Thanks for the responses. Thought changing the cranks might be a more expensive way to get there, but maybe not. Running the gearing thru Sheldon Brown's Calculator, I was pleasantly surprised to see the top end didn't suffer too much and the bottom end got better still and the gear steps were tight. The Sugino triple Tabor recommended is pretty reasonable. Cranks that came with the bike are Bontranger 175's with a 130 BCD. Will there be bottom bracket issues? Will a new RD be needed with the triple? Obviously, I need to do more investigation in this area.

Either way I'm sure a new chain is going to be in order..Thanks everyone.
jwb