It just doesnt make any sense
#26
Senior Member
After pondering other threads on gearing, it just doesnt make any sense to get rid of the front triple. A bike report I read had a bike with a 34 front and 12 gears in the cluster. The reason it doesnt make sense is:
1) The are only 12 speeds, which flies in the face of those that demand ever more gears.
2) The rear cluster goes from 12 to 51, which flies in the face of those that want small steps between each gear change.
3) The 51 tooth low gear flies in the face of the weigh weenies because that 51 tooth gear has to weigh much more than twice as much as a 26 tooth granny gear.
So my question is why get rid of the triple?
1) The are only 12 speeds, which flies in the face of those that demand ever more gears.
2) The rear cluster goes from 12 to 51, which flies in the face of those that want small steps between each gear change.
3) The 51 tooth low gear flies in the face of the weigh weenies because that 51 tooth gear has to weigh much more than twice as much as a 26 tooth granny gear.
So my question is why get rid of the triple?
#28
Senior Member
After pondering other threads on gearing, it just doesnt make any sense to get rid of the front triple. A bike report I read had a bike with a 34 front and 12 gears in the cluster. The reason it doesnt make sense is:
1) The are only 12 speeds, which flies in the face of those that demand ever more gears.
2) The rear cluster goes from 12 to 51, which flies in the face of those that want small steps between each gear change.
3) The 51 tooth low gear flies in the face of the weigh weenies because that 51 tooth gear has to weigh much more than twice as much as a 26 tooth granny gear.
So my question is why get rid of the triple?
1) The are only 12 speeds, which flies in the face of those that demand ever more gears.
2) The rear cluster goes from 12 to 51, which flies in the face of those that want small steps between each gear change.
3) The 51 tooth low gear flies in the face of the weigh weenies because that 51 tooth gear has to weigh much more than twice as much as a 26 tooth granny gear.
So my question is why get rid of the triple?
34 and 12-51 would absolutely drive me nuts.
I like 1 tooth jumps from the middle 80's to just over 120 inches. 1X starting with a 10T is stupid.
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#30
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After pondering other threads on gearing, it just doesnt make any sense to get rid of the front triple. A bike report I read had a bike with a 34 front and 12 gears in the cluster. The reason it doesnt make sense is:
1) The are only 12 speeds, which flies in the face of those that demand ever more gears.
2) The rear cluster goes from 12 to 51, which flies in the face of those that want small steps between each gear change.
3) The 51 tooth low gear flies in the face of the weigh weenies because that 51 tooth gear has to weigh much more than twice as much as a 26 tooth granny gear.
So my question is why get rid of the triple?
1) The are only 12 speeds, which flies in the face of those that demand ever more gears.
2) The rear cluster goes from 12 to 51, which flies in the face of those that want small steps between each gear change.
3) The 51 tooth low gear flies in the face of the weigh weenies because that 51 tooth gear has to weigh much more than twice as much as a 26 tooth granny gear.
So my question is why get rid of the triple?
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#32
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I have a touring bike with a triple.
I have a cross bike with a single (I use it as my icy weather bike with 35mm 4 row studded tires)
I have doubles on my road, rain and gravel bikes.
I have room in my life for them all, when I finally can get my fat bike it’ll be a single.
I have a cross bike with a single (I use it as my icy weather bike with 35mm 4 row studded tires)
I have doubles on my road, rain and gravel bikes.
I have room in my life for them all, when I finally can get my fat bike it’ll be a single.
#33
It's mountain bike gearing and it makes sense for...... mountain biking. My full-suss mtb has a 30T chainring and 10-50T cassette and it's definitely not stupid.
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#34
I have a touring bike with a triple.
I have a cross bike with a single (I use it as my icy weather bike with 35mm 4 row studded tires)
I have doubles on my road, rain and gravel bikes.
I have room in my life for them all, when I finally can get my fat bike it’ll be a single.
I have a cross bike with a single (I use it as my icy weather bike with 35mm 4 row studded tires)
I have doubles on my road, rain and gravel bikes.
I have room in my life for them all, when I finally can get my fat bike it’ll be a single.
My mtb is 1x
My road bike is 2x
My next road bike will be 1x (probably Campag Ekar 13 speed)
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#40
12 speeds? How many really different speeds does the usual triple really have?
