I don't know -- I went from a 50/39/30 -- which I absolutely hated.

As you can see from the photo, The range is 2.1-9 (50/34) compared to 2.2-9.2 (50/39/30).

I pretty much live on the 50 now...maybe toward the end of a ride and on a hill, I'll hit the 34, or if doing a serious climb, but I've never had a bike that shifts as buttery smooth as my compact 50/34. Maybe it's because of 105 components vs the lower end Claris I had...not sure, but either way, as long as I had the choice, I would not buy a bike that wasn't a double ever again.