I'm going to put a 50/34 on my tri bike in place of the 52/39 on there now. In the past, I have changed out the 39 to a 42 for flat or short courses. I cannot find the right gearing in the 52 (that ring is for the big boys, and I'm just not one), and the 39 is usually too small for the flats. I think the 50 will do the trick for the flats, and the 34 will be great, of course, for climbing.

I ride triple on the road bike, and used the triple at Lake Placid on the tri bike. 90% of my outdoor riding is on the road bike, and I've been on a triple for 13 years now (even back when I was a much stronger rider). I have no interest in putting the 50/34 on my road bike.

One thing I will say about the DA triple -- it comes with a 39 middle ring, which is profoundly stupid. It's just too close to the 30 and too far from the 53, and results in only two gear ratios below where you would normally stop out. You'll still end up doing the "correct-gear-hunt" on the flats, shifting back and forth between the 39 and 53 trying to get comfortable.

The 42 middle ring provides the ideal setup. You'll spend the vast majority of your time in the 42, and a 42 is a nice gear for flat and rolling terrain. My advice would be to buy the Ultegra crankset and the DA derr's and shifters if you want DA. It's the shifters and rear derr. that really set DA apart from Ultegra anyway. Or, have the shop make you a trade from the 39 to a 42.

Final advice -- if you have one bike and use it for both racing and fun rides in the hills, then the triple is the way to go for anybody riding a hilly IM (LP, CDA, Moo, etc.) in 6+ hours or any 1/2 IM in 2:35+.

It may not matter but the D.A. triple has a 53 and not a 52 Ultregra has the 52

First off, I agree with Julian that the Dura Ace 30/39/53 triple is dumb. I don't know if they still use the 39 this year or not. If you go with a triple, I'd go with the 30/42/53.

That said, I don't like triples. They're a tad heavier, don't look as good(!!!), and most importantly, they're wider. If you can deal with a wider Q-factor, than this is not a problem, but some people are pretty sensitive in this regard. If you are looking for a really small chainring, than I think the 50/34 is a pretty cool idea. That's the way I'd go.

FSA has a 53/42/30 triple, so instead of going with the Dura Ace. I have come to going with the FSA 53/42/30 triple ot the FSA 50/34 double. Julian, why will you go with the 50/34 double on your tri bike, over the 53/42/30? I am curious and dont know enough about gearing, but one would think the FSA triple would give you more options? Or is the 53/43/30 just overkill to the 50/34?



Thanks for the help......

---

"You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you never take" - Wayne Gretzky

flytri. the way i se it the main issue between the two is one of overlap in gears. the 34x50 has virtually no overlap. you row thru one chainring and ten make a shift to the other, along with a four cog shift on the rear cluster. a nice perfect line of ratios is available this way. the downside is that you do not have a choice when you make this multishifting jump. you MUST do it at around 19 mph each time you transition thru there, both ways everytime. if you were riding say IMMOO or a rolling terrain this would be a poor choice. if you were riding the flats, or a mountainous course where you are either going up or down for a prolonged while it makes some sense. it looks better, too.

converesly, the triple has overlap, and so you can run into the overlap and go from one chainring to the other when YOU want to. a better choice for rollers. the downside is the overlap itself, with some theoretical redundancy and less than perfect ratios. a couple grams, too. not much of a downside really but there you go, grams are grams, and looks do count too. :)

So if I am looking for a ggod setup for say Ironman Hawaii (KONA) which is rolling hills and want a lower gear for some big hills on Mt. Hood in Oregon, I would be better to go with the 53/42/30 FSA triple? Correct me if I am wrong, but the triple would be just like the 53/42 double I ride now, but have a bailout gear in the 30 for big stuff, and I would not have overlap problem unless I used the 30 on the triple.



I think I am starting to confuse myself.

Thanks.....

---

"You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you never take" - Wayne Gretzky

flytri. think of it this way- the more often you drop thru or accerate past 18-19 mph should be the criteria. if you transition past there often go with the triple, the 34 x 50 will be a pain in the a$$. if you transition thru 18-19 mph only occasionally and tend to climb long more steady grades consider the 34x50.