Riding a Triple for the Road

In this article, I will talk about my experience in using a triple crankset on a road bike. First of all, what is a triple crankset? A triple crankset has - of course - three chainrings. This offers another small chainring (a "granny" ring as others would call it) in addition to the usual two of typical road cranksets. By doing so, the range your road bike has increased and it is now easier to tackle steep climbs. The downside is having more weight (additional chainring, triple-specific derailleurs) and having a slighty more complicated system (a triple front shifter). However, the rise of the compact chainrings in recent years has made the triple seem "obsolete" - easy gear for climbing using the "normal" double front shifter and derailleurs. The triple has then faded into obscurity and nowadays, people are surprised to see road-specific triple setups.

Nonetheless, this article is about triple setups.

Gearing. The gearing of a triple is  typically a standard (53/39, 52/39, 52/42, 50/39) plus a little 30t small ring. 50/39/30t is the most common ratio available today. On the other hand, the rarest is a 53/39/30t - this combination is what I consider the best of all. It has a "true" standard 53t instead of an "almost-there" 52t. In the middle, one might still be able to find 52/39/30t and 52/42/30t ratios around.

This is my steel road bike set up as a triple. The comfort of a steel frame and the wide range of a triple crankset makes a wonderful combination for long rides.

Close-up of the drivetrain. This is not a straight Shimano 105 groupset. The crankset is an old Tiagra and the cassette is Deore (a Shimano mountain bike group).

My steel road bike is set up as a triple. The combination I am using is a Shimano 52/42/30 and it still uses a square-tapered bottom bracket (which means it is rather old stock). Compared to the others, this gearing might be the most difficult because it has a relatively large middle ring (42t vs 39t of other combinations).My shifters and derailleurs are Shimano 105 for 3x10 (3 chainrings front, 10 speed cogs rear). I pair my triple crankset with a wide-range Deore 11-34 cassette. I use my triple for long rides and city rides. This is also my "assistance" bike. I can push others and help them up the climb because this bike has light gears that I can spin.

My Triple Crankset: an old school Tiagra crankset. Ratio is 52/42/30t. It uses a square-tapered bottom bracket and is originally meant for 9 speed. The front derailleur is a 105 Triple-specific. The 42t middle ring is a large gear even for "standard" or racing cranksets (53/39t), but I am okay with it. It is actually smaller than the small ring on my time trial bike - which is a 44t.

A look at the rear derailleur and cassette. Like the front derailleur, the 105 Triple-specific rear derailleur has a longer cage to manage the jumps between the three chainrings. An additional benefit of the long cage is allowing for larger cassettes. The one I am currently using is a Deore 11-34 cassette. This derailleur can easily accommodate an 11-36 cassette.

Riding. The triple allows me to increase my range without suffering from large jumps between cogs. At first, I used a 12-25 for my triple which is the same as the training gears for my time trial bike. On the time trial bike, the lowest was 44x25 on this bike is 30x25 - much easier, see. After a while, I decided to change to an easier 12-30 cassette - similar jumps with a maximum of 3 teeth jumps. This gave me a low gear. It was alright for a long time. Until that one time, it was not enough - when the climbing just won't end and you're still far to go and you're at the end of your rope. So afterwards, I changed to my current 11-34 - which was the mountain bike cassette that was closest to my 12-30 in terms of jumps. I am very satisfied and I don't see myself changing anytime soon (we don't know what the future holds).

I listed the individual cogs of the cassettes I have used. I also added my preferred racing cassette. The progression and the similarities can be observed. There are five cogs are shared by all.

Parts. I believe the only challenge with having a triple road setup is the special parts: shifters, derailleurs and crankset. These are rare especially in the Philippines. The triples here are usually from built bikes. Most of the road triple groupsets can only be imported from overseas where they are more readily available. I believe that this is worth it if the hills and climbs you conquer will give more satisfaction.

The name has faded away due to use but there are some letters remaining on the small "Triple" written below.

Bottomline. Riding a triple is very similar to riding a double. In fact, I rarely use the small 30t ring - especially now with the large cassette. "Why not remove it?" you ask. Well, I won't remove it for the 99 times I don't need it. I keep it for that 1 time that I do.

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