sorry to keep coming back to this, but doesn't it depend on the gearing required to maximise the efficiency of the rider on the bike. You need only look at ant technology driven sport to see that the best technological solution is not always the best solution as the human factor is often the bottom line.

__________________
Regards Michael

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Double on my Vitus road bike
Tiple on my Giant mountain bike

Double on my Vitus road bike
Tiple on my Giant mountain bike

Michael,

I agree with you.

And, I'm trying to see if there is any scientific or experencial data out there re this 2 vs 3.

So far not much. Things become derivative. We've moved the discussion from pedaling efficiency re the 2 vs 3 on the knees (2 better) to discussion on chain efficiency. I'm not sure that chain efficiency differences are important. But, thinking of chain movements brings up a most important variable. The ease of movement between gear ratios when you haven't planned well. At least it is important for me as I ride in hills constantly. I find it easier to move between chain rings on a 2 ring when I've really made a mistake and need to drop quickly. Going from big to smallest and shifting down within the casette is a great way to drop the chain. Maybe it's different for others.

The data is out there, scientific and experiential.

Whose got it? I don't have data. Just experiences, and all experiences ar equal. Then, all data can be made irrelevent by individual experiences, as you point out.

Perhaps there is no truth here. Just, what works best for you.

G

try the
jump stop by n-gear. i haven't had a dropped chain since i put these on my bikes (knock on wood).

nick seems really customer service oriented (he sends you the part before you pay and you don't pay unless you're happy) and the $10 price which includes shipping is pretty fair, imho.

of course, it weighs about an ounce so gram counters may not use it!

If I understand the question right, triple because thats what my bike came with. Don't most bikes come with triple?

I try to copy my body
One ring at the front, one at the back, any more is a waste!

ha ha

Angus

so then triples are necessary for women then Angus?

__________________
Regards Michael

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Road : Double
Mountain: Triple

Damn straight. And coasting is for wimps, but I'm not sure of the anatomical implications there.

--Josh

Roger that, spinyourtitsoff!

I use a triple chainring to get a more even spread across the gearing range, rather than only using it for beating big hills. 90% of the time I will just use an 12-21 rear cog-set and adjust the gearing range by swaping out various combinations of front chainrings.

For the flats and rolling hills I will use a 50-42-32 front chainring setup for a close and even spread of gears, at 44 I can no longer push a 53/12 for any great length of time so I don't even bother to try any more, and a 32/21 is plenty low enough for this purpose.

For bigger hills I will use a 53-39-30 front chainring setup (53 for the downhills only), as a 30/21 is approximately equal to a 39/27-28. If I need anything lower geared than this (which I seldom do) I will then put on an 12-23 rear cogset, as a 30-23 is approximately equal to a 39/30.

I use a bar-end shifter for the front derailier since I have never felt comfortable with Ergopower or Dual Control triple front shifters, it's just a personal preference.

That sounds like a good strategy. Triples do let you use a nice tight cluster while still getting decent range. The main thing that I don't like about them is sloppy indexed shifting on the front. I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar to what you've done on my touring bike (which is my only triple): a bar end shifter for the front, with STI for the rear. This should give the best of both worlds: non-indexed infinite adjustibility on the front, with quick shifts on the rear, which is where most of the shifting happens anyway.

if you get a chance, try Campag. It has microadjust on the front derailler, a really useful feature with triples

__________________
Regards Michael

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

I love Campy, but I sometimes need to run big MTB cassettes on the tourer, larger than Campy rear derailleurs can handle. You're right, though, Ergo would be a great way to go for most triple owners. Shame there are so few bikes available with Campagnolo off the shelf.

--Josh