Chain angle vs gears actually used?

[ColinJ]

Yes, that is a lot clearer (and makes more sense).

I tend to overlap the use of the rings a bit more on my triple. I will often stay on one ring even if it overlaps the range of one of the others if I suspect that I would soon be changing back to the original ring again.

I sometimes stay on my 39 (middle ring) even it means using the biggest or smallest sprocket for a while. If I thought I was going to end up feeling overgeared in 39/28 or be subjecting the chain to the poor chainline for a long time, I would change down to the granny ring and find an equivalent gear on that. Similarly, I would change up to the big ring if the 39/14 felt too 'spinny' or I was going to be using that gear for a long time.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@ColinJ pretty much how I ride, my chain line on my middle 40th and 13th is pretty good (well it was till the RD gave up the ghost) its not so keen on the 27th and this is on a slightly shorter BB than the chainset was intended for (original 116mm current 115mm), however I am running a FD Sora 3300 7/8sp with a 9sp drive chain, which gives a slight shifting problem from the 30th to the 40th, but the 40th is just a standed ring (non ramped) it not an issue as the use of the 30th is generally minimal, so the shifting "and a the little extra push" is general ok. The shifting from the 40th to the 52th is clean and crisp, also with such a close grouping on the rear its usually change the front and one or two on the back and you are where you want to be.