[Closed] Triple to double. Anyone not happy?

[i]but you may be surprised to learn that it is entirely possible[/i]
I expect I'd be surprised to learn lots of things & I've only been riding 22 years, but have you, yes you, ever ridden up (cleaned) Fremington Edge? Or Eastwards along the Moresdale Road with the wind behind you at 30mph?

[i]Who cares as long as you're having fun[/i] Pree f***ing cisely!

Put your hand bang down darling. No personal slight was intended and I was making a general point.

Back to 3x10 here too. Was 26/38 with 11/34 out back, just seemed to be changing gear more, top gear too low for fireroads. Tried 26/40 and hated the huge gap between the front chainrings.

[i]Put your hand bang down darling. No personal slight was intended and I was making a general point[/i]

Oh alright then, 😛

but you may be surprised to learn that it is entirely possible
I expect I'd be surprised to learn lots of things & I've only been riding 22 years, but have you, yes you, ever ridden up (cleaned) Fremington Edge? Or Eastwards along the Moresdale Road with the wind behind you at 30mph?

**swoon**

I've got 3x9 and 2x10 both XT and I way prefer the 2x10.
The ratios suit me better and I can run a nice bash ring, would consider 1x10 in the future!

2x9, never looked back, don't need tarmac gears so don't miss them

Bashguard has major advantages too imo

I wasn't happy going from triple to double.
Realised I'd wasted time and money and should have just gone strait from the triple to a single ring!

jam bo - Member

miss the double and go straight to single.

Man speaks sense...

if you can get up everything on a 32x34

what sort of riding do you do? That might give you the answer....

If lots of flat stuff, ditch the granny
If lots of hills, keep the triple, especially if you like going fast down.

How fast do you usually ride? Do you spin or push a big gear?

If you change your setup, you'll probably need to change how you ride/pedal

D0NK - Member

.... on those killer lakes climbs I'm wishing for a 34 or even a 36 at the back.

sorry but 22 x 36 would simply be ridiculous. would take you all day to go nowhere. You must spin the cranks about 8 times to go 3 feet.

anyway as you would have such little momentum you wouldn't be able to climb anything anyway as you would have toppled over. And if it is that steep it is likely you would be standing anyway to keep traction, and you couldn't use those granny gear standing.

Nope - its perfectly possible to sit and spin at a decent cadence at 2 -3 mph. I prefer to do that than walk. It comes to much the same thing in the end 2x9 for me 36 / 22 chainrings and 11/ 34 casette

2x9 22/36

Won't be going back to triple

The problem with triples is you spend 90% of the time in the middle ring, and just wear it down loads, so the whole systems wears quicker then a double.

Doubles you have one chain ring for climbing, and one for descending, so you shift up at the top, and down at the bottom. Rather then being in the middle almost all the time until you run out of steam 80% of the way to the top of the hill. Or shifting to a tiny granny ring then having to shift up whilst climbing when you run out of gears. So you end up shifting a lot less with a double.

Doubles also collect a lot less mud, weigh less and have better clearance. They look cooler too 😀

They also allow for a better use of the rear cassette, I'm pretty sure I can use all 9 cogs on both of my chainrings. Don't think you can do that with a triple.

I never miss having a triple, there's no advantages to it, and loads of disadvantages.

the thing i dont like about doubles is that you have to be flipping the chain around the rear cassette loads to find the right gear. with the triple if i get to a steep hill i'll just hit the leaver to flip it into the granny and then fine tune that cog with the rear cassette to get a good cadence. likewise for downhill except witht he big cog, and again along the flat with the middle ring.

as has been said. i enjoy the challenge of the ride so all this "there's no point in the 22/34 because you can walk faster" is null and void (for me). yes along the flat walking would be faster, but when you reach a climb where you're perched on the very tip of your saddle and the front end is still wandering, walking is both slower and less enjoyable. Also, you get less grip standing on a big gear than keeping a nice smooth cadence spinning while sat down.

for riding up steep hills and down steep hills, with flat bits in between, i believe a triple is still the way to go.

