And you're switching the setup. This started out as a comparsion of a 53/39/26 11-23 setup to a 50/34 11-28 setup

But the chart you posted is a 12-27 cassette not an 11-23.

And I'm not stuck on a double is better than a triple. Triples have their place. If you need the very wide range, a triple is your best option. If you don't need below a 34/28, then a compact double has advantages.

That's not a very nice thing to say. :(

I'm comparing two common compact and triple road set-ups. This is for the benefit of others following the thread. Your mind is already made up and you’re not using logic at this point.

But, to keep you happy;

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...levcompact.png

I even have a bike with a triple. I've thought about changing it to a double, but for some rides, such as Everest Challenge, and Six Gap, we need lower gearing, and higher gearing, than is practical with a double.

Besides, most of the time it's 53/39 11-23, with an extra chainring stuck on unused.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...wart/zipp2.jpg

Very nice.

My small chainring is used less than 0.5% of the time. But It allows me to go up any hill, even after 150km on a 200k event or longer.

I've had a number of double cranks during the last two years.

A 110 bcd Ultegra Compact. The 34t is too low for flat routes and not low enough for 20% climbs. The 50 is best when going more than 22 mph. The gap between the two is too big.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...tXcrankset.jpg

A 130 bcd 50 & 39t chainring Shimano crank. Nice group-ride crank when used with a 11-23 cassette.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...ictures004.jpg

These are Cyclocross cranks. Below is a 110 bcd with 46 & 36 chainrings.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/IMG_0125.jpg

I had a 46 & 38t Sram crank that was great with a 12-27 cassette when used on the flat roads in my area. If I never took my bike out-of-state, that's the crank I would want.

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...asilver022.jpg

I'm a spinner and not a masher. With the 50,39 & 26t I can spin from 90 to 100rpm an always have tight cog spacing from 15 mph to 36. I also can climb any hill without concern.

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/8712/img3808o.jpg
By nachomanh at 2011-01-02

My chart (see post 29) is easier to read and provides more data.

The gap between the 17t and the 15t cog with a 11-28 cassette is in a bad spot. Using the 50t chainring, the 11-28 cassette creates a cog spacing gap right in the middle of the 19 to 24 mph speed range. Using a 34t chainring creates cross chaining issues in the same speed range.

Also, the 34t chainring and 11t cog can cross-chain and rub the chain against the 50t chainring on many bikes.

You are always changing chainrings and double or triple shifting in the important 19 to 24 mph range.

These problems are solved on a triple.

- A 12-27 (or 11-23) cassette includes the useful 16t cog. The 17-16-15 cog group is very important on the 50t chainring.

- The 39t chainring can use all 10 cogs with a good chainline and without rubbing the chain against the 50t chainring. The 17-16-15-14-13-12 cog set can fight a headwind at 17 mph and hold 25 mph with a 100 rpm cadence without changing chainrings.

- The 39t Chainring and a 12t cog can travel at 25 mph at 100 rpm cadence. If I am traveling in the important 17 to 25 mph speed range I can make small 7-9% changes in cadence.

Try that on a Compact double with an 11-28t cassette.

What about the extensive shifting required to get similar cadences when you drop from the 39 to the 26 chainrings? You would need between 4-5 shifts to get back into the same range.

What I think is even better than a compact or a triple is a triple than combines both concepts.

A 50/36/26 has perfectly even spacing between the chainrings (unlike a 50/39/26), has smaller gaps between the chainrings than a compact, and gives you wider range than both.

If my knees were OK with a wider Q-factor, I'd be on a 50/36/26 with either a 12-23 or an 11-26 depending on the ride.

This thread sickens me.

Heh...here's my triple drivetrain...

Six Gap Criterium, downtown Dahlonega the night before the Six Gap Century.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6120/...14956ca725.jpg
Flickr pics

Very true, I only use the small chainring below 10 mph and my cadence is below 75 rpm at that point anyway. The small chainring is a bail-out gear for any grade steeper than 10% and long hills with a greater than 5% average slope.

Seriously, this bothered you? It had nothing to do with ones ability to ride. It was merely explaining why people with Triples don't take as good a photo as most of the doubles. The bike I ride MOST often is my double setup. But believe me, I take a hell of a lot more pictures ff that bike than my triples. More pictures = better opportunity for good ones. Add that to the fact that most triple riders are either in the mountains/hills, you are just not going to have the opportunity to stop and take millions of pictures.

