asindc

If I buy it, I'll want to put a double crankset on it. Probably 105, maybe Ultegra. What should I prepare myself for? Any special modifications or considerations before pursuing this? I'd keep the 9-speed cassette for now, but might go to a 10-speed in the future.

rms13

If you want to go to a double you would probably want to swap the front shifter and front deraileur as well. If you are thinking about going 10 or 11 speed might as well wait and do it all at once. I doubt the stock rear wheel is 10 speed compatible so if you went 10 you'd probably need a new wheel in which case you might as well go 11. At which point you'd be looking at full groupset upgrade and it will be cheaper in the long run to buy a complete group from the UK than replacing cranks and front shifter/deraileur and then replacing the rest

asindc

Thanks. Would it be a problem going from 9 to 10 (or 11) in terms of clearance for additional gears?

ussprinceton

can you post some pictures of it?

D1andonlyDman

9 and 10 speed wheels are almost universally interchangeable. Lots of derailleurs are as well. Just put whatever cassette you want on the rear, and the proper-spaced chain.

But in all honesty, I can't see a lot of reason to drop a fully functional 9x3 to go to 9x2, 10x2 or 11x2 setup, unless I was racing, or was a major weight weenie, in which case, you're looking at the wrong frame. You don't have to use the granny ring unless you need it, and then, you'll be glad it's there.

I just finished a build of a Schwinn Paramount Series 7 PDG frame, that I built up as a 9x3, because I think that's about the most versatile setup around. It took some effort to get the front shifting all ironed out and working cleanly, but now that it does, I really can't see what I could possibly gain from dropping the granny ring, other than maybe a few ounces. I just took it out for it's first ride, and in the course of a 15 mile ride, I was on the granny ring for less than 2/10 of a mile, on a short 12% grade. It was nice that I had those bailout gears when I needed them, but other than having that safety net for really steep climbs, the bike is basically set up similarly to my other 2x9 bike, and I shift it similarly.

asindc

Thanks, good to know.

asindc

Soody

I think a triple has a place on a 9 8 7 speed road bike.

I have 8 speed with a triple and it allows me to run a relatively close spaced 13-26 cassette and still have hill gears.

I can keep a good cadence on the flat and not hunt around for gears.


The 34/50 and 11/28 on my 10 speed bike has slightly bigger gaps than the 32/42/52 and 13/26 on my 8 speed bike.

On my 7 speed bike with indexed Shimano 600 12/23 or 11/21 cassettes are best for fast road riding. 11/28 is terrible.


A triple doesn't mean stupid wide touring gears. Run a triple with a close cassette and you get fast road gearing that is similar to a 11/10 speed 11-28 and a compact.

You'd really be paying a lot of money to drop a little bit of weight.

asindc

Not looking to drop weight. I can't think of when I'd use the small chainring, but the suggestions here have me thinking more about. I hadn't thought about the gear versatility.

D1andonlyDman

What both Soody and I are getting at is that with a thoughtfully designed triple setup, having the 3rd ring which really only gets used with the big portion of the cassette, allows you to use the other two rings with a cassette that's much tighter spaced at the smaller end, and you can basically get a high performance gear setup, with the granny ring basically dedicated to hard climbing.

Now it's true that not everyone needs the serious climbing gearing, but if the rest of the setup is well thought out, and the triple and front shifting is all working well, there's nothing to be gained by dropping it besides the few ounces of weight of the granny ring.

Soody

Lots of 9 speed cassette options.

Forget the 11t cog if you have a 52/53 big ring.

Even if you just want to EPO it up the climbs and smash around the flats at 60km/h a triple with a 11-21 cassette and a granny ring for when you bonk would work pretty well.

A 12-25 is a good middle ground.



My 8 speed 13-26 triple setup- good on mountains and also good for keeping a fast pace on the flat.



