Dura Ace Double to Triple Conversion

I'm riding a 2004 Trek 5900 double with 53/39 in front and 12-27 in the back. I have the 7800 STI DA shifters, as well as DA for all other components.

I do a lot of riding in Colorado rockies and the legs (or perhaps the will too) aren't what they were when I bought the bike.

I've researched, and read many dissenting opinions regarding what components are needed to convert the double to a DA triple.

Can someone please definitively lay out exactly what I'll need to make it happen?

Thanks in advance!

By the way, I didn't mentioned it explicitly, but this is the 10sp variety

I believe to switch to a Triple you will need a few things, 1) A new front shifter 2) New front der 3) The triple crank obviously

I believe that is all you need, but I'm not positive. One option you may want to look at is a compact crank. The chainrings are usually 50/34, giving you a pretty easy gear to spin up the mountains. This is much easier to do than to convert to a triple.

__________________
Lemond Tete De Course
-Sram Force
Trek T1

I think he's gonna need a triple-specific bottom bracket too.

Regards,

Super Rider

And a triple rear der. cause you need the long pulley cage. You'll also need a longer chain.

How about a compact double??

Thanks to all for your recommendations. I went with the R700 compact crank ($300 for crank and tools), and was able to install it in about 30 minutes.

Despite my concern over doing a big ride after a component swap, I did a 60 mile ride with 6000 feet of climbing. The results...excellent! I had plenty of cadence to spare, even on the steepest sections. Definitely a good (and more economical) alternative to going to a triple. There is a bit of a tradeoff with downhill spinning (I couldn't spin faster than 35-37 mph), however I might take care of that with an 11 later on.

One question, when I have it in the lowest combination (small front, big back) there is a recurring "miss" which seems to go in cycle with the RD cog. If I manually hold the RD lower (away from the cassette) then it stops. I tried several adjustments to no avail. I believe I saw somewhere that when doing the compact crank you may have to take a couple of links out of the chain. Can anyone confirm or refute this?

If it is true, do I just use standard chain tool on my DA 10 speed chain?

Thanks!