Road Bike Triple Vs Double

And the next time you go buy a bike more manufacturers are putting compacts on their road bikes.

Road bike triple vs double.

There are always sides to a discussion involving tradition and emotion. In this case tradition has generally stood with a single front chainring for single speed bikes think kids bikes city type bikes and the grandma bikes with multi speed hubs. Traditionally entry level road bikes come with a compact or a triple and high end bikes come with a standard or a compact and this is done for good reason as you develop as a rider then you can build up to a standard crank. Shimano offers triple chainsets for its three cheaper road bike groupsets claris sora and tiagra.

At this time of limited choice a triple was appealing for any non racing applications particularly touring or audax bikes laden with luggage the lower gears helping to spin up the climbs. The high end bike will often have a traditional double or compact. If you already have a road bike and the hills are getting more challenging you don t need to buy a new steed. Consider swapping out your standard double chainring crankset for a compact model.

Shimano spec measured to the middle ring. A traditional double for a road bike may be more than most people want for casual riding. Shimano spec measured to the midpoint between the rings. Specialized diverge comp the 2017 version gets a sub compact chainset triple chainset.

Older bikes with 110 spacing would be on the smaller end of this range newer bikes with 120 mm spacing normally use 42 mm. So many arguments about the use of a single front chainring versus a double or triple. Road double 43 5 mm. The introduction of the compact chainset in the mid 2000s was a defining point in the path of road riding.

With the invention of the compact double some thought that the triple chainring had gone the way of the passenger pigeon but it didn t happen that way. Before the compact came along your crankset choice was largely split between a double for racing and a triple for touring and audax riding. Double or triple chainring. For example if you take a brand of bike and look at their entry road bike it will typically have a triple or compact.

In each case the chainrings are 50 39 and 30 tooth. Progressive all road performance new 10 speed tiagra provides serious entry level riding performance with cascaded technology from top tier lines. With typical 5 mm chainring spacing this puts the inner at 41 mm the outer at 46 mm. If you are a weaker rider and or you plan to tour with weight and do hill climbs then consider triple cranks.

In my experience read my opinion a triple does offer a couple of. A triple chainset is one with three chainrings.