Love it!

When a guy admits that he has problems shifting into the middle chainring we know we are getting somewhere.

I can't think of a bigger non issue I've ever experienced in a lifetime of using triples. Some times, with a poorly adjusted derailer it may be hard to get into the large range, and maybe there is chain drop going into low, but trouble shifting in the middle is a class all its own... yet consistent with other comments.

Why not just admit you like reading about new technology and like to dream about expensive bicycles, used to do some road biking, don't tour but like to hang out in this forum anyway. It would be more honest and explain your POV a lot better.

Deda Dog Fang is the first thing I put on all of my bikes and I haven't experienced a chain drop since... (not my bike BTW)

I've spent quite a bit of time on it, I promise. Not saying it's not a solvable problem, but it's not that easy. I've also had a couple of other people try it, so it's not exclusively that I'm a moron. I can shift to every gear, but not comfortably (chain rubs at one or both extremes), and I do find I have to adjust it relatively frequently, as in every few weeks to months depending on how much I'm riding. I don't have high end components, by the way--Tiagra front, 105 rear. I've been half planning to get rid of this bike for a while now, before I even knew I was moving, because I do not think the fit is great, so I have been avoiding buying new components.

I use a shorter BB to bring in the chainline. That is what makes square taper and 9 speed setups so versatile. I found that using a 103 mm bottom bracket gives a 44-45 mm chainline in most cases. Also the Shimano 4305 Tiagra triple front derailleur will give very smooth shifting. It is probably the most flexible FD for this type of application. I can set up my triple FD so that I can cross chain on both the high and low ends (not recommended) without experiencing any chain rub on the FD using STI brifters.

The number of options are reduced when you get into the 10 and 11 speed setups. Unfortunately, 9 speed components are getting harder to find.

The main advantage of a triple is the wide range of gear combinations,i.e., 3 x 9 will give 25 usable combinations vs. a 2 x 10 that will give 20 at the most. This may not sound like a big deal, but when on a long ride finding that sweet spot, the right gear combination for the topography, can make life a lot easier.

When did this become a reality? I missed that memo.

I have set up bikes that have the same issues you mention. Its inexplicable, really as those same components on other bikes arent nearly as finicky.

Most recently- a couple weeks ago a buddy gave me his Bianchi Volpe to work on because the front shifting didnt work well. Triple crank, older 105 STI shifters, Tiagra rear derailleur, and Sora front deraiileur. Hodgepodge, but it all should work fine together.
Man that was a bear to get in tune. Adjust the FD so it doesnt rub on the small ring and it rubs on the big. Adjust so it doesnt rub on the big and the chain skips over the middle ring on shifting to the small ring.
Back and forth and back and forth.

Just mentioning this to say that I get it- some setups are tough nuts to crack.

You seem to miss a lot about reality.
So do some research. May I suggest the tandem forum. It's a good place to start. Good people, good information. I've never seen anybody not have problems with a triple. I'll pass on the problems.

Ive owned 3 MTBs with indexed shifting triples spanning 25 years of age(from '92 thru '17) and all shift just fine.
Ive owned 2 touring bikes with friction shifting triples and both shift just fine.

Call me lucky, I guess. Really though- I dont remember when Di2 was called the triple crank savior. Thats an oxymoron sentence, really.

I'll send you a picture!

And, again, with no Straggler experience, I don't think of the Straggler as a concession to the fact that you're not doing extended touring. It seems like there are plenty of people who do fully loaded touring on their Cross Checks. A Straggler is a suggestion in recognition that you're doing a lot of other biking where the somewhat slow LHT might hold you back.

Another consideration is how you imagine your touring style, and, possibly, your weight. I'm a fat man who, when I got my LHT, had a leave-no-gear-behind attitude to packing. The LHT is perfect for that. And even when the bike was unloaded, it was still loaded with me, so it was still a good fit. But I came to appreciate the benefits of packing less (although I still pack too much), and I came to appreciate a little more nimble ride than what the Trucker had to offer. I think it remains a great bike for fully loaded, four panniers, a trunk bag, and a handlebar bag touring. I just think with lighter, smaller, more packable options, many people are perfectly content with less gear, happier, even. So, depending on what kind of touring you plan on doing and how much weight you plan on carrying, the Straggler may be a good, all-in-one option.