I've got a 3 x 10 set up on a full susser and on many rides will use the Granny ring and big ring. On some thing like the Garburn Pass in the Lakes I'd want the Granny for climbing up and then big ring for some of the fast sweeping decent sections.

I'd be too knackered not having Granny on the way up and pissed off spinning out on the decents. Am I missing some thing?

2x10 here.

22/36 up front and 11/36 cassette.

Will probably change the 22 tooth chainring for a 24 or 26 tooth item as I rarely go for the lowest 22-36 ratio any more.
As others have said, ditched the big cog as I wasn't using if off road and fitted a bash guard instead. In my opinion I now have the perfect spread of off road gears.

Also agree massively with the people saying they enjoy a bastard of a hill and would rather stay on the bike than get off and walk....even when the front is wandering and the rear is losing traction. There is a certain masochistic pleasure to be gained in getting up something that looked impossible at the bottom and I need the 22 for that!

Still on triple. 3x10 + 3x9. I couldnt justify spending more to lose 1 ring?! I would change front ring sizes if I went 2x10/9. Inevitably you'll add a bash guard too, so wont save any weight. Although It rare for me to use the granny ring, I do occasionally on long climbs that I'd rather be social and take it easy, or on 50+miles rides with long or steep climbs - it does save the knees!

Save money and keep your triple IMO (unless all 3 rings are worn?!)

Stupid question time:

If some people are taking off the big ring because it gives more clearance & saves a small amount of weight then why are they then fitting a bash guard?

I made the change ages ago and haven't missed the triple at all. The only time I used the big ring was on roads. Probably gonna replace my 32t with a 34 or 36 though. I used to be fine with 32-16 for most trails but I'm now down on the smallest cassette ring for the majority of them now.

I'm happier with a double, because it looks neater and is more fashionable. Way more fashionable.

As above it depends on the riding, surely? It's relatively flat round my way, I'm not very fit but I still reckon a good proportion of any ride is in big ring. When I go to the big hills then that's not the case - it's the granny.

I tried a 2x10 on a test bike at Swinley and just didn't get on with it personally, obviously different bike and all that but I seemed to be constantly mashing between big and little ring at every section.

But that's just me. And obviously not necessarily you.

If some people are taking off the big ring because it gives more clearance & saves a small amount of weight then why are they then fitting a bash guard?

Fashion innit 😉

No bash ring on my double,

Still liking triples. If you never see the need for 44/11 then your bike is either too heavy or you really are riding in Calderdale or similar all the time.

but I live in Berkshire

😆

FWIW I went to double and bash when I did the Kielder Avalanche thing and scraped the big ring across some rocks nearly causing a nasty crash. Never looked back.

If some people are taking off the big ring because it gives more clearance & saves a small amount of weight then why are they then fitting a bash guard?

Remember that thread started I think by alexxx, where his friend caught their leg on the outer ring resulting in a deep and bloody gash ( 😛 )? I'd rather not do that. Also you can get 32t sized bashguards so clearance is better. Oh and the bash stops the chain from falling off.

Horses for courses, double and bash on my all mountain bike with a stinger. Brilliant set up, more clearance, still got the granny for the long steep stuff, chain NEVER comes off, and by the time I'm going fast enough to start spinning out I'm normally bricking myself. If I didn't live in the mountains I'd drop the granny too.

So how often do people have to resort to the 22x34 granny rings for climbing stuff - it has to be bloody steep to need that?

FunkyDunc - Member
I've got a 3 x 10 set up on a full susser and on many rides will use the Granny ring and big ring. On some thing like the Garburn Pass in the Lakes I'd want the Granny for climbing up and then big ring for some of the fast sweeping decent sections.
I'd be too knackered not having Granny on the way up and pissed off spinning out on the decents. Am I missing some thing?

After 90 miles, the 22 is really welcome!

TurnerGuy - Member
So how often do people have to resort to the 22x34 granny rings for climbing stuff - it has to be bloody steep to need that?

Depends how fit/tired/racy you are really, doesn't it...

After 90 miles, the 22 is really welcome!

This. I'd rather have it and not use it 80% of the time than not have it and suffer the indignity of pushing.

