Compact vs. My Knees
 

Bear with me here -- I'm relatively new to cycling.

I ride a Trek 2.3 with a Shimano 105 triple. I've had folks tell me I need a compact crank, but I've also had folks tell me not to spin in too low a gear or it'll put unnecessary strain on my knees. I climb a fair amount of hills, but I've been told to just buy the compact and stand up to pedal on the tough inclines. Is this great advice or terrible advice? I'm only 23 and I'd like to keep the knees I have now until I'm at least 65.

That advice is backwards. Pedaling at a low cadence generally puts more strain on the knees, so climbing in a lower gear while seated would most likely cause less knee stress than climbing while standing in a higher gear. Switching from a triple to a compact double would mean that you would lose some of the lower gears that allow you to spin at a higher cadence.

Compact should have 95% of the gearing of the triple at a 50-100g weight savings and much faster, in my opinion (going from a Triple SLK to Compact Force), shifting. It is unnecessary but eventually you will be needing one to fit in with the Soul Wheels,/GP4000/CAAD9 crowd.

Keep the triple if you like it the way it is.

I'd say your triple is fine. You have a wide variety of gears to choose from. If you choose to spin, you can do that. If you choose a higher gear, you can do that too. Higher (i.e. harder) gears can put more stress on your kness, but at 23 years old, I don't think that's much of a problem for you. Your triple will let you use low (easy) gears or high (harder) gears without too many problems.

In my opinion, a compact crank won't offer you any more gearing options than you currently have. It will be lighter weight and possibly shift more smoothly (I say possibly because there are those who say a properly adjusted triple will shift just as well as a compact or a double). However, it won't do anything more for your knees than your triple is already doing.

You just need to learn proper climbing technique. There's been a number of threads recently discussing this. But the main idea is to sit most of the time and stand when you need to go up a particularly steep/short section and to change up the muscles being used. In general, most people will stand when their cadence falls below 60-70rpm.

neneboricua

Improper fit, lack of pedal float and age will impact your knees much more than the issue you raise. As you are relatively new ride the triple for a while to see how it works for you.

This. Do not underestimate the importance of a good fit, not just a superficial one that the lbs sometimes gives you when you buy a bike from them.

there's nothing wrong with triples.
unless, for some reason, your knees like an incredibly narrow Q-factor.

out of those, it's mainly improper fit.
saddle too low = knee pain
saddle too high = back pain

pedal float is not too important, unless the legs are just horribly odd-shaped.
oh, and also, knee pain can be caused by imbalanced muscle development, which can cause your legs to twist. In this case you want to correct the unnatural twisting, instead of allowing it to twist with float.

But everyone is different.

Just keep it.

Let me pile on here too. Hopefully, when you bought the bike, you received at least a basic fitting for it, assuming you bought it new. If not, as soon as you have room in your budget, find a bike shop with a good reputation for fitting (ask other cyclists, preferably older guys like me) and have it done. Keeping your cadence - how fast you spin the pedals - up helps here too. Aim for >80 rpm; you'll settle in somewhere north of that. I usually average in the 90-95 rpm area, but this is an individual thing.

Best of luck!

if there is one thing that shows up in differences between "roadies" and "tourers" (I use this loosely, more to show a point) is that I find there's sometimes a fair amount of snobbery or bragging about gearing. That low gearing means you are, dunno, a wuss, HTFU and all that. Yes, a compact with a bike that weighs 10, 20, or 50 lbs lighter than what I usually ride (a 25lb cross) or a touring bike with loads of crap on it, will be rideable up steep hills--but a well setup triple still shifts fine (imo of course) and allows you to have a higher cadence on a 30 rather than a 34. Especially when you are pooped, or you have a pannier on your bike or whatever.
I dont buy the pt of view that a triple will mean it will make you a weaker climber, I find that over the season, I get stronger anyway, so I just go up a gear or two than I did earlier in the season, and especially as you asked about knees, I think long-term it is worth it being easier on your knees and listening to what they say--and having lower gearing allows you to have higher cadence, which is absolutely better for your knees long term.

the triple works for you, and the weight diff to a compact is really not an issue. Part of it too is where you ride, what sort of hills you deal with.

Going to add to this too: wear knee protection if it is less then 65F outside. knee protection means either knickers, capris (mostly women wear these), knee warmers, or leg warmers. Knees have no insulation (fat), thus you end up with cold joints wear out much faster

Keep it. You're not losing much by not having a compact. GL

If I could cope with a bigger Q-Factor (my knees REALLY hate triples), then I'd be using a triple. If your knees don't hurt now, then don't change. They'll let you know if there's a problem.