Change from double to triple?

What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just the bottom
bracket? I'm 51 and don't want another summer of getting dropped by those youngsters on the long
hills. I'm not even sure that going triple will be much help, and would appreciate any opinions. I'm
currently riding with a 52/39, that I just put on last summer from the 42. Thanks in advance. Dennis

 

"Dennis Lowe" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
> What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just the
> bottom bracket?

You need to change the crankset, probably the bottom bracket, front derailleur, and probably rear
deraileur. You're looking at a few hundred dollars. Unless you really like your current bike, buying
a new one may be a better deal. Use your old bike for commuting and winter training.

Another alternative is to use a bigger cassette, possibly even a mountain bike cassette (like a
13-34 spread). That will give you significantly lower gears than your typical 12-24 road bike
cassette. On many bikes, switching to a mountain bike cassette will require just the cassette, a new
chain, and possibly a new rear derailleur (under $100 total for low end parts).

Ken

 

Dennis Lowe wrote:
> What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just the
> bottom bracket? I'm 51 and don't want another summer of getting dropped by those youngsters on the
> long hills. I'm not even sure that going triple will be much help, and would appreciate any
> opinions. I'm currently riding with a 52/39, that I just put on last summer from the 42. Thanks in
> advance. Dennis
>

It's doubtful that a triple will make you go faster. I WILL make it easier to go slower.

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Dennis Lowe wrote:
> > What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just the
> > bottom bracket? I'm 51 and don't want another summer of getting dropped by those youngsters on
> > the long hills. I'm not even sure that going triple will be much help, and would appreciate any
> > opinions. I'm currently riding with a 52/39, that I just put on last summer from the 42. Thanks
> > in advance. Dennis
> >
>
> It's doubtful that a triple will make you go faster. I WILL make it easier to go slower.
>
True, and easier on the knees, if that's important to you.

Rick

 

Dennis: To change from a double to a triple, depending on what double you are now using, you will
need a bottom bracket, a triple crankset, _maybe_ a front derailluer and _maybe_ a left shifter. If
you are unsure of what you have, ask your LBS.

Another option, as a previous poster suggested (if you are running Shimano), is to install an MTB
cassette, rear derailluer and a new chain. This is what I did on one of my bikes. I'm 61 and live in
a hilly area. It works very well and is quite inexpensive

"Java Man" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> > Dennis Lowe wrote:
> > > What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the
current
> > > double? Just the bottom bracket? I'm 51 and don't want another summer
of
> > > getting dropped by those youngsters on the long hills. I'm not even
sure
> > > that going triple will be much help, and would appreciate any
opinions. I'm
> > > currently riding with a 52/39, that I just put on last summer from the
42.
> > > Thanks in advance. Dennis
> > >
> >
> > It's doubtful that a triple will make you go faster. I WILL make it easier to go slower.
> >
> True, and easier on the knees, if that's important to you.
>
> Rick

 

You will need the following items to switch from a Double to a Triple.

1. Triple Crankset
2. Triple Bottom Bracket
3. Triple Front Derailleur
4. Triple Rear Derailleur
5. New Chain

It's not a cheap conversion. You're basically replacing almost every component of the drive train
apart from the shifters and cassette. Figure about $400-$500 (105-Ultegra) plus installation.

Claude

 

>What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just the
>bottom bracket? I'm 51 and don't want another summer of getting dropped by those youngsters on the
>long hills.

As others have pointed out, a triple is unlikely to add any speed to those hills but it may make
getting passed less unpleasant. Want to pass the kids on the hills, ride more than they do.

Without know much about your bike, it is difficult to know what needs changing to accomodate a
triple crank.

You might get by with just a crank set. But you might need a new bottom bracket, a new front
derailleur, a new rear derailleur a new left hand shifter and/or a new chain.

jon isaacs

 

diowe5-<< What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just
the bottom bracket?

Depends on your shifters. If friction, a BB, the crank, a fder and probably a rder...

If STI, maybe a left shifter, If ERGO, just the things above.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

Assuming you are 9sp:

You'll need derailleurs, bottom bracket, crankset, chain, and maybe, shifters.

It would be simpler to buy a 13/32 cassette from Sheldon Brown and a long cage MTB derailleur like
an LX or XT. You'll need a longer chain.

The 39/32 is like a 30/24 on a triple. Many triple setups use 12/25.

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 02:47:03 GMT, "Dennis Lowe" <[email protected]> wrote:

>What do I need to change on my bike to go to a triple crank from the current double? Just the
>bottom bracket? I'm 51 and don't want another summer of getting dropped by those youngsters on the
>long hills. I'm not even sure that going triple will be much help, and would appreciate any
>opinions. I'm currently riding with a 52/39, that I just put on last summer from the 42. Thanks in
>advance. Dennis

 

"Dennis Lowe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I'm not even sure that going triple will be much help, and would appreciate any opinions.

As other posters have pointed out, simply changing to bigger spaced cassette is a cheaper option.
But what is right for you will depend on whether you like a tightly spaced cassette. By going to
a 12-34 or similar you are going to get considerable jumps between gears (more like an old 5
speed bike).

One of my essential criteria when I bought my 105 specced Giant was that it had a triple. Having had
a knee reconstruction it gives me the best of both worlds: a tightly spaced cassette so that I can
change gears regularly and maintain a near-constant cadence, and a far more realistic low ratio than
Lance needs to get up the hills (30:25).

If you're not someone who changes gears regularly I'd go the cheap route and get the mountain bike
cassette and rear derailleur. If you do use the right lever a lot then I'd think about the full
changeover (or perhaps a new bike given the costs involved).

Michael

 

"Michael" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> "Dennis Lowe" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> > I'm not even sure that going triple will be much help,
and would appreciate any opinions.

> As other posters have pointed out, simply changing to
bigger spaced
> cassette is a cheaper option. But what is right for you
will depend on
> whether you like a tightly spaced cassette. By going to a
12-34 or
> similar you are going to get considerable jumps between
gears (more
> like an old 5 speed bike).

Huh? More like an "old" 7 speed bike. 12-25 was a normal range then, and tight enough for most
people. With 8 speed you could have a 12-28 with similar jumps, and now with 9 speed you get 12-34.
I don't seen what the big deal is.

Matt O.

 

VeloCat wrote:
> It's doubtful that a triple will make you go faster. I WILL make it easier to go slower.

While a triple does make it easier to go slower, with some good discipline, it could also help one
maintain a high cadence up a hill which in turn could allow one to have more energy left at the top
of a long steep hill, which in turn could mean getting to the top faster. The trick is not falling
into a slow cadence, which many people do when climbing hills, even with a triple.

All that standing up on climbs makes fatigue happen faster.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

 

"Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> Huh? More like an "old" 7 speed bike. 12-25 was a normal range then, and tight enough for most
> people. With 8 speed you could have a 12-28 with similar jumps, and now with 9 speed you get
> 12-34. I don't seen what the big deal is.

Fair enough. But some people will.

A reasonably spaced 12-34 is closest to an old six speed (not five as I first estimated, but not
seven either). So if the original poster doesn't think there's much difference between a standard
six and nine speed set-up, he should go the cheaper option and just add a new cassette and rear
derailleur.

But if he really likes the way a nine speed 'fills the gaps' like I do (with my dodgy knees -
something older riders are more likely to suffer), then he's going to notice it if he goes to a
12-34 cassette. The cheaper option only ends up cheaper if it's solves the problem. His intial
experiment with a 39t chainring apparently wasn't a suitable solution. I'm simply highlighting a
potential drawback of heading down the proposed cheaper route.

Michael