Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 62)

Thoughts on the triple:

They can be a pain in the butt mechanically, I don't know which bar-end shifters you would use, and you really don't get too much extra low end over a 34 compact.  Maybe Kathy can chime in on this one because I think she has a long cage derailleur setup with a compact double and big cassette, which is a better option IMO.

Ahh...true.  I've been in road bike mentality for the last 3 months, so I completely forgot about bar end shifters.  But what about chainrings in the 47/31 range?

I guess it depends where you ride to.  Here, it's mostly flat, but the hills we do have are somewhat steep.  Add a head wind and I'm often in my 34/26 pushing 260+ watts.  For those with a FTP of around 200...what do you do?

It also depends on the length of the race in question.  A lot of times the compact vs standard debate gets framed in the IM mentality.

My FTP was in the 240-250 range, depending on which power meter prior to my injury (@150 lbs).  I don't really know what it fell to after my hospitalization.  During IM Canada my highest 5 min was 224 watts and 20 min was 192 watts.  That was with 39/27.  Should also note when I stand, I dance pretty comfortably w/o mashing.  Different riding styles for different folks I guess.

A compact definitely would have helped with my situation this year but when I'm fit, I feel pretty comfortable with the 53/39.

I agree.  But in any case, my question was focused towards triathletes who are averaging around 16 mph (whether in a sprint or IM) and where sitting through most of the climbs is preferred.

I would guess that those riders would see much more benefit from an easier gearing than 50/34, and also allowing them to run a tighter cassette when not riding in big hills.

Yeah, I think length and terrain play so huge a factor that it's difficult to say.  I ran a compact with an 11-28 cassette for IMMT and there were a few times where I had to go over 300 just to keep moving forward.

That being said, I can't think of a single race that is local to me that would require gearing like that.  For the vast majority of them, I would never get out of my big ring.

Ok, I just thought of one race that is a few hours away from me that you need some serious gearing for.  It has a hill called "Tippenlot" and my wife saw a lot of people almost tippin' over.  

Ha, i just checked mine and my peak 5 min was also 224 and 20 min was 194.  

imo
 
Standard cranks can be used by a few more that that % on flat and hilly courses.  I truly believe that 90% just don’t know how to use the gears. 
 
Most standard crank can change chain rings to 52/38.  Yes one tooth can make a difference.

GoFaster - 2012-09-06 9:01 AM I don't think a triple is necessary for the vast majority of triathletes.  As others pointed out above, just adding in a slightly bigger range within your cassette should conquer the majority of courses, regardless of your abilities.  I say that knowing that in the last 4km of this weekends HIM I will find myself riding 34/26 on a couple of the hills just trying to survive.  Considered buying a new cassette with a 27 - but couldn't justify saving my legs vs saving the money (it's only a couple of hills...). 

Haha, I know what you're talking about.  I did Muskoka as my first HIM on my entry-level road bike with a triple and I was happy to have that very very granny gearing for a few of those last hills - i think i promised myself I would only use it twice.   But i rode it the next year (in training only) on my new tri bike which i assume is a compact and although i was grinding more I was fine to get through the course.

Compact on my tri bike, and the triple crankset on my road bike. The triple crankset came with it - but it's really nice for things like climbing Mt. Lemmon.

On my mountain bike, I really think I could ride a single speed most of the time. I'm usually trying so hard not to crash that I forget about shifting

Yeah, that all makes sense, I am just trying to get my head around Jason's percentages, i.e. 70% of people should run a triple?  I don't get that.....  Then again, I don't have the technical knowledge you guys do so I just may be missing it

I got convinced to try a compact about 5 years ago and have never looked back. While most of the conversation around compacts focuses on how low of a gear it offers, the real benefit of a compact is the range of gearing it offers if you are willing to really pay attentions to your combinations and make multiple compound shifts as you run up and down these combinations, which honestly most of us are not (myself included mostly). To me this is actually one of the most exciting possibilities of computer/electronic shifting: I think these systems will soon provide a single set of up and down buttons that will allow you to make compound shifts so that you can take full advantage of all 20 gear combos. I think I read somewhere a while back that folks have actually already hacked existing Di2 to do just that? Taking advantage of the close combos would certainly help you keep your VI closer to 1.0, which seems to be important in long course racing.

Of course I could be really wrong about all that....

So, I joined a cult yesterday: