I have been reading posts on here for a few months now but this is my first post. I am 6 ft, 248 lbs and am thinking of getting a true road bike. My only road bike experience is on a Schwinn Continental which was far from being road worthy. I have been tooling around on a Giant Suede; which is fun but very upright, and recently got me a Trek 4300. I am amazed by how much body position makes a difference as far as speed!
Just dropping down a bit with the mountain bike has shaved time off of previous routes I have done.
Anyway... The area around my house has some good hills for Northern Indiana since I'm along a creek. Also there is another area that has good hills that most road bikes ride on, which is a "short" bike ride away. I am so-so with hills depending on how long I have been riding or what gear im in. So with keeping all that in mind, should I be looking at road bikes with a third chain ring? I know there will be gear over lap but I wanted some opinions from other Clydes out there. Please give me some feedback about the third chain ring on a road bike! Many thanks!