I've seen people that said their triple shifts just fine, while they were having obviously slow messy shifts. I guess some folks just don't care about messy shifting. I can see the reason for a triple but I think it comes at a cost. I've never had a problem with my doubles and STI.
Serious question-- Does your triple shift as fast and accurately as your doubles? videos welcome.

Two of my road bike doubles are with rings that arent ramped/pinned.
My current mtb triple shifts faster than the doubles. And my touring bike's triple shifts as fast as or faster than those road doubles.

Its front shifting...it happens only a few times over 50mi much of the time. It just isnt a big issue in terms of difficulty or frequency.

I rode 35mi last night with a good bit of roller hills to climb. It was on a compact double without ramps. I started in the big ring and was there for 8mi. I dropped to the small ring for the next 16mi. I was in the big ring again for the last 9mi.
That was friction downtube shifting...i changed twice. 2 whole times over 35mi. Averaged 13.8mph.

Tomorrow ill ride 65mi with 3000' of climb from steady hills. Ill have my touring bike. Ill change the front ring maybe 8 times. 8 shifts over 4.5 hours of riding- it just isnt as bing an issue as you make it to be. Ill spend a total of maybe 30 seconds out of 280 minutes of riding changing my front derailleur. Is there anything less time consuming to worry about?

Don't get trapped in the squeeze vortex. Most posts are based on and often include the term "I read", "I heard", "I saw a video", and so forth. Not trying to insult another poster, but just clue you into what many here feel.
Just to catch you up, the only thing that you will get out of him is that the more an item costs, the better it must be, which while sometimes true, is not always the case. And, based on one ride in a parking lot, that the long haul trucker is the worst choice in the world despite the countless documented tours taken on them. That got so bad that at one point he issued an apology about bashing them, along with a promise to stop. Which lasted about four days before the insults started again.

At any rate, you have gotten some good input on your question, and I wish you luck.

I haven't found any particular correlation between shift quality and number of chainrings. My worst front shifting is on a triple, but my best front shifting is also on a triple. Which isn't very interesting, because most of my bikes are triples.

The one that shifts the worst is probably my '70s Fuji America, which uses unramped rings, has a straight-cage derailleur, and I'm still running the shift cable through a long length of old-school bare coil housing; it's not all that surprising that coaxing quick shifts out of it requires skillful overshifting.

My best front shifting is probably the triple on my Bridgestone RB-T, made in late 1990. By that point, front derailleur cages had fairly modern shaping, and the 50-40-28 rings are small enough leaps that a well-pushed chain makes the jumps very quickly and effortlessly. It's not much worse than operating rear shifting.

The 5800 105 50-34 compact double on my Emonda ALR is quite consistent, but upshifts are somewhat slow to complete because of the 16T leap. (For this reason, I would if anything say that triples tend to shift better than doubles, because the gear ratios are usually tighter.)

I've got several bikes set up with 1.5-step gearing. A considerable fraction of my gear changes include front shifts.

I probably care significantly more about messy front shifting than you do.

I hate to see this thread get way off course but I also dislike the blatant nonsense getting shared. I totaled about 10,000 touring miles on my trucker with perfect shifting. I can't remember dropping a chain, and it was too easy to use the friction shifters to pop into exactly the gear I wanted, everytime. I made some great memories on that bike.

To the OP, I also had a CrossCheck in the days before the Straggler was a thing. It was a great, reasonably zippy bike that I did my first touring on. If the Straggler had been available at that time I definitely would've gotten that instead though. For the range of things you want to do on your bike, I think the Straggler sounds good. I'm not sure what prices are like in the States now, but the All-City Space Horse might be a similar option.

There was about a period in my life where I had the opportunity to ride bikes with one of the best drive trains on the market. Granted they were friction shifters and double cranks, but I know what good shifting is and I'm a little anal about how I set up my drive trains. I am very particular about the way our bikes shift.

I was thinking about shifting today during the rides I did to the gym, store, and on my real ride; so I shifted my FD about 15 times (not really necessary), and really was critical with the results. I am perfectly happy with the way my triple shifts; it is positive, smooth, and fast.

If I am really hurting for something to do, I'll put one of my bikes on the trainer, and get my wife to take a video. I think it will be the LHT, just for you

I agree Dan. I mentioned chaindrop as a potential for poorly tuned DR's.

