triples give the most/best possible range of gears for what I use on most flat to rollin terrain - 86 inch to 70 inch - by using a one step cog set from 13 to 19, then 2 steps to 21 & 23 (9 spd) and I still have a couple good 'grunt' gears for the 14+ gradient climbs.
I really luv that 42 ring in a 52/42/30 triple - you can spin easy and you can cover some roadway if you need to... without using the big meat.

10 spd std 53(52)/39 double also has this - single step, 13-19, then 21,23,25 - just doesn't have the low end for really long hard climbs for this olde pharte , guess I could go 13-19 & 21,24,27 and gain in little.

I really tried compact, on 3 different bikes, 3 different ring (50/36 & 50/34 and asstd cogsets) /cogset combos - it just comes up short to either the std double 10 spd or any triple. I lose gear choices in the 86 to 70 inch range and the low end isn;t all that much better than a std dbl. I'm never quite happy with the gear jumps.
I have a bunch of compact cranksets I'm gonna be puttin up on ebay.
Triple is best for me, cause there's really no terrain I won't ride on a triple.