Originally Posted by
eschew
old way of thinking:
"I prefer lower gearing than my traditional double offers, I will switch to a triple and use all the gears."
new way:
"Oh no, I have a triple, I must never let anyone catch me using it or I will forever be ridiculed. I will only use it if it is the only alternative to walking."
newer way:
"I have a triple and I am going to use the gears to maintain cadence up this hill. Wow, I am at the front of the group, the same group that used to pull ahead of me, and I am not nearly as winded as I used to be. It must be beneficial to use this triple for purposes other than bailouts. I must spread the word to other triple users so that they too can experience this effective climbing technique."
It is new in regards to recent attitudes towards the usage of a triple chain ring, i.e. bailout gear only.
then again...i'd rather stab myself in the eye that have a road triple but I would shift it properly. No different than how I shift my MTB that has a triple.
then again...I did once have a touring bike that had a triple and 1/2 step gearing so that blows your shifting pattern all to heck very quickly. I sold it to a friend. I should go over and check the front crank sometime but it seems like the front was something like 45, 42 and 36. I do remember it was 110BCD so it may have been even weirder.