I had a 52/42/30 on my 2002 LeMond Zurich. It seemed a lot of people were using triples back then. It's a 9 speed. On the back had a 12-25. Rarely used the 30 but nice to know I had it. When my rear cassette needed replacing I went to a 12-28 which was really nice.
This year I upgraded to a carbon fiber frame bike 52/36 up front and an 11-30 in the back. Typical new 11 speed. It's really nice and I climbed quite a few long hills in the mountains near where I live including a couple of centuries.
I'm 5'10" and was rolling at 208. Spent the winter in Thailand riding my road bike almost everyday. I dropped 23 pounds while there from all the riding. Have gained some back but am currently weighing in at 190-195 on most days. Most of my riding is done between 18-20mph. Of course hills and wind can change that. Just hit the big 60 in July. Almost 40 years ago and 50 less pounds I ran a 4:09 mile, low 14 5000, and barely a sub 30 10000. Never did marathons though.