GeezerPete

Wow, great information, folks.
Sounds like a wide spectrum of opinions out there. Guess I'll just have to try it and see what works for me--have to start somewhere.
Other thoughts?

macd55

I live in the north Seattle area which has its share of hills. The first year I rode 2010 I had a triple 28/38/48 to an 11/32 on a Trek 7.3fx. At 67 y/o it gave me all the gears I needed to ride the hills I encountered. In 2011 I bought a Specialized Roubaix Elite with Sram Apex 34/50 to 11/32. I personally like it better than the triple. I very seldom used the 28 tooth chain ring on the Trek. The 34/32 combination on the Roubaix gives me all the low gear I need for the hills around here. There is a bigger jump in the gears but you get used to it and it doesn't cause any problems. After all I'm not racing just recreational riding.

10 Wheels

Summer of 2009 I rode this on a touring bike with a 50-39-30, cassette 11-32 10 speed.
The 30 to 32 was too high for some of the hills and my 67 y/o legs.

https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...uth42Route.jpg

https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...e/IMG_4778.jpg

Barrettscv 

Hi Pete,

I tried a total of 6 cranksets before deciding that a 50, 39 & 26t triple was the best, do-it-all crankset for my road bikes and that a 48, 36 & 22t triple was best for touring & trekking.

A 50 & 34t compact works well if the route is always heading uphill or downhill. I would use the smaller 34t chainring on any assent and the 50t chainring on every descent. I didn't mind the big 14t jump from the large chainring to the small chainring or from the small chainring to the large, if the road was rolling. However, on flat roads, the compact was awful. I found myself changing chainrings often in the 17 to 23 mph range and the steps between 13t and 15t cogs and 15t and 17t cogs on the 11-32 cassette were way too big for flat roads while fighting the wind. I like a 12-13-14-15-16-17-19 cluster on a 39 or bigger chainring while on flat roads and always will. The 34t chainring is too low for flat roads and needs a big cog on the cassette to climb steeper hills.

GFish

I'm enjoying a compact 50/34 with 11-34T, have the gearing for any hills I encounter and the extra spacing means I actually shift less, not more. With tight gear spacing, I usually always shifted up 2 or down 2, now I shift once to maintain speed and cadence.

Around town, I usually ride in the 34 chainring and on the open roads I'm using the 50. This combination works for me.

stapfam

Your 34/32 with a Compact crank will give you slightly lower gearing than 30/27 on a triple so I can't see a major problem for you. Unless you are completely unfit (Meaning bike fit so you probably are) and your hills are long and steep. However you might have more confidence if a triple is fitted but confidence doesn't get you up hills.

Just take a gentle route for a month or so and gradually get up to the steep hills. And in a few months time you will find that this question was not your major concern for your first foray into modern bikes. Now Butt ache--------- and you will have a problem.

GeezerPete

Man, that's one awesome ride old dude.

BikeWNC

Gearing choices are usually about some compromise. I'd like to have a cassette that has 36-18 for climbing and 21-11 for descending or the flats. lol. Since I can't do that without changing bikes on a ride I need to find the best range for the type of riding I do most often. Each rider has to determine that range for themselves based on topography and ability. I might ride the same hilly course as the Schlecks but we won't have the same gearing for sure. That said, it never hurts to have an extra gear for those unexpected tough spots or when the legs just don't show up for a ride. None of us are getting any younger and while it is true to some extent that having to use a harder gear than you might like will make you stronger, it might also make you avoid that hill.

Bill Kapaun

I'd get the triple right up front.
You have the granny ring when you need it.
According to bikeapedia.com it was the same price as the double on the 2011 models.
Don't know if that's the case for 2012 though.

Racer Ex 

FWIW the triple vs. double is going to depend on how fast you spin, how much hill riding you do, and how heavy you are. When I got back into cycling I weighed 30 pounds more than I do now, but still rode a lot of hills and liked to keep the cadence high because of creaky knees. I rode and even raced a triple until I shed the pounds and got stronger.

At this point I've got a drawer full of state and Nat'l champ jerseys and I train on a 50/34 with an 11/27 rear cassette.

I'd go by the shop, ask to ride both a double and a triple, find the closest hill, and give them both a few runs up and down. If you're still on the fence go for the triple; it never hurts to have a few gears in your pocket when you're tired and slogging up a hill into a headwind.

Have fun.

volosong

Good info above.

About a year and a half ago, when I went to purchase my first new bike in 38 years, the salesman/owner wanted to sell me a compact crankset. I've always wanted a triple and since it was my money, that is what I got. It is just the standard 52/39/30 triple, but I swap out the cluster between an 11-28 and a 12-28, (from 12-28 to 11-28 by adding the 11 and removing the 16). There are times when I really miss that 16-tooth gear. I use this triple bike as my hill climbing bike. Except for hills, I'm almost always in the large chainring. That is good enough up to about a 3% grade. More than that, I have to use the middle chainring. When the slope gets up to 5% (for an extended run), or steeper, than I have to use the small chainring. (I'm not a "climber". At 6'3" and 205lbs., I can't expect to "sprint" up to the top of a hill.)

When I'm not going to be climbing, then I use my other bike that has a compact crankset, (50-34), again with an 11-28, and sometimes the 12-28. Again, I'm almost always in the large chainring, unless I'm bucking a strong headwind or the grade is about 4% or more.

