|
Double or Triple crankset for a
Road Bike?
|
A "double" crankset refers to one with two chainrings
on the front, representing a mid and high gear range option.
A "triple" crankset refers to one with three
chainrings, the extra chainring being a very small one on the inside that gives you a
considerably lower gear range than available with the double. This small chain ring is
commonly called a "granny gear" as in even your granny can climb a hill in this
gear.
In general, a
"double" crankset bike will have either 14, 16 or 18 gears, and a
"triple" will have 21, 24 or 27 gears.
Things to consider-
If you climb in lower gears, you’re not necessarily going to go slower up the hill.
In fact, the opposite may occur, as the lower gearing of a triple might be more optimal
for your own physique. Not everybody was built with massive muscles, and in most cases,
higher RPMs at lower gears will be more in sync with your body than big massive gears that
you might barely be able to turn. A bike with a triple usually has about the same high-end
(your go-fast gears) range as a double. So in general you’re not giving up anything
at the high end but rather adding on at the lower end (meaning that you’re getting
new gears to make it easier to go uphill while keeping the high gears that allow you to go
fast downhill). Way-cool high-end bikes are now available with triple cranks right off the
showroom floor! It’s no longer the case that the only way to get a
super-high-performance frame and wheelset was on a bike with a double crankset. The market
has dramatically changed, and there are now as many options with triples as there are with
doubles and if the bike you want isn’t available with a triple, chances are that the
bike shop can install one on it. Triple-equipped bikes are not just for wimps!!! Even
hot-shot riders come across incredibly-steep hills that make him/her think (although
rarely aloud) "It sure would be nice to have a lower gear right now!" And
besides, just how comfortable do you feel calling every mountain bike rider a wimp?
Virtually 100% of them have triple cranks, and they USE the lower gears all the time! In
fact, it’s probably the widespread success of triple-equipped mountain bikes
that’s helped fuel demand for the wider range gears on road bikes.
So why wouldn’t everybody
get a triple-equipped bike? Many people (particularly men) have this macho-thing about being strong enough to
climb a hill without the help of so-called granny gears There’s not much you can do
about this type of attitude. The only "cure" is a pair of busted knees, and that
"cure" usually ends the cyclists' riding career. It’s still the case that
the very highest-end component groups are not available with a triple crankset
(specifically Campagnolo Record and Shimano Dura-Ace). So if you want a $3000+ bike with
the very hottest components, it requires a bit of improvisation if you want it with a
triple. There remain a number of cyclists that believe tradition is more important than
progress, and since early, classic road bikes didn’t have triples 30 years ago, they
still shouldn’t now. This is frequently the same type of person who feels that
"steel is real" (meaning that any other material, be it aluminum, titanium or
carbon-fiber, just isn’t what a bicycle is supposed to be made out of) and probably
doesn’t wear a helmet. And there are truthfully some people so strong that they
don’t need a triple crankset, or for inexplicable reasons just don’t have a
whole lot of trouble climbing in very tall gears at very high speeds. Alas, there are few
of us so afflicted. Finally, there are slight trade-offs in terms of weight (figure an
extra half-pound or so of weight) and shifting performance. Not much decline in
performance, but the longer chain makes for a bit more work for the rear derailleur, and
on the front, shifting between the inside and middle chainrings isn’t quite as
precise as the shifting on a double.
|
|
