Triple to Compact, anyone make the change?
 

I have a Campy Chorus Triple that has worked well for me but I noticed that the new Campy 11 is now available with a 12-29 cassette. This puts the gear ratios at just about the same as my 13-26 triple.

Anyone moved from a triple to a compact? Did you find that dropping from a 50 to a 34(16 teeth) to be an issue? On my triple I am going from a 42 to a 30 (12 teeth).

Besides a substancial weight reduction, the other advantage for me with a compact is that I would be in the big chain ring 95% of the time. Now, I am in my middle chain ring most of the time except for climbing really long nasty hills and on decents. The 50X29 is almost the same at the top and at 50X12, is slightly lower than my 53X13. This means that unless I encounter some really nasty hills, I could stay in the 50 all most all of the time.

I went from triple to standard and never looked back! There are times I wish I had one or two more rear cogs (12-25) but over all quite pleased.

I went from a triple to a compact without an issue.

A triple allows for a smaller transition between cogs but demands more front shifting.
A compact doesn't require frequent front shifting but the steps between cogs will be greater if you want to keep the same ratio range. It will be a bit lighter too.

I like the simplicity of the compact but each his/her own poison.

I went from a triple to a compact. Even with the huge hills we have in Knoxville I usually stayed in my 40 ring on the triple. I suggest switching to a compact unless you are slow, have a lot of big hills, or haul a lot of weight. Even with short 20% grades a compact is fine.

I switched from a triple to a standard, works fine. Compact certainly won't be an issue.

I also went from triple to standard (accident since I meant to go to a compact) and have been fine. My other bike has a compact, but I now can't tell too much of a difference. There are a few times I think "darn, I wish I still had a triple", but honestly, the triple was finicky and the new compact has been amazing. Good luck with your decision.

Went from a triple to a compact and two years later back to a triple. No regrets.

I have an older bike with a triple and a newer bike with Centaur CT. I ride the newer bike with the compact crankset most of the time.

If you're asking if the compact front shifts well, then yes it is fine. I typically shift the compact front a lot more. Partly because that bike has Ergo levers. Dropping from the 50t to the 34t is about equivalent to shifting up two larger sprockets on the rear with the gearing on my bike, so sometimes I'll also drop to a smaller sprocket in the back, too. Of course that's trivial with the Ergo levers.

On the triple, I tend to stay on the middle 42t chainring, shifting to the 52t on descents. I use the 32t chainring as a bailout gear. This bike has downtube shifters, so shifting the front is more trouble.

compact with a 12-28 will give you almost the same gear options without the overlap, and less weight of course.

I went to a compact and I have mixed feelings about the change. The difference is ...I am old. The low gear is not the only issue for me. It's the larger gap from gear to gear also something to consider. I just made the change and will give some more time and see how it goes with some more miles.

I have a triple and my small ring doesn't work, but I never use it anyway, so I'd rather have a compact.

When I went to a compact, I swapped out the 34 for a 36. I like the shifting better with the smaller drop. I have a standard on another bike and I don't really notice that big a difference between the two.

Dean

I'm removing the 28 ring on my 48-38-28 trekking set, creating a quasi-cross/compact setup. Been testing it on my commute by not using the granny ring, and it is trying, but kinda cool for strengthening.

You should never use the 50/29, so don't consider that a useable ratio. With 11 speed, that largest cog is little further to the left. You'll get more noise and chain wear, if you use that combo very much. If your frame has long chainstay it might not be so bad, but the typical 405-410mm stays don't work well with the big/big.

If your current 52/13 is enough top gear, then you lose nothing with 50/12 and the lowest gear is about the same.

The shifting with an 11 speed 50/34 is great. I have three of them and I've never dropped a chain off the little ring. The only thing you have to remember is that you will have to shift two more cogs every time you shift between the chainrings. That's because your current 52/42 is a very small jump. With Campy shifters, this is much easier since they will shift 3-cogs larger with one sweep of the finger lever and up to 5 cogs smaller with one push of the thumb button. You just have to get used to shifting through more cogs, immediately after the chainring shift.

