While I agree that triples are great for most recreational riders, I don't see them making a comeback because they're not cool and they're a little bit harder to use. Most people are not making a realistic assessment of their abilities, looking at the terrain they will be riding, and plugging different gearing combinations into gear calculators to see what will work best for them. They walk into a shop and buy the coolest looking bike in their budget. When I encounter people out riding I'll occasionally ask about what gearing they are running and how they decided what to go with. 7 times out of 10 they have no idea. Even the few who know what gears they have usually say it's what came with the bike. I would say 1 out of ten specifically selected their chainrings and cassette for their abilities and intended use. That estimate may even be a little high because I talk to a lot of randonneurs who tend to be very knowledgeable about that sort of thing.


This is another reason triples won't be making a big comeback. People don't take the time to figure out where their gears are and how to use their transmission effectively. They just go out and start riding, and it's a lot easier to just click up and down the cassette than to navigate through the chainrings.