YES! Especially if the cassette has a small cog of 12 versus 11. I use a Shimano Tiagra 4600 Group with 3X crank. More than meets my needs and has been bulletproof. My second bike is a 2X5 vintage Peugeot with 14-28 freewheel. It was fine when I was younger, now it is less than optimal, in the same way an old car with a 4 speed clutch. But BOTH are still fun, but not my daily driver/ride.