Really? I went from a 52/39/30 triple with a 12-27 cassette to a 50/34 compact with an 11-28 cassette and found that I did more front shifting with the compact! The 39-tooth chain ring on a triple duplicates so many of the ratios from the 52- and 30-tooth rings that I found I could use it about 90% of the time. With the compact crank, there's less overlap so I found myself needing to shift more often.

I went from triple to a compact and love it. Problem is that I also loved the triple so I built a second bike. Depending on my route I have chioces. Love them both for different reasons. Got room for a second bike?

Greg

??? With an 11 speed the largest cog is at the same spot than on a 10 or 9 speed setup, not further to the left. The same applies to the smaller cog. All 3 systems use the same freehub size, what changes is the spacing between the cogs and, of course, the width of the chain.
If your front derailleur is properly set you should be able to use the 50/29 without a rubbing, even with a bike with short chain stays (402mm on my bike). There will be some cross chaining additional wear on the components but nothing to worry if you don't spend the whole day in this setting.

I went from a triple to compact, worked well, yadda yadda.
Weight? Seriously, I did't feel the weight difference. Maybe if you're a powertap user you can measure it, but it's not something I could tell by picking up the bike.
Shifts are crisper, and with fewer problems. Chain doesn't slap the chainstays any more because I run a short cage RD and shorter chain now - whole thing is tighter.

Only issue I've had is I find myself having to switch both front and rear more often than before.
There's something about the ratios that puts a certain range of hills I ride right in the area where I'm cross-chaining a lot.
Not a big deal by any means. Only negative I noticed.

This is the biggest difference that I am struggling with. My new roadbike has a compact crank and my commuter has a triple. To stay in a similar gear range when going from the 34 to the 50 or vice-versa, I typically have to shift the rear by three cogs. It messes with my cadence rhythm something awful. I'm one of those people that prefers to keep my cadence as steady as possible and a little overlap is a good thing.

My commuter is definately a sit down, gear down, spin up bike. The new roadbike requires some out of the saddle grinding to get up the same hills. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a triple on my roadbike, but you definately have to ride it differently than you would with a triple.

I moved from a Shimano 105 9 speed with FSA Gossamer triple crank to a Shimano R700 compact crank. Kept everything else 105 9 speed and it works great, really glad I made the change. No major hills or mountains where I live, so most of the time I am in the 50 ring. My cassette is 12-25.

Have you considered the new Sram Apex setup? A double setup with the flexibility of a triple.

I've got a bike that I'd love to hang that on, but it's not available yet...I remember reading mid-summer. I'm also curious as to whether the brake calipers are standard 47-57 reach.

Pete

I've ridden all sorts and eventually settled on a 50-36 driving and 11-23 for my road bike. The 36-23 gear will handle anything local and it's easily converted to a 50-34 driving an 11-26 on those occasions when I'm riding something reminiscent of the Alpe d'Huez. I do spin out the 50-11 every once in a while.

The weight difference is negligable, about 6 ounces. Add aerodynamic considerations and we're talking 0.05 mph.

A double generally shifts better than a triple but a triple with a tightly spaced cassette makes it easier to maintain an ideal cadence.

My two biggies about going compact are:
A compact driving a 12-anything cassette spins out the inner ring in no time. An 11-something at least lets you get up to speed.
I really miss having the 16 and 18 tooth cogs although the 10 and 11 speed cassettes rectify that problem to a degree.

Thanks for responding. Your experience has helped me decide. I have my eye on a new Campy compact.

Dean...how did you accomplish this? I run a shimano R700 compact and have wanted to do this swap but see very mixed reviews on the TA and TruVativ 36T rings and their shifting. Are you using a TruVatic crank and just swapped or did you mix and match?

As far as the OPs question is concerned...I have a triple on my Interloc and a compact on my ParkPre. The 42T middle ring on my triple matches very well to my average speed range in the hills around Austin. With the Compact, I spend more time shifting the front rings than I do shifting out of the 42t on my triple.

One determining factor might be to understand your average speed, then use Sheldon Brown's gear calculator to figure out what gearing combinations give you the best coverage based on your average speed, taking into account the climbing you need to do in your area.



Bottom line...my average speed in the hills