flyaway
new member
Reged: 12/27/03
Posts: 9
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Just ordered a dragonfly, and sin of sins I'm going to put a triple on it. I am currently running a 53-39 with 13-28 for hilly rides on a Serrotta classic TI, works out fine on 1 or 2 pass rides in the hills of Northern Ca but can be come a problem on longer hillier rides. I do 5 or 6 rides a year with 10,000 plus feet of climbing including the Death ride, at 47 and 210 lbs the triple seems like a realistic way to go. I lost many nights of sleep contemplating the merits of an FSA micro crank a campy carbon or the Campy record triple. In the end I have decided the closer gear spacing i can run on the triple (I will run a 12-23 or 12-25) will be more beneficial than the weight savings of the FSA micro or Campy carbon. I am going with the reynolds fork and the new integrated bar stem combo. I realize that the triple will add as much as 230 grams to the bike but that is only going to matter when some weight weenie asks what the bike weighs, to confuse them I am looking at some rocket7 shoes that will more than make up for the additional weight of the triple .
Frame: Dragonfly, Cobalt blue, with clear lugs and stays
Groupo: Campy record triple
Wheels: Campy Nucleons
Bar/stem: Calfee ergo
Tires: Vittoria open corsa cx
Head set: chris king
Bottom bracket: phil wood TI
Seat post: campy carbon
pedals: speed play X2 stainless
saddle: fizik arione
shoes: Force7 (hey they are a significant portion of the rotaing mass on a bicycle)
go ahead try to talk me out of it
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Rebecca_Smith
new member
Reged: 12/24/03
Posts: 21
Loc: Pacific Northwest
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Why do people continually feel the need to apologize or justify their decision to go with a triple? Why do people feel they might be a wuss or wimp for going triple? Sure the pros can go all day after day in the mountain stages of a major tour on a double – but come on guys, they’re pros and we ain’t!
No one feels the need to justify adding more gears on the rear wheel so why this need hem and haw about adding more gears up front? OK Becky, get off your soapbox, take a Valium or go for a ride ….
Anyway, I have a triple on my Dragonfly and a double on my Tetra-Pro. Depending on what my anticipated climbing will be dictates what bike I’ll be using on a particular day. Two years ago I did the California Triple Crown Stage Race, RAO and the 508 all on my double and ended the year with knee surgery. So I proved to myself that I could do it – but I paid for it. Any new bike I buy will have a triple and I ain’t no wimp, wuss, whiner, crybaby or …. Quick, someone take her coffee away from her!!!!
B.
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dfcas
contributor
Reged: 12/19/03
Posts: 138
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Sounds like a rockin bike.Its better to have the triple and not use it than to have it at home on the other bike.I think its good to have the option of less hard days if you choose that.I never have an easy day in the hills but less hard is a nice option.
Please post a pic here when you get it.I'm gettin D'fly fever...
Dan the hillbilly
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Lon
sage
Reged: 12/20/03
Posts: 595
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Rebecca said it well. I have a triple on my Calfee and my Kestrel and I have never regretted it a minute. I live on the edge of the Allegheny Mountains and I tour on my bikes. It is what is practical for a 56 year old who is 210 with a bad knee. Can I ride a double? Sure and just like Rebecca you pay for it eventually. I have ridden all my local rides on both a double and a triple. The difference is how you feel at the end of the day. This is especially important when you are doing tours. All you are doing is giving yourself more gear ratios.
Fred Matheny wrote an article about 2 years ago about the average rider kidding themselves when they are riding a 39 x 25 to climb. He made the point that that is what Lance ususally uses. If Lance is in that ratio to spin up a steep hill how could the average weekend warrior use it? It went on about ratios and so forth and he proved that many people should really have a triple to ride the best and most efficient way.
This is a little bit about Fred. It leaves out he did Paris-Brest-Paris this year for the second time.
During his 20-plus years in cycling, Fred has written hundreds of fitness & training articles for top bike magazines and websites. A dozen books, too, including the landmark Fred Matheny's Complete Book of Road Bike Training published in late 2002.
On the bike, he's raced to medals in state and national championships, plus a senior world record in the Team Race Across America.
