# Double or Triple Chainring



## edwardd67 (16 Apr 2011)

Hi Guys 

Whats best Double or Triple.

I know triple weighs more.

Does the triple help with climbs ?
I'm a recreational cyclist not out to set records just enjoy cycling.

Thanks
Ed


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## corshamjim (16 Apr 2011)

Oh gosh! It's difficult to say for sure.

IME, the problem with double can be the big jump from small to large ring.

The problem with triple can be getting the cage to sit right without rubbing on one side or the other.

Personally on the whole I think I prefer triple, but I wish I'd gone for a friction shifter rather than indexed.


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## cyberknight (16 Apr 2011)

I have always used doubles, nowadays it is a compact for commuting and i do find sometimes i can downshift to the smaller ring i need to bump up the rear mech as it can be a bit easy or choose an easier gear at the back at stay on the big ring at the front.With a easy enough gear at the back you can get enough of a gear for most hills.

It certainly is do-able but if you want an easier ride rather than hammering it i would go for a triple unless your racing the extra weight is not going to make any difference.You will get a lot more overlap on gears where you get the same gear difficulty replicated with different gear combinations but a greater range of easier gears on the smallest ring should get you up anything !


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## vernon (17 Apr 2011)

Go for the triple. I've yet to hear someone complain about their bottom gear being too low.


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## chewy (17 Apr 2011)

Been wondering the same! 

But i've 99% settled on another triple. If your only out for fun, then stick with a triple. 

You'll gain little with a double but could lose alot by not having a triple.


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## Glover Fan (17 Apr 2011)

My MTB has a triple, but my roadbike has a compact double. IMO a triple makes sense on a mountain bike, but on my road bike, my rear block goes low enough that I have not yet had a hill that has made me think I wish I had a lower gear, in fact I rarely go onto the big ring on the back and the small ring on the front.

It's horse for courses, but I find a triple just complicates issues and makes me think about gears more than I need too.


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## asterix (17 Apr 2011)

Depends. If your rides are fairly short and not too hilly, a double/compact will be fine. OTOH if you like longer rides and a few hills then a triple is a good idea. The extra weight is trivial. 

I like longish hilly rides, 3 of my bikes have triples and the 4th a double. I prefer the triples and will soon convert the double although I can get by with it.


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## GrasB (17 Apr 2011)

It comes down to riding styles, problem is the only way to find out is to ride on a triple & a double for a a while (we're talking months really) to find out which you'd prefer. That said, a triple is the safest bet.


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## frank9755 (17 Apr 2011)

vernon said:


> Go for the triple. I've yet to hear someone complain about their bottom gear being too low.



I agree with this for most people for leisure riding. 
The main exception would be it you lived somewhere really flat, in which case a double is always that bit easier to shift.


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## edwardd67 (17 Apr 2011)

frank9755 said:


> I agree with this for most people for leisure riding.
> The main exception would be it you lived somewhere really flat, in which case a double is always that bit easier to shift.



I live in Scotland----- finding somewhere flat is a problem






Thanks for the replies .
ED


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## numbnuts (17 Apr 2011)

triple ....hills get bigger as you get older


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## aberal (17 Apr 2011)

Double - so long as it is a compact chainset with 34 teeth on the smallest chainring. A triple typically will have 30 teeth on the smallest chainring, which can occasionally help you out on mega steep climbs, but in truth is hardly ever needed. Triples are only really necessary when you are touring and carrying big loads - tent, cooking stuff etc. For leisure rides the ultra low gears aren't really necessary 99% of the time. 

The downside to the triple is the weight, as has been mentioned, but also the line the chain runs on the rings is more acute on a triple. Simply shifting gear on a compact is easier, the triple has intermediate clicks on the middle chainring to avoid rubbing on the front mech when the chain is at an acute angle (no big deal in itself) but adjusting the front mech when it needs a bit of tweaking is also a lot easier. 

I know all this - coz I have a triple, also live in Scotland, am 51 yo and rarely have the need to drop into the lowest chainring, never mind use the smallest ring and if I had loads of disposable dosh would turn it into a compact tomorrow.


