Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
When I was commuting on a 26er with slicks, i often felt like my cruising gear was awkwardly high and it caused me to shift the 42-32 a lot. When I switched to a 48-38-28 crankset I barely used the top ring any more.
riding unloaded or lightly loaded with a mtb triple crank, a la 42/32/22 or similar, does pose that problem. I commuted a long time on a bike with that crank, and having to shift between the 32 and 42 is a bit annoying, and exactly why for all around riding, the triples like 48/36/26 or thereabouts make such good cranksets.
Load a bike up though and the mtb triple works a treat. Most of the time on the flats in the mid ring, small ring for climbing, and big ring for tailwinds, slight downhills and downhills in general, and you arent cross chaining the crap out of stuff, and I find you really do use all of your cassette and chainrings, which is surely good for spreading out the chain wear all over the drivetrain, better for long term wear.