Originally Posted by
bigbossman
Today's compacts are typically 50/34. I think the purpose is to serve the other side of the spectrum - it allows people that don't want a triple to approximate those low gears that a true triple provides. It's a compromise, for folks that insist upon doubles but can't use standard doubles as God intended.
I'm one of those folks, but I have no shame and cannot be humiliated. So, I use a triple and ride anywhere I damn well please.
The last time I rode around with no shame and no humility I almost got arrested for indecency (just joking...or am I????). Bravo on riding anywhere you damn well please though
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Originally Posted by
Peter_B
Another way to look at it is that the compact double crankset with a wide range cassette gives you the really low gear and the top gear you want, without having to use a triple crankset to get it as one did when there were only five or six speed freewheels. When there were only five speed freewheels, I used a triple crankset to get the low and high gears I wanted on a touring bike. Now with a nine speed cassette you can get that using a double crankset and forgoing use of a triple crankset. The double crankset is easier to shift, not that a triple was hard, but a double is arguably easier. A double crankset weighs less than a triple too, and has less chainring bolts to come loose (!)
This is really my reasoning in switching. The simplicity of switching on a double crankset makes more sense to me than a triple - maybe I'm too used to riding road style, but I found that only my triple (w/an 11-28 in the back), I mostly stayed in the middle ring, shifted high on hills, and only went into the triple once in a blue moon when I met a really steep hill (while dog-tired, with a lot of stuff in my panniers). Also, a double FD is more natural and responsive - not only is it just simpler mentally (just "shift all the way up" or "all the way down"), but a double FD travels further with less cable pull.
And in fact, a chainring bolt on my granny did come loose during a ride. Couldn't figure out what was causing such resistance in my pedaling until I had rubbed a few flecks of paint off the stays