*sarcasm!

However, the assumption that people who are riding with triples ride in the mountains and everyone else doesn't is ridiculous. I live in the mountains, and do significant climbing every time I go out. I use 53-39 to 11-28 and haven't really felt a need for any lower gearing. Sure, I love riding a corncob, but it's not hard to make up the gap between cogs if you have a good cadence range. Beside that, I actually prefer to vary my cadence fairly often, else-wise, I get a weird pain in my knees.

I'm curious, how often do you, who prefer a triple, stand? I get the impression that most triple riders spend a lot of time sitting. Serious question, I'm not trolling.

Man, I didn't know things were so brutal up in the mountains that people forgot simple photo etiquette such as taking drivetrain side pictures :lol:.

This is a key point, for sure.

I use a triple to give me the option of sitting or standing at while climbing at low speeds. I'll stand while on the middle ring (or while using a cog in the middle of the cassette while on the small chainring) and reduce my cadence to 40-60 rpm. I also have the option to sit and continue to climb at low speed with a faster 60-75 cadence.

If a cyclist uses a narrow gear range, standing becomes the best and sometimes only way up a steep climb.

Here is my triple....Shimano 105 FD, crank, shifters and Ultegra read. I also have a double and a single!

Salsa in commuter mode...
http://www.watsonfx.com/vaya1.jpg

The setup also works very well for touring. This is on the Katy trail riding across Missouri. Check out the 700X37 all terrains. I also have some 42c as well.

http://www.watsonfx.com/katy2.jpg

I stand quite a bit while climbing. My main cassette is 11-26 with the standard 52/39/30 up front. I view the 30 the same as the 34 on my compact crankset bike but it has one gear lower (30x26) which would be the same as 34x29 (used to have this on a Campy bike). With the 6703 front derailleur I can shove the gearing around from 30x21 to 39x26 or 30x19 to 39x23. This might be a moot point for other riders but it helps me on Strava segment days. With a Campy triple going from granny to middle doesn't work nearly as well.

If I'm going to use a triple I want a 52 or 53 outer ring for the added gear inches. Trying to keep up with a tandem or my other friends that are taller and stronger, 50x11 gets spun out quickly on the descents where I live in Silicon Valley.

I also cross chain the heck out of it. I run the 52 ring up to the 23 and the 39 through all 10 cogs.

??? Come on...5000 ft of climb on a standard, no problem, easy squeezy.

I stood about as often on my 30x21 low gear with my triple crank as I did with the 42x28 low on my standard crank which preceded it and the 34x23 on my compact double which followed which is to say not very often.

Civil engineers seem to do a good job picking out routes and turning them into switch backs if necessary so most paved roads aren't that steep.

Long climbs don't seem to run over 5% like the 20 and 30 mile up-hill slogs up Grand Mesa and Mt. Evans in Colorado. At a 175 Watt endurance pace as a 145 pound cyclist atop a 20 pound bike that nets 79 RPM using 34x23 which is a very comfortable seated cadence and the hot ticket for that.

Shorter climbs can be steeper with the worst running about 9% for a few miles reaching double digits in the switch-backs (the 4 miles up Magnolia Road in Boulder, CO) and are 60-65 RPM standing grinds; flatter rides like Flagstaff mountain in Boulder, CO at 6.5-7.5% are seated 75-90 RPM affairs.

One word (well two): Campy Shifters

That would work with the older style Campy levers as I used 2008 Chorus for a few years with a 53/42/30 Alloy Record Triple when dropping from 42 to 30. The Ultrashift Alloy Veloce and Centaur levers I had were 'somewhat' compatible with a triple setup. The rear was not too bad but the front left a lot to be desired.

nice, luv that cassette

hardly as tight...
having one gear combo between 87 and 69 inches would be totally unacceptable.
having 5 gear combos in the 59 to 69 range is ridiculous.
50x13 @ 100 rpm = 30 mph
50x14 @ 100 rpm = 28 mph
50x15 @ 100 rpm = 26 mph

I don't think the vast majority ride at those speeds on the flat, wheel suckin or otherwise.
For a non-racer this is 'fail'.
For descents, 50 x 11 thru 14 can all be compressed into 2 gears, 50x11 & 13

Most rec riders will find gears in the 70's to mid 80's plenty for rollin on the flats. that compact & 11-28 give one option in that range
fail