I'm guessing that selecting a triple or a double, compact or otherwise, has a lot to do with your style, (and of course, the terrain). Are you a spinner or a masher? If you're a spinner, I expect that a close ratio cluster would be more advantageous for you. If you are a masher, (like me), then gaps in the cluster can be easily overcome by changing your cadence a bit.

- - -

p.s. Pushing 61 in a few months, and no way do I consider myself a "geezer". And ... I am getting "younger". Funny thing about riding ... the more I ride, the younger I feel. (It just takes a little longer to recover than it used to.)

rdtompki

I went from a triple with 30-27 to a compact with a 34-32 low, slightly lower than the triple. I'm finding it easier to climb, but that's because the new bike is lighter/more nimble when standing. The real test will be when I try one of our tough centuries with several thousand feet of climbing later in the year; so far I've only done one tough climb of 2600' and I'm not certain I could have done it twice.

two reasons for not going with a triple: 1)not available on my new ride and 2)it's important to maintain a level of suffering comparable to climbing on the tandem.

BTW, I'm 66 y/o.

bud16415

Hi Pete

When you come to a forum with a question like this you will get as many answers as there are people and answers will vary as all people have different abilities and are at a different point in maximizing the abilities they have left in them. Age isn’t really anything but a number and we all age at different rates and we all remember what our strength felt like 30 years ago. No one can tell you what feels right for you or how quickly you will progress if you start riding a lot.

For myself I have a similar belief as tsl posted above and jethro56 added to. And I had went thru a half dozen garage sale bikes tweaking this and that and experimenting my way to a love of the triple chain ring crank. Some of the first bikes I played with were old ten speeds I remember riding effortlessly in my youth only to figure out those gears are a lot taller than they were then. Next I “road-a-fied” a few mountain bikes with super low triple gearing and loved the low range and lots of selection. Then a modified a classic road double into a compact double. It wasn’t until I bought a touring bike I started understanding what I really wanted in my gearing. Like tsl my riding style was not needing the very small changes in gearing a tightly spaced cassette gave me and like jethro56 I didn’t like my normal riding range being split over the two front chain rings of the compact double. I was doing the shift up on the front and doing a double or triple on the back or vice versa. To quote tsl “PITA”. What I found worked for me was with 9 in the back and 3 in the front I concerned myself with starting at the center / center gear ratio and asking myself this needs to be my average starting point. Once I figured that out I wanted a range in the back that I could ride all 9 gears sequentially and that would cover maybe 75% of my needs. The shifts I wanted to be not too great in the back but I also wanted a fairly wide overall range. Once I got that then I looked at what granny would work off that middle gear trying to keep it within a reasonable range of drop. Same with the tall gear but I found in my case the drop would be much less there. Planning to never want to cross chain I use the 5 largest cassettes with the granny and the 4 smallest with the tall ring. I did all this around my intent on this bike being just a loaded touring bike at first but barely into the project I found it was the bike I chose to ride most often even though I had much lighter bikes but the gearing was so much more to my liking. There are days I never get off the center chain ring and times I’m so happy I have the climbing gears. Even once in a while I feel strong and ride the tall ring and mash a little.

My gearing is pretty much inconsequential in your case but the process may or may not be one you want to think about. I will list mine just as a reference for you. By the way spend some time on that Mike Sherman page listed above, it will be a great help as you can input cadence and find speed output etc.
12,14,16,18,21,24,28,32,36 26-42-52

BigBlueToe

I have a triple on my fast road bike. My personal method of pushing myself is challenging myself not to use the granny unless I really need it. Most rides I don't use it, but it's nice to know it's there. Last year I rode a century in Gilroy with a long, really steep section. There were loads of people walking their bikes. I was struggling, but in my lowest gear (which isn't all that low compared to my tourer) I could at least keep pedaling. I was glad to have the triple!

PatW

I think it depends on your local hills. I ride a 53-39 with a 12-25. I can make it up the longest hill in Central FL (Mount SugarLoaf) with that even when I am pretty beaten up. Now, I used to go for trips to the Rockies and ride mountain passes out there. I used a triple for those rides because on long climbs, I like to sit and spin. I also have a high cadence.

If you have a high cadence, you prefer to climb seated, and you have long steep hills, then a triple is about the only way to go. Otherwise, compact gearing will probably do fine. Oddly enough, I understand that from a weight basis a triple is just about the same weight as a compact. You use the 52/40 for most of your riding and get down into the small ring only for tough climbs. In your case, you already have the compact and switching over to the triple would probably be rather costly. I would stick with the compact and see how it works.

Blackberry

I think the suggestion above about test riding both setups is a good one. See if you can go out for a true ride try several steep hills (give them your wallet for collaterel if you have to). A spin around the parking lot doesn't tell you very much. Speaking for myself, I like having the lowest bailout gear I can find.

Hermes

I have always been somewhat of a gear head. When I got back into cycling a few years ago, I purchased a Trek Madone 5.2 with a triple 52/39/30. I took it out for a test ride with a 12/25 cassette and took it up a steep hill. I came back to the shop and had them put on a 12/27. Today, I use a 50/34 12/27 and I prefer to spin faster climbing staying on top of the gear versus loading up my legs by pushing a bigger gear.