you people out there riding double or tripple? - Page 17

do you have a picture of that? what kind of crank/bottom bracket combo is this attached to?

Just an old Shimano Deore DX.
The chain drags on the bottom of the cage when in the 16 and was wearing out the cage and probably the chain too. So I wrapped a nylon zip-tie around the bottom of the cage to prevent the wear and noise. It adds no noticable resistance, in the 16x24 gear we're going about 3mph anyway.
There are people who extend the cage in various ways. I might do that this winter, but the zip tie works quite well.

Most Mt der have enough swing to throw 4 chainrings with no problem. You must use a non-indexed front shifter, I use a Campy Chorus that also has plenty of 'clicks' to throw 4 chainrings.

Im riding a double right now. I wish I had a triple but then again, I dont ride long enough and hard enough since I dont have the time because of school and what not. I plan on buying a triple thugh just to have it and because it will be uber coolness with my new 9 speed casette . Anyone else hate that you have to buy all sorts of new parts with the purchase of a bigger casette?


Brian

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Why do we need a 28th,29th, and 30th gear?
Bike #1= Lemond Reno.
Bike #2= Looking for new mountain bike

I just bought a rode bike with an Ultegra triple. I remeber when I was much younger and fitter making fun of people who had triples on their road bikes but my knees are not in great shape, I am not in great shape, and the hills of San Francisco are steep so I opted for a triple and I am glad I did.

I don't think there's any shame at all- only the flatter areas around this country warrant a double for all but the really fast people if they're interested in having the option of maintaining a 90rpm cadence or higher. If there's a 5-6% grade for more than 1/2 mile, it seems most people can't hold 10mph in a 39x25, which means they're under the good cadence spot and need more gearing options. I think those that swear by the doubles in these forums either avoid the hills or don't have any.

I ride a double (39t) and with a 23-25t in the back, there is little that I can't spin up in my area (South Shore of Massachusetts). I just spent a week in VT. If I lived there, I would probably consider a triple or at least a compact crackset (50-34). It's easy to let our egos get the best of us, but if Roberto Heras can use a triple at the toughest stage in the '02 Vuelta (the 26% Angliru) and kick everyone's ass than I think we can all swallow our pride. That is, unless you're a better climber than Heras... If you are, you are in a pretty elite club (maybe 3-4 in the world would be in that club).

People say a Triple Crankset are for wusses well, then Lance Armstrong must be a wuss. I know they are under certain circumstances but we arent as good as him so our lack of perfection and his hills(our mountains) are about the same reason for a triple right? RIGHT!?

Brian

__________________
GO ITALIA!

Why do we need a 28th,29th, and 30th gear?
Bike #1= Lemond Reno.
Bike #2= Looking for new mountain bike

I have a triple on my road bike. I went out of my way to find a triple chainring to purchase. Why - because I can

I figured that the weight it adds to my bike is far less negligable than the assistance it gives me. Often I ride and try not use my granny-gear. Sometimes I will use it just to spin up a hill. I use it cautiously as often the chain will come off and get stuck on the crank ring.

Has it worked - Yes. One race we came to a steep hill, we were passing seasoned riders while they were puffing their way up on their doubles. Guess its all about preferences.

Also it helps me not look like a poser - I mean who wants that

How do you measure a hill in % - what does 10% mean. I know degrees and inclination such as 1:4 etc

Interesting discovery here, at least to me. I've had a triple for the past couple of years, largely because of a couple of nasty hills.

Last Sunday, it was gorgeous out, and for some reason I was feeling particularly frisky. Maybe my wife has been slipping EPO in my Cheerios. Anyway, I was out on one of my favorite loops, facing one of the hills I bought the triple for - 10% grade, 3/4 mile. Lance, I aint...

That day, I thought - I'm going to stay out of the granny gear today. Let's see if we can do it. It wasn't easy, 2/3 of the way up I felt the old temptation to slack off, punch the left side lever down, and use the granny. But, I didn't. Dug down inside somewhere, stood up on the pedals, and found the energy to push on through.

And I made it to the top. Not only did I make it, I made it a lot quicker, and wasn't nearly as dead on the flat section at the top of the hill. Over that 18 mile route, I usually average 16 mph. That day, I averaged 17.8, and a good deal of the reason was pulling that hill so quickly. Triples can help you up steep grades, but they're slow death because your'e under strain for a lot longer period of time. I still have two more hills to go. One is 10%, 1.5 miles, the other is short - maybe 500 yards long, but very steep.

you can convert between angle of hill in degrees to % grade quite simply:

% grade = 100 * Tangent (angle of hill) = 100 * (Vertical dist/Horizontal dist)

a 10% grade would be a road that rose 10ft for every 100 horizontal feet traversed. technically speaking it is the horizontal and vertical distances (the legs of the right triangle), NOT the distance you travel on your bike (the hypotenuse). for smaller angles (which roads are, despite what your quads may be telling you) the Sine (Vertical/Hypotenuse) of an angle is pretty close to the Tangent so you could get a reasonable approximation of grade with your distance travelled and some kind of altitude change measure (topo map or altimeter).

likewise, to get the angle knowing the % grade is simply:
angle of hill = arctan(% grade/100)

by this measure a 100% grade is a road with a 45 degree angle surface.

Agree there is no reason to use the inner ring on every hill just because you have one. But triples aren't "slow death", in fact, just the opposite, triples allow you to save energy and the legs on long rides with a lot of climbing.

Not important if I'm only climbing one or two hills during the ride, but if there's 10,000 ft of altitude gain for the day, I'll use the triple early and often.

2004 Sequoia Elite - Tripple
2003 Raleigh M60 MTB - Tripple
1993 GT Corrado MTB - Tripple

single. the sweetest setup on a mountain bike is a single front chain ring with an xtr 9 speed rear. here's what you do: you buy this kit made by PAUL, and you take a Dura Ace bar end shifter and turn it into an old school index shifter, which every real mountain biker knows is the most fundamentally sound, reliable, and simple system available. and, you can make an xc bike weigh under 20 lbs. it's the best alternative to single speeding too, if you're not hardcore enough to be a single speeder, and you ALL know you've been passed on the trail in your small ring by a single speeder.

Why not just start with an index shifter? Nashbar still sells 9sp Dura Ace downtube shifter for $35 pair.

Ughh! I always ride with my middle, and a water cooler straped to my back...blah,blah, blah

Y'all need to go out and find bigger hills
Thats right, triple and proud- 21" calves and 28" quads anyway

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may the wind take your troubles away...