Sure other roadies might laugh at you for having a triple, but if you can ignore everyone else laughing about lycra, ass cream, tap shoes, caffeine + jizz sachets, shaved legs and erectile dysfunction then you can handle the teasing.

LesterOfPuppets

I used to be anti road triples, but got a 2001 Lemond Buenos Aires with 105 3x9 and it works like a charm. Glad I have it now that I'm an older and slower. I even ditched the 30 for a 26T little ring.

Canker

My bike has a 3x10 and I really don't get the hate for triples. I love that 95% of the time I can just leave it in the middle ring and not have to deal with shifting the front. I'm a mtn biker and fairly new to road biking so I ride with a lot of newbs most of which are on compacts. They aren't in great climbing shape, not that I'm great either, and do not have the right gearing for the climbing around here so they end up mashing up the hills and wearing themselves out. Yes they could change out the cassette for a 32 or 34 but for some reason that is seen as uncool too by a lot of people or they don't even know they can. Most of the time when I hear somebody ask how do you get better at climbing the response is climb MORE while true having the right gearing helps a lot too. Even with the triple on the front I run a 28 on the rear and I'm glad to have those bail out gears when I need them.

asindc

Are newer (2008-15) Mavic wheels 9-speed cassette compatible? I assume that either 10-speed or 11-speed would be no problem on newer wheels without modifications.

cale

My 3X9 setup. 12-26 in the rear.

TrojanHorse

This post is just loaded with wrong information. 8/9/10 shimano cassettes are all the same width. 11 is different. Triple shifters can be used on a double front too, so no need to spend money there, and the FD doesn't need to be changed either.

The real question is why? Triples are awesome, if it works well - use it. New cranks are expensive.

Drew Eckhardt 

With only 9 to choose from 11-19, 12-21, 13-23, and 14-25 are the only acceptable road riding cassettes with one tooth jumps through the 19 cog.

With 53-39-26 x 13-23 that still means a larger big gear than Eddy Merckx used to dominate the spring classics (you're no Eddy), and a low like 34x30.

In 1997 with the move to 8 cogs I switched to 50-40-30 x 13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21 providing a 13-19 straight block for plains rides east of Boulder, CO and low like 42x28 for mountains west. It worked great. 50-34x13-23 9 cogs wasn't so hot with 10X the front shifts and extra noise from 50x21 and 34x14.

14-23 10 cogs wasn't an improvement on 13-23 9 with the 22 not different enough and more cog changes needed to accommodate a ring shift, although 13-26 and 12-23 are great. Awesome at 185 pounds. The triple is unnecessary on hard days at 138, although being able to spin up hills on rest days without changing cogs is pretty neat.

Drew Eckhardt 

I couldn't get my Campagnolo Racing-T front derailleur to reliably shift a C9 chain on a 50-34 FSA Carbon Pro Compact crankset without sometimes dumping the chain to the outside presumably due to geometry (the triple big and middle rings sit farther outboard where the derailleur's motion is becoming more vertical with cable movement) and cage width (wider). A correct double derailleur ran perfectly without any messing around trying to get things right.

Tickstart

I'm pretty sure I've never seen a bike with double cranksets... What would be the point?

Okay now I have..

D1andonlyDman

Except there is nothing at all "unacceptable" about 2-tooth jumps on most of the cassette. I get that you have a personal preference for a straight block, but that is entirely different from making such a doctrinaire judgment on behalf of all riders. I personally find 1-tooth jumps from 15T on up to provide inadequately differentiated gears, but I would never be so arrogant as to assume that my personal preference was the only "acceptable" type of gearing.

D1andonlyDman

I take it that you've never seen a tandem?

D1andonlyDman

Find me a double with 22 or more teeth difference between high and low ring that shifts clean, and I'll agree that there's no need for a triple.

asindc

Thanks for posting the pic. Looks nice and clean.

asindc

Thanks. From my research so far, this is what I had understood.

mr. peugeot

The 2002 alp d'huez is a first rate bike.