Originally Posted by
Longfemur
I don't think a small ring of 30 is small enough. It's fine for general riding around, audax and brevet riding, and that sort of thing, but it's not really small enough for real touring in mountainous country. I love Campy, and I ride it every day in season, but if you're going to convert, really convert to something that is ideal for touring. A Campagnolo racing triple is not really suitable for that (and it was never intended to be).
This is true - depends on whether you're doing loaded touring or not. If loaded, you'll want a 46/36/26 type of crank (110/74 BCD) or even a smaller-chainring mountain bike crank. Of course, the smaller you go, the more you sacrifice higher gears useful for fun road riding.
I'm building up my old
Raleigh to keep in California and ride in the mountains, and am using a 52/42/28 triple with a 12-25 cassette, but I'm planning to ride with nothing more than a rack-top trunk pack, not panniers.