Well, here in flat Michigan triples are kind of a dog on the sales floor. We don't buy many here, maybe just a couple a month.
My beef(s) with triples are:
- Longer cage rear derailleur is heavier, more flexible in the cage, is slightly slower to shift since the bottom cage has to move through a farther range of motion for the shift to be completed.
- Your chain is longer, heavier, more flexy since it's now longer.
- The width of the crank is increased substantially, at least the spider of the crank, to facilitate the extra ring.
- Crossover gears are usually total Jihad.
I'll argue a compact solves all of that and gives you low enough gears to get up darn near anything. I wasn't a believer in compacts until Gerard mentioned on this forum a long time ago that he put one his P3. He might be a grump, but he knows his stuff. So I figured I'd try it. Very nice.
-Just a thought. What does your dealer think?
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com