double to triple - Page 3

You're right about that. I couldn't live without the triple on my MTB but I don't get on trails that often. If I did, I would probably be able to ignore the granny after awhile. Anyway, have fun with your new tandem. Sounds like there are some possibilities there.

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People don't use their granny gears? That's absolute bologna!

Don't read too much into that comment. It was made from a review of the previous posts to the thread up to that time. Of course people do use granny gears, but not the previoius posters. So my comment is more like pure salami!

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I would just like to clear a few things up... I have no problem with sarcasm, if you knew me you would know that. What I do have a problem with is forum users who take up a Militant angle on whether a post has stayed on topic or strayed off on a tangent. Camillo is not a moderator. No one elected him to surf the forum and make sure that people dont offer friendly advise that does not fall in to the option "a" or "b" answer that was requested. As I see it Camilo was annoyed that a lot of people said that tripples are not necessary. He needs one to make it home from his rides and maybe he is feeling insecure about that? I really dont care! If you look back at the post I NEVER SAID TO NOT DO THE CONVERSION!... This dosent have anything to do with that. I just dont think posters should be called out for not staying "on topic" when you dont like what we are saying! Dont forget this all happened in a thread that started as a "gearing conversion question" and then degenerated into a "hey I bought a crappy tandom at a yard sale" thread. WHERE WERE YOU ON THAT ONE OFFICER CAMILO?

Wow -- thanks good info from everyone. As an experiment I just ordered a double compact crankset (34t (-vs-39)/50 (-vs- 52)) for one of our bikes and will see if the front derailleur "trimming" is minimized and we can still make it up hills... Not only are our roads hilly, but they are narrow and windey. Traffic is light, but I don't like taking my attention off of the road for too long, especially on the down hills. The less I am messing with shifting the better I think we are. The other day we were going about 37 mph down a hill and a bobcat ran in front of us. I thought it was a snauzer (bob-tail) at first but got a closer look as we sped up to it. Amazing.

Funny I am also fixing up my old Univega 15 speed for kicks for the kids to ride -- and was just putting new cables on it last night -- the old ratchet/friction shifters sure a pleasure to use .. !

George

I have a graph/chart from Shimano factory showing the additional trim positions on their higher end front triple derailleurs as of 2004. There are two trim positions on the nine speed 105 ST-5510 and the nine speed Ultegra ST-6510, and they were one trim position for the small ring and one trim position for the center ring---so there are 5 front derailleur positions altogether. The 10 speed Ultegra ST-6603 has one trim postion for each ring, so there are 6 front derailleur positions altogether, and the 9 speed Dura Ace ST-7703 has four trim positions, two for the little ring, one for the middle ring and one for the big ring, so there are 7 front derailleur positions altogether.

If the cables are adjusted properly, then using the trims shouldn't be too distracting imho, but maybe you will be happier with a compact. Of course the downside is that you will be giving up both your lowest and your highest gears.

I'm one of those triple owners who doesn't use the granny gear, but it depends on wether your a spinner or a masher on the hills.

To change to a triple you need;
- triple crankset
- wider bottom bracket
You may need
- new chain
- new front derailer
- new rear deralier
- new gear leavers

I can think of numerious potential problems, it may be easier to get a compact crank set and/or a mountain bike rear cluster or simply put the money towards a new bike and keep the existing one as a handy spare.

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