I bought "one of those" GMC Denali Pro road bikes. It's got brifters and microshift deraillerus. It rides fine (mostly), but it's hilly around here, and I'm getting down into my lowest gear on the more moderate hills around here.

I want to upgrade to a triple crank. The bike is a 16-speed now, with an 8-speed freewheel (old style, not freehub). I mentioned it to a guy at a LBS, and he said I would have to switch to a 9-speed chain, then have to replace the front and rear derailleurs, the bottom bracket, and that it wouldn't be worth it.
The front derailleur is set up to work with either double or triple cranks, and has three detents that it cycles through. So, that sounds like I won't need anything but the new crank, and the new bottom bracket.

Long story short, the bike is cheap, but what I can afford as a student. The 700cx28 tires are pretty narrow for me, as I was running 27x1 3/8" tires before. I have some issues with it, so I am considering returning it and getting a hybrid.

Anyway, first post - cheers!