iwegian

what all would it take.

i have a triple crankset would it work to just remove the granny gear?

what gears up front would you recommend? i usually only do recreational riding with some hills. i've seen a bunch of different combinations from 52-39, 50-34, and 48-32(?)

would it work to use the same rear cassette i have now? it's the stock gears, 8, that came on my lemond etape. it is 11-26

Retro Grouch 

1. Yes, it's possible to remove your granny gear and reset your front derailleur low limit screw. If you do that, however, what will you have accomplished? You'll have lost your easiest hill climb gears, your bike won't shift any better than it did before, and you still won't be styling because anybody who cares will be able to figure out what you did.

2. What gears would I recommend? That's a question that only you can really answer. Are there any big hills where you live? Have you ever used your granny chainring? How fast do you generally ride? Have you ever contemplated entering a real bike race? Different answers would generate different recommendations.

KevinF

Sure, you can just take the granny gear off. You'd have to adjust your front derailleur limit screws to prevent the FD from trying to shift your chain onto a gear that no longer exists. The bike might look a little cleaner, but it's not going to save you any appreciable amount of weight or anything.

Yes, you can keep using that rear cassette.

What is it that you're trying to accomplish? The "poor man's way" to convert a triple to a double is to just take the granny gear off as I mentioned above. The spacing of the bolts that hold the chainrings onto the crankarms (referred to as BCD, Bolt Circle Diameter) limits the size of the chainrings you can install. i.e., you physically can't change a triple into a 50/34; those just won't fit.

If you're trying to convert from a triple to a real double, then you need a new bottom bracket, new crankset, and a new front derailleur. If your chain is really badly worn, you could be needing a new chain and a new cassette as well.

merlinextraligh

If you want to avoid the perceived stigma of the triple you can just take off the granny as suggested.

If you want to save a little weight, and perhaps have a little crsiper shifting, and still maintain a decent range, you could install a compact crank with a 50-34 and keep your 11-26 in the back.

This would require a new crankset, and resizing the chain. If you wanted to save a little more weight, you could also replace the rear derailleur with a short cage derailleur, but it wouldn't be required.

Matt Gaunt

And therein lies the problem of the OP. No need to get rid of the triple, just the insecurity. Ride a triple and just don't use the granny gear unless you really need to. Am I any slower up a hill than a guy with a double? No sir.

dutret

you don't have to resize the chain to go from 53-42-30 to 50-34

you'll probably require a new BB though.

merlinextraligh

Keeping the same cassette, you can definitely shorten it. You've gotten 7 fewer teeth in the range. So if the purpoe is to save weight, why not?

Also if you go from a long cage RD to a short cage, you may need to shorten it, to get it to wrap, particularly if its sized to the long side to start.

SKYLAB

I rode my tiple exclusively until I spent a season without going to the small ring up front. Then I treated myself to a new bike with a campy compact double - 50/34 . Kept the triple bike and now use it for long rides which involve multiple mtn passes.

urbanknight

Correct. The only reason I can see to switch from a triple to a double is to get the lower Q factor, which requires you to do the full job (bottom bracket, crankset, and derailleur). I ride with plenty of people on triples who are faster than me, and I will probably switch to a triple when I decide that my compact just isn't letting me spin up the hills as well.

dutret

Think carefully... Still think it's 7 teeth that matter?

You could, if you wanted, lengthen by 2 or shorten by 1 link and know you wouldn't push the derailer past where it was before in either direction. Chances are both extremes were towards the end of the derailer's functional region anyway so you might as well leave it the same.

pagliaci

You'll need a new BB (narrower) if you replace the triple crank with a double.