Seriously, if your not racing then(like most of the riders I meet daily in and out of the shop) that big ring on a triple is just a bash guard. I'm sorry, but I'd love to do a poll of the riders here who actually USE that ring daily. The number probably is accurately, staggeringly low.

So now you're on the middle ring on the front. Oh wait, it's windy and you only ride on the granny gear? Then you're doing something wrong. I know I don't know you. But you are wrong. Wrong as the day is long. The ONLY time I've seen someone spin down into a granny gear was seconds before they got off the bike on a steep hill. If you've gotten down to sub-8MPH riding you're almost blowing up and will be walking or resting. Even in 30 MPH winds I ride a SUSTAINED 14 MPH on a SS (33x16T) into it, and I'm a seriously pathetic rider by comparison to some of the grizzled veterans here.