Biggest problem with triples is they're not quads which EVERYONE should be riding except big drivetrain is keeping them down.

No... Not dead... But getting dam hard to find...

Especially a Square Tapper Compact Crank 4?-30 for less than 100 USD.

But then again there's allot of stuff getting dam hard to find... Especially Black Powder #10 Caps... But that's another thread...

For a few grams of weight a granny gear will let the average cyclist climb and unexpected hill without blowing up his knees. And or having to dismount and walk up the hill.

Bang
 

The threadkiller! Mic drop... thread over. Lol.

Seriously, how are you ever going to find a plausible argument to refute this one?

Or are we all above average?

(With apologies to Garrison Keillor.)

I have most of that range with a 9-speed triple not pushing anything. 50-38-24 and 12-28. (I do prefer my 12-23 cassette for most of the time when I'm strong. I love having all of the sweet gear choices I had on my "corncob" racing freewheel, only getting to have them in each of fast group rides, regular solo cruising and on hills.)

I've always wanted quads. Thought if I climbed enough walls on my fix gear, I could develop them but it never happened. :(

There's one more thing that I haven't heard. The cassette on a 1x looks like the saw at a lumber mill. I think a 3x9 (or 3-by-anything) looks more balanced and esthetic. My opinion. :innocent:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac01edf054.png
Something going on at *both* ends.

The triple is dead, long live the 5x!

https://i.imgur.com/EG8CX14.jpg

5x9x3 to be specific (Sram Dual Drive 3 speed hub with 9 speed cassette). One of my brother's wild creations, just to see how low of gearing he could get. I think the end result in low was 6 gear inches. I could spin out at a bit under 2mph.

That is pretty amazing as well as bizarre. I guess there were probably a few duplicate gear ratios among the 135 to choose from.

John

I am older and like riding hills. On my "classic" friction-shifted six-speed, I needed a triple crank to avoid crazy jumps on the freewheel. I sized it so my 65" sweet spot is in the middle of the freewheel on the middle ring. I don't use the big ring much, but I want it there so I can catch and pass the kids on the downhills. With a modern 8-speed chain it shifts beautifully and cross-chaining is not an issue. On my new 10-speed Ergo bike, I down-sized the big ring a bit to get my sweet spot into the middle of the cassette when on it, and also fudged the chainline a bit so that big-big is smooth. Thus I can regard the bike as a 1 x 10 with a bailout option. The 13-29 cassette gives me lots of range with decent gaps. I am very happy with that arrangement, and will just reduce chainring sizes, keeping the 14 or 16 tooth jump, as age requires. No plans to take up touring on that bike, I would go back to the older triple bike.

My summary is not news: Five or six speed freewheel, you need a triple for hilly or loaded rides. 10 or more speed cassette, a well chosen double will do you.

Bizarre is a good term for it. It was more proof of concept and having fun doing it than making a practical every day application. It took a good deal of experimenting with various front derailleurs to make it work and even then it has a tough time dropping into the lowest gear. We also installed an extremely wide 125mm (may have been slightly wider) bottom bracket I had laying around. Cranks are what they are because they worked the best, can't recall exactly why though. It's got that low end Altus derailleur simply because it was found to have the greatest range. Shifters are bar end shifters which, being friction for the front, is why it works at all.
For those curious, the small chainring is an old Suntour rear cog.

And to the point of duplicate gearing, yes, there was a lot. He punched all of the numbers into his gear inch calculator and found a good deal of overlap. Still a cool experiment. That bike doesn't have the 5x setup anymore but he found the 4x to work reliably enough that it's still on.

Oooh. This right here.