Originally Posted by
edthesped
How did you compensate for the chainline issues? I tried a couple years ago and was very unhappy with the results, For what are now obvious reasons I couldn't get the derailleur to swing out far enough. Granted I spaced the crankset per the instructions, in hind sight I should have at a bare minimum swapped the spacers or placed all 3 on the non drive side, though I'm not sure if the crankset shift would have been noticable. MTB triple chainlines are 50mm while I believe Road Triples and their derailleurs are set for 43.5mm. I know the IRD Alpina calls for a 43.5mm chainline. I'm also starting to consider moving back to a square taper setup as I think that should make the whole chainline thing a non issue as long as I can find a decent ramped and pinned JIS crankset. Sorry to derail the thread btw, though it may help the OP.
I use a shorter BB to bring in the chainline. That is what makes square taper and 9 speed setups so versatile. I found that using a 103 mm bottom bracket gives a 44-45 mm chainline in most cases. Also the Shimano 4305 Tiagra triple front derailleur will give very smooth shifting. It is probably the most flexible FD for this type of application. I can set up my triple FD so that I can cross chain on both the high and low ends (not recommended) without experiencing any chain rub on the FD using STI brifters.
The number of options are reduced when you get into the 10 and 11 speed setups. Unfortunately, 9 speed components are getting harder to find.
The main advantage of a triple is the wide range of gear combinations,i.e., 3 x 9 will give 25 usable combinations vs. a 2 x 10 that will give 20 at the most. This may not sound like a big deal, but when on a long ride finding that sweet spot, the right gear combination for the topography, can make life a lot easier.