Ironfish653

I would agree. If you were MTB'ing in the 1990s, the array of full-suspension designs was staggering.

However, here in the BikeForums universe, that never happened. There have only been three mountain bikes; department store Huffy's, Danny MacAskill's Freeride rig, and the '85 Schwinn High Sierra. Suspension development started and ended with the Scott Unishock.

livedarklions

livedarklions

Why triples are disappearing is a good question. What it has to do with the rise of 1x is just about nothing.

PeteHski

So you don’t think triples have disappeared from MTBs due to the rise of 1x drivetrains?

livedarklions

I don't MTB, so if you say so. I don't know if they wouldn't have just gone from triples to doubles as road bikes largely did.

PeteHski

The MTB world pretty much went straight from 3x to 1x. There was always the double + bash ring option for those who didn’t see the point of a big ring on their MTB. But once 1x took hold nearly a decade ago then nobody looked back.

I don’t remember triples ever being popular on road bikes except for touring. All my road bikes have been 2x since the early 80s.

livedarklions

I consider most hybrids to have been flat bar road bikes because that's how they were generally used in the States. They were, for a while, THE utility bikes here. It was very common to have triples on them.

What I don't know about MTB could fill volumes.

GhostRider62

Triples were pretty rare on road bikes back in the day. Campy made a beautiful triple, I only recall seeing one. It was on Bicycling Magazine Editor-in-Chief's bike, Ed Pavelka had one on his custom made Tom Kellog Spectrum that went to PBP a few times. Back then, most high quality RD would only shift a 26 or 28 cog and the bolt circle diameter of the crankset limited you to 41 or 42. There were two solutions to a lower gear for climbing, install a triple and/or install a Deore or Huet RD and a 32T back there.

I think the big problem 1X solved for MTB riders was chain suck and one does not need as many tight gears as on the road because the speeds are lower on a MtB and the forces to overcome are generally more linear (slower speed = less wind, and lousy surfaces = more rolling resistance)

tomato coupe

Somewhat popular, and certainly readily available. I bought a Madone 12 (?) years ago that was available with either a compact or a triple, and (presumably) also a standard. Pretty much wiped out by compacts.

prj71

Triples only made sense when we only had 7 - 9 speed cassettes in back.

PeteHski

Anyway the main point is that 1x does make sense on the bikes that actually run 12 speed 50T+ rear cassettes. It's triples that don't make sense on those bikes anymore, which is why they have all but disappeared out of that market through lack of demand.

AdkMtnMonster

You should see what they’re saying about it over on the unicycle forum. What kind of idiot need brakes, handlebars, chains, or friends?

Phil_gretz

I no longer have any bikes with three chainrings. They're unnecessary for my type of riding. But it's not that they "don't make sense" to me. They make complete sense for certain types of riding, as others have pointed out.

My wife, on the other hand, enjoys having a triple. She rarely uses the large chainring, though. She's a true spinner.

tomato coupe

You forgot the second wheel. Who needs that?

PeteHski

Tourers and hybrids were the main market for road triples over here. Road race bikes with drop bars were/are almost exclusively doubles, even with only 5 or 6 rear sprockets. Only bikes I've ever owned with triples were MTBs up to around 2014 when I got my first 1x MTB, which was a total revelation. It's hard to overstate how much better 1x is on technical single track. No more risk of dropped chains or having to plan front downshifts coming out of steep dips into aggressive climbs. Smaller front chainring also helps with clearance over obstacles. 1x also frees up your left hand for the dropper post. There are no downsides that I can think of for 1x MTB use. Maybe that's why 99% of MTBs are now 1x. For road use it's a lot more marginal, which is why 2x still dominates the road market. At least for now. As for triples? Bit of a niche market really. Who really needs 3x12 gearing?

GhostRider62

Not true for many riders.

How do you get a sub 20 inch low and a 120+ inch high with a 2x or 1x. There are riders in some locales who need those ranges and are also not willing to have big steps in the cruising gears.

livedarklions

Cue the guys who road ride in mountain states. They need a high gear descending, and a very low gear ascending.

There were a fair number of drop bar triples being marketed as "endurance fit" or something similar in the U.S. if I recall correctly.

I don't want to start up another row about my gearing (not referring to you), but I think you could understand why I'd have no interest in 1x for a road bike. When I had a triple on my FX3, I almost never went below the middle chain ring.

PeteHski

Yeah, well that's not really many riders is it?

livedarklions

I think that's the trouble for finding triples going forward--the people who need them really really need them (e.g., road riders in mountainous places), but there may not be enough of those people to justify continuing to mass produce them economically.

PeteHski

Compact doubles are pretty popular in the Alps. You don't actually need a very high gear for descending steep slopes. You actually need good brakes!

GhostRider62

Shimano produces them. You can buy triple cranks in EU but not USA. It is a marketing thing. SRAM especially is shoving 1X and weird gearing down our throats.

GhostRider62

The Alps are not especially steep.

rydabent

Nice personal attack. Maybe the moderator should take notice. As a mechanical tech among other things, I assure you I know a lot about gearing.

As others have stated, it is just something new the mfg want you to bite on, to be "up to date"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fortunately most of us ARE NOT so "ignorant" as to bite on this continuing sales ploy.

PeteHski

So are you seriously going to argue that you need a bigger gear to descend say a 20% slope?
Or are you talking about super low gears?

GhostRider62

Well, it depends on the forum. Virtually every trike rider needs gears that low. Most velomobile riders would kill for a 20 inch gear and 140 inch top gear. Touring cyclists need low and high gears. As do most fast recumbent riders. Probably a lot more than you think