Clear back in the late 80s I bought a touring bike with a triple. This was to be my "last" bike. I figured that as I got older I would always have the granny gear to fall back on. It worked well and I was very happy with the set up. Then mountain bikes became really popular so I bought a mountain bike as my "last" bike. So then I had a road bike and a mountain bike. Then after looking at recumbents for years and thinking how logical they were I bought one in 2005. It was fantastic and of course it had a triple. Finally my "last" bike. But then since I have been blessed with great health, when I retired in 2008 I bought my forth "last" bike a Rans Stratus.

Now guess what. Still in great health im thinking about a tadpole trike which I will probably get next year when I have saved enough pennies. The point here is probably a lot of people like me that have bought that last bike. All four of my last bikes did have a triple. The slight increase in weight is good insurance against old age and hills.