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## PpPete (17 Apr 2011)

Similar age to Aberal...and live in a less mountainous part of the world, but evidently not as fit and strong.
I have a triple and OFTEN have to resort to the little ring - in fact I changed the regular 30T ring for an even smaller one, *and* I've got a biggish cassette. 
Yes, often need to tweak the position of the FD cage....but this becomes a matter of routine. Extra weight - negligible compared to the weight I still need to lose.


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## edwardd67 (17 Apr 2011)

Thanks guys.
Bike bought Cannondale CAAD8 triple Sora

Had a short run on it will take a little time to adjust after riding a Boardman Hybrid for the last year.


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## Phixion (17 Apr 2011)

Just curious, your Boardman Hybrid would have had 28mm tyres on right? How was the ride on that compared to thinner 23/25mm?


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## Chris S (17 Apr 2011)

I've got a triple and I've never used the granny cog.

However I learned to ride on a ridiculously high-geared Sturmey Archer 3-speed.


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## aberal (17 Apr 2011)

edwardd67 said:


> Thanks guys.
> Bike bought Cannondale CAAD8 triple Sora
> 
> Had a short run on it will take a little time to adjust after riding a Boardman Hybrid for the last year.



You'll learn to love it. I have a Cannondale CAAD3 triple 105 dating back to 2001. 10 years old and still going strong and still my pride and joy. A fast road machine, if you are used to a hybrid, does indeed take some getting used to. Think of it as a thoroughbred horse, twitchy and temperamental. A hybrid is solid and safe, like an old work horse (and nothing wrong with that in its own way). I still remember going out on mine for the first time. It felt like teetering on a high wire. It doesn't take long to get used to it though. Give it a few weeks and you'll find that when you go back to the hybrid its a tad staid - and you'd never noticed before.


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## GrasB (17 Apr 2011)

I wouldn't exactly call a boardman hybrid solid & safe, sure it has the flat bars but the basic geometry is fairly twitchy. Okay the wheelbase it long so it's not going to be quite as focused missilesque as a road bike but put narrow bars on it & it's not far behind a road bike for twitchiness.


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## Boyfrom64 (17 Apr 2011)

I have just brought a triple - Specialized Sectur and my view on when I was choosing a bike and whether it should be a double or a triple was quite simple. I never wanted to have to get off my bike and walk up a hill, so the answer had to be triple.

Any way, good look with your bike, go out and enjoy.


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## paddy01 (17 Apr 2011)

Horses for courses, the answer is whatever works for you.

For me personally - The last 3 years I've been riding a Trek 1.2 triple (first road bike), essentially I never used the small chain ring after the first couple of days of ownership which is why... the Trek Madone 4.5 I picked up Friday is a compact double. Suits me perfectly here in Devon where you can't put a football down without it rolling off in some direction


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## MacB (17 Apr 2011)

It is a personal choice and there's also nothing to stop you changing at a later point, I would tend towards the triple as an off the shelf option, the additional weight wouldn't be a concern and I'd rather have a gear and not need it than vice versa. But, being me, I also find it interesting to look at the numbers, using a 700x23 wheel for example:-

a 53x11 gear is 127 gear inches
a 30x28 gear is 28 gear inches(MTB 22x36 would take you down to 16 inches)

So that kind of covers your overall potential range for a road setup, from 28 to 127, then it's just a case of working out your own personal start and end points and choosing the best match for that. If you need/want lower gearing then you need to think touring/MTB gearing, wider range cassette, longer cage rear derailler and smaller chainrings in whatever combo suits. If you need higher gearing then you're a creature far beyond normal cycling abilities/practices 

While it may feel macho to have something like a 53x11 as a top gear how often would you use it and, more importantly, how often would it actually add to your speed? For example I regularly reach 35mph on a local hill by pedalling in a 78 inch gear and then tucking down, I reckon I hit about 29mph before I stop bothering to pedal, that would be around 125rpm. A 105 inch gear would see you hitting 40mph at 125rpm, so that 53x11, in my mind, would be if you were needing to pedal at 50mph...not a world I'm ever going to be familiar with.

You can mess about with a triple much easier to either get what you want or alter to what you want as your needs change. It can be turned into a double, you can move the chainline via the BB length, you could go down to a 24t inner, you can replace the outer with a bashguard.