With my legs, and New England's topography, my higher gears are pretty much just for decoration, but don't think I could spin fast enough to stay upright on gears as low as I would like.
With my legs, and New England's topography, my higher gears are pretty much just for decoration, but don't think I could spin fast enough to stay upright on gears as low as I would like.
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#41
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All of my bikes are singlespeed and fixed gear, this thread just doesn't make any sense to me.
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#42
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When the road transitions sharply from down to up to down to up, it's kind of fun to perfectly execute simultaneous shifts that momentarily have the chain floating front and rear. Even better when it's a double front shift that jumps two chainrings and a few cogs. Bike shifting nirvana right there. My 1x can't do that.
OTOH, my CX bike is a 2x, and it's annoying when the front der has caught a quarter pound of mud and grass and unrecognizable crap.
Different strokes for different purposes.
OTOH, my CX bike is a 2x, and it's annoying when the front der has caught a quarter pound of mud and grass and unrecognizable crap.
Different strokes for different purposes.
#43
It makes more sense than rugby shorts, but less sense than those flags on the back of a laydown bicycle.
#45
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#46
Senior Member
So much of gearing is about gear ratios.
So, consider a Dura Ace 7703 triple.
53/39/30 vs a Dura Ace 7702 double. 53/39
Now, back that up to a 9 speed cassette: 11-23 (11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23)
Overall:
53/11 = 4.82:1
39/11 = 3.55:1
39/23 = 1.70:1
30/23 = 1.30:1
With an overall ratio of: (53/11) / (30/23) = 3.69.
And your step down at 53 to 39 is 14 teeth or about 30% difference.
And 39 to 30 is 9 teeth, or about 26%.
Ok, and your step from 11 to 12 is about 10%, and a little less as one gets further along in the cassette, but one hits back to around 10% when one jumps to the 2 tooth jump in the 20's.
Ok, so a front shift is worth about a 2 or 3 sprocket jump in the rear.
Now, say one goes to 11 speed, and a 11/28 cassette. You have essentially the same cassette, but now have added a 25T and 28T to it.
53/11 = 4.82:1
39/11 = 3.55:1
39/28 = 1.39:1
30/28 = 1.07:1
With an overall ratio of: (53/11) / (30/28) = 4.50 ratio.
But with just the 53/11 to the 39/28 middle ring one gets: a 3.46 ratio, which is close to what one had with the triple.
So, by adding more sprockets, to a large extent the third chaining becomes obsolete.
So, consider a Dura Ace 7703 triple.
53/39/30 vs a Dura Ace 7702 double. 53/39
Now, back that up to a 9 speed cassette: 11-23 (11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23)
Overall:
53/11 = 4.82:1
39/11 = 3.55:1
39/23 = 1.70:1
30/23 = 1.30:1
With an overall ratio of: (53/11) / (30/23) = 3.69.
And your step down at 53 to 39 is 14 teeth or about 30% difference.
And 39 to 30 is 9 teeth, or about 26%.
Ok, and your step from 11 to 12 is about 10%, and a little less as one gets further along in the cassette, but one hits back to around 10% when one jumps to the 2 tooth jump in the 20's.
Ok, so a front shift is worth about a 2 or 3 sprocket jump in the rear.
Now, say one goes to 11 speed, and a 11/28 cassette. You have essentially the same cassette, but now have added a 25T and 28T to it.
53/11 = 4.82:1
39/11 = 3.55:1
39/28 = 1.39:1
30/28 = 1.07:1
With an overall ratio of: (53/11) / (30/28) = 4.50 ratio.
But with just the 53/11 to the 39/28 middle ring one gets: a 3.46 ratio, which is close to what one had with the triple.
So, by adding more sprockets, to a large extent the third chaining becomes obsolete.
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#48
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#49
Senior Member
OP:Outside of Recumbents I don't think that triples have made a lot of sense in the last 10ish years. Having 2x10, 11, 12 means plenty of gear range without having too ridiculous a jump in cogs. My touring bike is 44/11 high and 28/34 low so not a lot of large jumps in there on the cassette. The shifting in the front is nice and easy to adjust and I don't have to fiddle with the shifter while riding to avoid chain rub when I get close to cross chaining, 2x actually has to be cross chained to make noise and my 2x12 only makes noise in the final cross chain gear and even then its hardly any noise. All provided with less weight. Triples made sense when you had 5 gears in the front, not so much now.