74!

PeteHski

That is 100% not the reason why triples have virtually disappeared. It is simply down to the increase in the number of cassette gears. A modern 11 or 12-speed drivetrain doesn't really need 3 chainrings for most people. We are actually at a point where 2 chainrings is now becoming questionable with 1x13 emerging.

seypat

It was actually my right wrist that used to give out shifting on long rides. Sounds like the wrist problems ended with a move to electronic shifting, not because of compact doubles.

BTW, I'm sure the less experienced riders could also figure it out with electronic shifting. If it solved your problems, it would probably solve theirs as well.

seypat

Take a look at the ride profile that surak posted up thread. That would be some kind of fun with a 1X. Not really.

LarrySellerz

I dont agree that tripples are more complicated, when I got my first "nice" bike when i was like 11, the bike shop told me to use gears 1-3 for the small chainring, 3-5 for the middle, and 5-7 for the big one. I still follow that advice religiously when using a 21 speed bike. Its actually easier for me to be in the right gear on the tripple than a double because it was laid out for me so plainly as a kid

big john

I joined a road club of 500 members in 1989, still ride with that club. It's rare to see a triple on anyone's bike now but back then there were only a few. I used a double for everything except touring. I didn't get a triple roadie until 2002. I rode 9000 miles for 3 years and 12K for another on double chainrings with tons of climbing. A friend rode 25K miles some years including all of the climbing centuries with a double and 8 speed.
It would be shocking to see a racer with a triple, ever.

Now, I can only think of one club rider who has a triple.

When compact cranksets came out the demand for triples went down and high-end triple groups were dropped. I have an Ultegra 10 speed triple group on one bike.
I have a compact 10 speed group on the other and it works pretty well but sometimes I wish it had a lower gear then the 34x29, but I'm fat and old.

I'm surprised to see people supporting triples on the forum. They were scoffed at in the past on these pages.

tomato coupe

It never ceases to amaze me how many people cling to the theory that bike manufacturers all conspire to produce 1x, disc brake, carbon frames etc., despite most cyclists preferring triples, rim brakes, and steel frames. It's like claiming the auto manufacturers all conspire to build SUVs, despite people really wanting station wagons.

LarrySellerz

I agree based on what I see around me, but why is this the case? Are racers normally strong enough to not need the granny? It could just be everyone conforming to the norm, I think some people don't even know why they shave their legs and wear sunglasses over the helmet straps. Its just the way things are done.

seypat

Maybe you can start a thread for evaluation.

seypat

I'd rather drive a station wagon, or a mini van.

tomato coupe

No one is stopping you, are they? But, the general public is not clamoring for station wagons, the same as they are not clamoring for triple cranksets.

surak

Nah, most of my fun-hard rides over the winter were on my mechanical 11 speed 1x rain bike and the gaps in gearing were fine. 2 more bigger sprockets would be nice -- I considered getting the Ratio upgrade kit to get to 12 speed and ability to max out with something between 42-46t sprocket instead of the 36t I'm limited to, but decided against it because my current gearing on it is almost perfect for my commutes.

Here's one of the hardest rides I did with a strong group on that bike: 77 miles and 5300 ft elev gain with 17 mph avg speed, 44 mph max and only 116 rpm cadence.


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seypat

If i want to buy a new station wagon, yes. The last American one sold was a rebadged German one that was dropped for the 2020 year We have the Outback, the VW if it is still being sold, and the high end German ones if they are still being sold. So for me it's mini and full sized vans. No SUVs and crossovers. Triples also, so no new bikes.

surak

My man, you can't even keep track of how many p's are in the word "triple" and you expect me to believe that you know what sprocket you're riding in the back without checking religiously? Also that advice is still 3x more complicated than remembering to stay in the big chainring unless it's hard going uphill.