BobCochran said:
I am still very much in learning mode about bicycles. My Giant FCR Alliance, purchased a few years ago, has a double crankset instead of a triple crankset. I only noticed this today after reading Chapter 5 of "The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling". I want to do long distance touring on the bike. Are triple cranksets still recommended for touring? Have they been superseded by newer cranksets? Does it make financial sense to replace the existing crankset, or am I better off looking for a new bike?
I notice with the Giant that while it is much easier to handle than my previous bike, it is tough for me to get it up even a short hill with loaded rear panniers. I have always put this down to my being physically out of shape:I really do need to train consistently and do a lot of hill work. Could it be that having only a double crankset makes hill work harder than necessary?
Whether or not your bike has a
true braze-on front derailleur mount, setting up a front derailleur for a Triple is NOT an issue ... at least, not with a Shimano front derailleur & a braze-on mounted front derailleur ...
And, I have Campagnolo front derailleurs which can also handle a Triple when mounted on a braze-on mount.
As it is, it appears that YOUR bike's braze-on mount can be un-bolted if you were inclined to do so ... and, a banded front derailleur could be installed (
aluminum frames typically use 31.8mm clamps, but you would want to measure it) if that is all you can locate should you were to opt for a new front derailleur.
BTW. If you were to opt for a new crankset, you may-or-may-not want to consider 175mm crankarms.
REGARDLESS, I believe that
swampy1970 is correct in suggesting that you may want to consider a larger Cassette which may-or-may-not mean that you will need to substitute your Road rear derailleur for a MTB rear derailleur which will have a longer rear derailleur cage to provide more chain capacity and ensure clearance between the teeth on the larger Cogs & the upper pulley wheel ...
With Shimano rear derailleurs, you can usually adjust the B-screw on the back to achieve more clearance between the larger Cogs & the upper pulley wheel ...
And, a long cage (GS) Shimano Road rear derailleur can typically handle a 32t Cog + extra chain ... sometimes a 34t Cog ...
OR, simply replace the 11t upper pulley wheel with a 10t pulley wheel to achieve more clearance.
BTW. You may already know this, but
bar ends on Flat handlebars are beneficial for climbing ... similarly, replacing the FLAT (
?) handlebars which I believe your bike may have with some DROP handlebars will be beneficial IF you don't mind ponying up for new shifters ...
I recommend that if you opt for Shimano Road shifters that you consider getting/using a RAPID-RISE (
"reverse" pull) rear derailleur ...
OR, choose a set of Campagnolo shifters (
they are compatible with Shimano drivetrains) ...
Campagnolo shifters can handle older (
i.e., thinner & lacking ramping-and-pinning) Chainrings without flinching ...
And, I have found that they can downshift to larger Cogs without flinching, too, regardless of the load on the drivetrain (
e.g., going at a ponderously slow pace).