As a coach, Fred has worked with hundreds of riders at PAC Tour Endurance Training Camps, the Carpenter/Phinney Bike Camps, and Dirt Camp.
So as you can see Fred knows what he is talking about.
My cassette is a 27. Again I never regret that. I don't always use all those gears but if I hit a particularly long or steep climb (or both) I am happy it is there. Sometimes I look for another one even. We have some really steep hills in Pittsburgh. If I were you I would get the largest cassette made. Then you pick the best climbing gear for you for that hill for that day. Campy cassettes are really expensive so why not know that you will never need another cassette? You will have every possible ratio you can have. I know when you hit a 12% or higher climb you'll be happy for an extra "click." They wouldn't make them if people did not want and buy them. Don't let the "roadie" mentatlity about triples influence your choice of cassettes. Go for broke...
Enjoy our bike and don't worry about the hammerheads. There are a lot of wannabees in that crowd.
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Fred2000
new member
Reged: 01/30/04
Posts: 1
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I am currently running a 180mm double and have thought (due to my size) that a triple might be a good option.
Any one have or know of a 180mm Triple out there?
Thanks, Jon
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Lon
sage
Reged: 12/20/03
Posts: 595
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Dura-Ace has a 180. I just checked an Excel Sports catalog. Now 9 speed Dura-Ace looks cheap compared to Record 10 and DA 10.
I should have mentioned too that I much prefer a 39 for the middle ring of a triple. I originally had Ultegra and after switching one bike I switched them both. The 39 is so much more versatile and a better middle ring size. With it I climb more hills in my middle ring which is an advantage to momentum and such.
So if you are going Triple I'd try to get a crank with a 39 middle ring. Then you ride it like a double when the riding suits that and triple when it does not.
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Max
journeyman
Reged: 12/18/03
Posts: 69
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I know how you feel, because I just went through the same thing. I have ridden for last 20 years nothing bigger than 39X23, and I have a 750 ft. climb up to my house in a mile and half waiting for me at the end of everyone of my rides. Below is a copy of my last posted on the Serotta forum, today. I turn out to be an excellent thread "What do I need to know??".
Thanks everyone for your help. Yesterday, I when to my LBS and test rode a Campy Triple, he didn't have any BCD cranks or compacts that he would recommend for me (knowing my standards). I took it up one of the toughest hills in southern California. I needed a 30X21 to spin up it, I had done it before in my 39x23, but at a slow rpm. This was done at 20 miles into a ride, so my legs were fresh, unlike what they will be at 160 or 180 in the TTs.
I figured based on all the information from everyone, I needed probably about 30 inch gear for the CTC-Stage Race. I choose to go with a Campy triple 30X42X53 / 13X26 because of the gear ranges, quality, and the availability.
I learned from one of the fast riders using a triple on the CTC-SR, he stayed in the middle chain ring most of the time and preferred a finer spacing in the gearing, only on the steep hill sections was he in a different ring. Jeffg mentioned Campy/Phil Wood will last longer, and that was important to me, because I don't like having to replace parts anymore often than I have to. And my LBS said Campy was generally more availability to him than the compact/BCD, another important factor to me when I need a replace part just before a ride. The weight of the drive train was not nearly as important to as the other factors, and my own weight (190-195 lbs). The shifting was better than my old 8spd Dura Ace double, so no complain there, and I felt Campy a good selection of clusters for my different needs. This is a good decision for me now, I am sure it's not for everyone, and I am sure things in the future will change as they always do.
I'll be picking-up my new bike late on Saturday afternoon, and with the forecast for Sunday calling for mostly sunny skies, and 67 degrees, it sounds like I might get out for a little ride . Now with this decision behind me, I am looking forward to doing the Solvang DC, and then the Stage Race. Thanks again, and I hope to see some of you on the CTC series.
PS: By way my new bike I am picking up tomorrow is a Cabernet Red Fade-Tetra Pro with only a head tube decal with an extra stiff down tube for when I still do want to hammer it I can without a fraction bb flex. I also went with the same Calfee handle bar setup. Hey!! Going triple is the cool  , and smart  thing to do, today. Be proud to be part that club, because in the next ten years I predict that it will be the biggest club around.
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MAX
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