Originally Posted by ThermionicScott

+1 to FBinNY's (and others') comments. One of the great -- dare I say beautiful -- things about a triple (as opposed to a compact) is all the overlap between the gear ranges. You can be riding along in one chainring, and dip into another chainring's gear range to get through a steep bump or dip in the terrain with quick and easy rear shifts, rather than being obligated to shift the front all the time. Of course, a triple gives you more opportunities for good chainlines than other cranksets, so you get the best of both worlds.