Personally I like a friction front/indexed rear combo for the ability to move the front DR exactly where I want it.

Another consideration for the OP regarding electronic shifting is the theft potential. Sounds like you want a general purpose tour/road/town bike which may be left locked up places. I suspect most people with ES do so with road specific bikes that get stored away before and after each ride and don't have the same concern regarding crimes of opportunity.

Just something to consider. My wife locked a bike up at school and came back to find a frame with all the components stripped.

Good point. I had the Specialized locked with a heavy chain through the frame and both wheels when I was a grad student, and someone tried to dismantle the headset, presumably with an eye toward steeling the fork. This was during the middle of the day, too. I got on and started riding away that evening before looking down and noticing that the cap was missing and I could see down into the fork. Fortunately they either didn't have the right Allen wrench to take the stem off, or were scared off by someone walking by. I kept it in my office after that.

I had already considered this when thinking about whether I should consider a more expensive frame, but it's a good point regarding unnecessarily expensive components as well.

I was basically in the same boat as you. I live in NYC and initially wanted a touring bike setup - for pleasure, groceries, commuting, riding around in the city and possibly some touring/camping on weekends.

I was researching and considering several bikes - Jamis Aurora, Kona Sutra, Trek 520 (Classic Steel Touring bike), Trek 920 (newer style aluminum touring bike), Surly Disc Trucker, Surly Troll and the Surly Straggler.

I test rode the Trek 520 and Disc Trucker and they definitely felt a little on the unwieldly side. Felt like it would actually ride better loaded front and back. I then test rode the Straggler and it felt like it would be much more fun to ride unloaded, but still have the option to add panniers, racks, etc.

Additionally, bar end shifters come stock on all the other bikes (except the Troll and Straggler). IMO, bar end shifters are not conducive to city riding with the constant start and stop.

And I had to be realistic on how I would use the bike. Am I really going to go on weeks long extended tours? Probably not. So the Straggler was the best fit IMO and the best "do it all bike."

And one good thing about the Straggler is that it has every braze on that you could possibly need for racks, fenders, etc. And can be upgraded to Rohloff Hub, etc. And can fit 700cc or 650 lb 45 MM wheels. It's really upgradeable if you want.

Mr Blue, I mentioned once here about getting a more "fun, zippier" bike, and I would also mention that sti shifters (as you know) are way more fun also, and in my experience, really reliable also, so I wouldnt even think of bar end shifters, just because the majority of the life of the bike will be riding unloaded, so you'll appreciate the fun ness of a zippier frame along with zippier shifting.

Like he said!

Didn't you buy a Trek? Not necessarily disagreeing but you did buy a Trek if I am not mistaken.



Going back to the origins of the topic. Di2 is freakin' awesome. While currently the price point is steeper than some might want to spend it can really benefit cyclists who aren't racing. Yes it is awesome for racing but it has features that can help you shift and allows you to now have shifters in multiple locations or with different functions, on the bike which can be beneficial to tourists and those with hand issues. Plus you can also run XTR/XT long cage rear mech on a drop bar so you can have a wide range cassette but without the issues of cable pull ratios.
I don't know I do a whole ton of offroad or more remote touring with it but around cities or in more civilized places, I might highly consider it.

I am not saying go out and spend a ton of money on Di2 or that mechanical shifting is garbage but I can say Di2 is some really awesome technology that I hope continues to be developed and fine tuned and the technology trickles down a bit. It could make a fun adventuring machine and I love my new road bike with Di2 a lot.

I'm on a budget, the Trek was what I could afford.
I see you have a disc trucker. I'm sure you can appreciate the large jump in quality to the 920. I'ld have better if I could afford it, inc Di2.
Nice to hear about your Di2, glad you're happy. I wonder what the Sram Etap will be like.

Tour de France rider broke his electronic rear derailleur wire & had to finish mountain stage in 11-tooth cog.

I'm not a great mechanic but it was easy to build up Disc Trucker with bar-ends & triple crank: no front-derailleur adjustment problems & 100% reliability after 2 years. Electronic shifting sounds great but expensive & I doubt Shimano will give many options for touring.

Touring forum post of the decade.

Sincerely,

Someone who tours with a friction triple and has absolutely no problem with the middle ring.