That's for the ss 🙂

I wasn't meaning down the otherside of Garburn but part of a loop that brings you back to the start there are plenty of sections where you can push the big ring

You mean the road 😉 You roadie! 😉

I am not great athelete but I do like to spin the pedals. 25 mph is easy on a 36/11 top gear - and 30+ mph quite possible. Thats enough for me offroad. Any faster and I am going to be freewheeling / on the brakes

I think I spin out at about 35mph. At those speeds I usually stop bothering to pedal even on the road bike.

TurnerGuy - Member
So how often do people have to resort to the 22x34 granny rings for climbing stuff - it has to be bloody steep to need that?

See most climbs in the Lakes.

And many in Scotland. its not just the steepness - for mere mortals the length make a differnce as well - its one thing to grunt up a steep hill for yards, its another to do it for miles 🙂

Its also about whether you like to sit and spin or stand up and grind

Isn't it odd, Pro DH (arguably faster and more technical than anything STW'ers regulalry ride) is split 50/50 between flats/SPD's and generaly uses 32 or 34t chainrings.

Yet most trail riders now use flat shoes and huge (by comparison) chainrings?

Not a criticism, just an observation.

At the end of the day it's personal!

I never used the 22, found the 32 a bit small for most riding, and the 44 a bit tall, so found a double perfect, 28/40 was fantastic, could stick in the 40 for 95% of the time, and just drop down for steep climbs.

Now gone 36t single ring (with 11-36 block) and love that on the race bike. Would still run a double on a more 'trail' type bike though.

All the comments about 'you can't ride up this without x gearing' are total bollocks, what the poster means is '[b]I[/b] can't ride up this without x gearing', what others can achieve is something totally different. We're all different riders, on different trails and different bikes, it stands to reason we have different requirements!

I'd never even consider a 22/36, it just wouldn't work for me, but there's plenty of people here who find it perfect.

I went 2x9 [22/32 & 24/36] years ago on all my bikes and was happy with it
Just started with a 29er this year and bought a cheap 3x10 groupset for it so decided to start with that till I figured out what I wanted and suited me with the big wheels
I'd forgotten what it was like to really crank it in that big ring - may just leave it on 🙂

njee - you need to eat more pies then 22/36 would be perfect 🙂

Isn't it odd, Pro DH (arguably faster and more technical than anything STW'ers regulalry ride) is split 50/50 between flats/SPD's and generaly uses 32 or 34t chainrings.

Yet most trail riders now use flat shoes and huge (by comparison) chainrings?

Not a criticism, just an observation.

For most of us, what we ride is closer to XC then DH. And pros use 40 teeth chainrings and bigger. For DH I'm rarely in anything higher then mid cassette, for XC, you can get it in the big gears now and then.

I'd probably be quite happy with a 34 or a 36 (instead of a 38), but the shifting to the 38 is fine, and a 34 or a 36 would just give me loads of overlap, so might as well go for a 38.

I realised I quite like just sticking it in the big ring on the way home and cranking along so I ditched my plans for 2x9. If I was just doing trail centres then I would have no need for the big ring though.

I have also done the strange thing of going 24-32-42 up front - it gives me more duplicate ratios but smoother shifing up front and less compensation shifts so I am more likely to change up front. More then enough clearance for most situations and I still have a nice big ring for cycle path plodding.

I would definitely consider going 2x10 with an 11-36 cassette and 28/40 up front though if I was buying all new kit though.

Mehhhh, I started measuring rides in terms of climb/decent after a couple of 'clubs' I rode with had rides which consisted of fun bits, then a deliberate boring bit going out/back to the next moor/hill/forrest to 'bump up the mileage'. I reckond there was more fitness benifit and fun in doing the climbs/decents/singletrack than in adding a 20mile flat loop to the night ride just to be able to say we rode 20 miles.

And haven't looked back.

i would go from 2x9 to 2x8 or even 2x7 very happily if it kept the same top and bottom ratios and could have gucci mechs/shifters

(for me dropping to a single chainring is a bit too restrictive for an all round bike - excluding obviously my SS)

2x10, 3x10 or anything 11speed holds very little interest to me