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Triple chainrings — or compact double?

03.08.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 16 Comments

When I bought my bike just a year ago, I was weighing the pros and cons of getting it with a triple chainring, or a compact double. I knew I didn’t want a standard 52 x 39 double ring, but a 50 x 34 seemed to make some sense to me.

Some experienced biker friends recommended a compact double, declaring that I wouldn’t miss the third ring, because most of my riding would be done within the middle gears anyway. And the biking magazines and web sites indicated much the same thing, with the added bonus of smoother shifting.

So when I pulled the trigger and bought the bike, a compact double it was.

After today’s ride, I wish I had gotten the triple.

I turned out at 8 a.m., when the sky was still trying to decide if it would lighten up all the way. Since it was the first day of Daylight Savings Time, it was barely light enough to ride without head and tail lights. At Starbucks, where our bike club kicks off its rides, I had hoped to see several acquaintances who ride at about the same level as I do. Nope. So I figured I would have my work cut out for me trying to keep up with the strong riders in the club. Luckily, they were riding an out-and-back route that lets the rider pick a turnaround spot wherever he or she chooses.

Within three miles from the start, I could see I was in trouble. The peloton was quite far ahead of me, and I was thinking of breaking away on my own and riding a different route. But the ride leader was waiting for me at a corner ahead. We rode together, trying to maintain contact with the main group.

We turned onto Fitzhugh Road, a rural two-lane road that threads its way over rolling hills through small ranches. The hills became more frequent here, and the ride leader had trouble keeping to my plodding pace.

“There’s a guy up ahead who fell off the main pack,” he said. “Let’s catch him!”

For awhile, it seemed like we would. But then, I’d have to struggle up another hill, and when we finally crested it, the other rider’s orange jersey would be farther off in the distance. Finally, the ride leader figured that if we both couldn’t catch the other rider, at least he could, and he pulled away from me. Soon he was out of sight.

I neared the turnaround point, and there was the orange jersey, waiting at an intersection. He was new to the club, and I hadn’t met him before.

“I can’t hang with those guys,” he said. “I’m heading back from here.”

“This is where I’d always planned to turn around,” I answered.

We rode off together. The way back was less tough than the way out, because it was less uphill. But there were still hills aplenty. I was often down in the largest cog of the small chainring, and noticed that orange jersey, who was about 50 yards ahead of me, was pedaling with a faster cadence than I was, no matter if we were climbing hills or riding one of the rare flat stretches (we both coasted the downhills).

Less than three miles from the starting point, we hit the last series of hills. They were among the toughest of the day. Again, I watched him spin frantically as he pulled ahead of me. When we pulled into Starbucks at last, he said he was glad he had triple chainrings, or he would have had to get off and walk his bike up that last hill.

His friend, also a new member of the club, joined us about ten minutes later.

“Man, I wouldn’t have made it up those last two hills without my triple,” he said.

Both sang the praises of their triples. I wondered if I had made the right purchase decision last year. Looking back at the year’s riding, I realized I got stronger during the summer, and was able to handle most of what the terrain threw at me. But I also remembered walking the bike up a few hills, too.

I’ll be riding more, now that the days are longer, and I’ll be building my strength.  But I wonder — would I be better off with a triple?

Do you have any opinions, one way or the other?

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Categories // Components Tags // chainrings, hills

The bike gets a tune up

10.09.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Took a detour on the way home from work today. I stopped by the bike shop to pick up my bike. They had it overnight, and gave it a tune up today.

One of the perks of buying at this particular shop is that they give two free tune ups during your first year of ownership. I had it tuned up last spring, before the Armadillo Classic ride, and with a century staring me in the face, I wanted to make sure the bike went in again.

I’ve been concerned about its reluctance to shift from the small to the large chain ring, and it looked to my untrained eyes that the brake pads needed replacing, but otherwise, I expected the tune up would be routine.

It was. However, they did find that one of my brake cables had become corroded, so they replaced that. It turned out that the shifter cable to the large derailleur had lost some tension, so they tightened that up. They replaced the front brake pads, which were worn down even more than I had figured.

So, a few bucks for the cable and pads, a few more to install them, and I was out of there for less than 20 dollars. The mechanic who rang me up suggested I change my shifting routine. “Be sure you hold the shifter in until the chain completes its move to the large ring,” he said. “That’s a big jump it has to make, and it’s not just a simple click.”

Makes sense to me, although I thought I’d been doing that lately. No matter. I’ve got the bike back, and when I get home tomorrow, I’ll put it through its paces and see what kind of results the tune up actually delivered.

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Categories // Components, Equipment Tags // bike maintenance, tune up

Take care of your bike!

10.04.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Headed out for a ride this morning, and ran into trouble almost from the start. I couldn’t shift from the small chain ring to the large one. Doggone my procrastinating!

I was supposed to get the bike in for a tuneup last week, one of the two free ones I get the first year after I bought the bike. I zoned out, though, and forgot the appointment. Now, I have to see if the bike shop will take it this coming week — which could be a problem, since everyone will want to get their bikes tuned before the Outlaw Trail ride (the century I’m shooting for) in two weeks.

I did 26 hilly miles this morning, and did get the thing to shift. In fact, it shifted easier with use. Still needs adjustment, though. And midway through the ride, I had some suspicions as to why the derailleur was acting up.

I checked it when I got home, and found that my suspicions were correct. I hadn’t done any cleaning of my rings or cogs for quite awhile. Can’t remember the last time I cleaned and oiled the chain. No wonder the poor bike is rebelling.

I decided to get thorough, and even took off the rear wheel to get at the cogs with my fancy-shmancy new bike brush. I bought the brush weeks ago, when I was stocking up on nonessentials at the local Performance shop — just tossed it in with all my other purchases on a lark — and then never used it.

This sad state of affairs is a far cry from six months ago, when I diligently cleaned the chain every two weeks, and gave the cogs and rings a bath from time to time.

Now, I know some of you will wonder why I just don’t get out my screwdriver and do the derailleur adjustment myself, too. Well, once bitten, twice shy. I did that very thing with my mountain bike several months ago (Bike Noob — you have a mountain bike? How come we never hear about that?). All I accomplished was to make it worse. Not gonna do that with my road bike.

But even a mechanical doofus can keep the gears clean. Those puppies will shine from here on out.

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Categories // Components Tags // bike maintenance, cogs

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