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## asterix (18 Apr 2011)

Once I had a 117 inch top gear and it was too high. My present set up is c. 100 and I have got 50 on it more than once. (Garrowby Hill, Sutton Bank and Holme Moss)


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## JohnnyBoy (18 Apr 2011)

Chris S said:


> However I learned to ride on a ridiculously high-geared Sturmey Archer 3-speed.






Now there's a blast from the past, Sturmey Archer...! I had one of those 3 speeds too, happy days..!


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## Glover Fan (18 Apr 2011)

paddy01 said:


> Horses for courses, the answer is whatever works for you.
> 
> For me personally - The last 3 years I've been riding a Trek 1.2 triple (first road bike), essentially I never used the small chain ring after the first couple of days of ownership which is why... the Trek Madone 4.5 I picked up Friday is a compact double. Suits me perfectly here in Devon where you can't put a football down without it rolling off in some direction


Exactly and I think a compact double suits the bill perfectly. I dunno a triple on a road bike just doesn't sit well with me. I'm from South Somerset originally so my experience of hills is hardly limited. The only hill i've ever had to get off and walk up was coming out of Sidmouth towards the Norman Lockyer observatory, but I swear that is just a vertical climb.

Horses for courses as they say.


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## paddy01 (18 Apr 2011)

Ah Peak Hill.. which way were you headed? Towards or away from Sidmouth seafront?

Lost me lunch at the top riding up the backside towards the seafront with a triple.. not tried it since.. although that's probably a good enough reason to go try it on the compact double at the weekend...


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## Cletus Van Damme (18 Apr 2011)

Lots of hills in West Cumbria and I have a dodgy knee so both my bikes (hybrid and road) are triples.


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## corshamjim (18 Apr 2011)

paddy01 said:


> Ah Peak Hill.. which way were you headed? Towards or away from Sidmouth seafront?
> 
> Lost me lunch at the top riding up the backside towards the seafront with a triple.. not tried it since.. although that's probably a good enough reason to go try it on the compact double at the weekend...



Forgive my smugness but I somehow managed to get up Peak Hill last year on a Dahon D7 folder (7-speed cassette/single chainwheel). I confess I nearly wheelied off balance half way up and did indeed feel quite sick on the previous hill. By the time I got to Peak Hill I must've found some 2nd wind from somewhere.


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## MacB (18 Apr 2011)

corshamjim said:


> *Forgive my smugness* but I somehow managed to get up Peak Hill last year on a Dahon D7 folder (7-speed cassette/single chainwheel). I confess I nearly wheelied off balance half way up and did indeed feel quite sick on the previous hill. By the time I got to Peak Hill I must've found some 2nd wind from somewhere.



It's not smugness merely a reflection of your abilities and I reckon people should gear their bikes to reflect their own abilities. If they intend rapid/dramatic improvements then gear up but if they get a bike with gearing, because it looks better or a road bike shouldn't have a triple, and then have to regularly walk up hills, I think that's a bit sad.


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## Bicycle (19 Apr 2011)

Triple.... I'd go triple in a shot if I were buying now.

All my road bikes are single or double, but that was an unhelpful mix of machismo, pride and minimalism (mixed with miserliness).

My MTB is triple, but I wish I had a road bike that was...

I am not Jan Ullrich, but I thought I was....


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## epictrail (19 Apr 2011)

I'd go Triple although it more work as you have to adjust the position of the front mech with the lever as you ride along. A double is just up to the big ring and down to the smaller ring no adjusting.

All depends on the hills were you're riding if its te way to go or not and how fit / macho you are.

Although with the new 11-28 cassettes the range is now much better even with a compact double than it used to be.


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## Glover Fan (19 Apr 2011)

paddy01 said:


> Ah Peak Hill.. which way were you headed? Towards or away from Sidmouth seafront?
> 
> Lost me lunch at the top riding up the backside towards the seafront with a triple.. not tried it since.. although that's probably a good enough reason to go try it on the compact double at the weekend...


Headed away from the seafront! I wasn't told about the climb and I attacked it from the start and by the end I wanted to die! It's up there with the struggle at the lake district as a climb I need to complete because I failed before!


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