Road Cycling - Shimano Dura Ace Triple

This is NOT another of the double Vs. triple threads, I just have a few questions abouth the crank mentioned in the title.

I am thinking about replacing by crank. I understand that the DA triple crank from Shimano comes with 53-39-30T rings (Perfomance). At least on paper, this looks to me like a double with the added 30T ring. This again looks interesting because it would let me use a small cassete (11-23 or even 11-21) and still have some bail out gears speared for monster hills. Now I wonder:


What do you think about the crank? Any experience with it? Is this the standard DA triple?
If I decided to replace my existing crank which is a triple but 30-42-52, would I need to do something with deraillers as well? They are 105 FD and Ultegra RD. I mean I know that I would have to tune them, but do I need to replace them? I guess I would have to get a new BB?
Is there Ultegra or 105 crank which comes with the same rings (30-39-53T)?


Thank you

you can always just get those rings for your current triple and save a bunch of money. if you've already got a triple set-up, you probably won't have to do anything with them aside from tuning them, like you mentioned. as far as the crank goes, it's dura ace. shimano doesn't make a better triple crank than that one.

I'd stick with the 30-42-52. IMHO, it's a much better combo than 30-39-53. 42-52 and 42-53 used to be the "standard" double chainring combos. But folks started using 38s and 39s for the inner ring to drop low gear. But the "price" you pay for that is you ride 1cog smaller on the flats (e.g. 39/13 instead of 42/14) meaning the chain line is worse. It also means less overlap so you shift between small and big ring more. So if you have the granny ring for the low gears, that removes the need for the 39 and a 42 is probably a better option for the middle ring.

This is NOT another of the double Vs. triple threads, I just have a few questions abouth the crank mentioned in the title.

I am thinking about replacing by crank. I understand that the DA triple crank from Shimano comes with 53-39-30T rings (Perfomance). At least on paper, this looks to me like a double with the added 30T ring. This again looks interesting because it would let me use a small cassete (11-23 or even 11-21) and still have some bail out gears speared for monster hills. Now I wonder:


What do you think about the crank? Any experience with it? Is this the standard DA triple?
If I decided to replace my existing crank which is a triple but 30-42-52, would I need to do something with dérailleurs as well? They are 105 FD and Ultegra RD. I mean I know that I would have to tune them, but do I need to replace them? I guess I would have to get a new BB?
Is there Ultegra or 105 crank which comes with the same rings (30-39-53T)?


Thank you
I run Dura Ace triples on two of my bikes. I believe if you use the Dura Ace crankset with the 53/39/30 rings, you will have to use the Dura Ace triple front dérailleur. This is because of the jump between the middle and big chainrings is larger than the 105 front dérailleur can handle.