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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

Use it or lose it

01.19.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

Joe Friel would not be happy with my latest ride. Instead of a moderate increase over my recent average workouts, I decided to go for a long ride with some real hills.

Mrs. Noob wanted to get in a ride, too, so we headed out together for Mopac. But before we got there, she discovered that she had forgotten her cell phone, and told me I couldn’t take off like I usually do when we ride together — that I had to stay closer to her this time. That’s hard to do. Her hybrid (yes, she’s still riding the hybrid — we never did get her a new bike) is heavy and slow, and I worked hard to keep my speed down.

Mostly, that wasn’t too bad. I spun a lot in the small chainring, and waited for her more frequently than I usually do when we’re out together. She just keeps plugging away, and although she will never be a fast rider, she is a much stronger rider than she was a year ago.

We had a nice tailwind as we hit my favorite downhill stretch on Mopac. I coasted the entire length, instead of hammering to see just how fast I could go. Today I managed 33 mph without turning the pedals once. Resting and speeding at the same time — nice.

Pat headed home after one loop around Mopac. That’s 13 miles, and is farther than she’s been riding lately. I decided to stay out, and headed for Southwest Parkway, which has some decent hills.

A hill winds for about a mile and a half past some apartments and a semiconductor plant to reach Southwest Parkway. I realized just how out of shape I’d let myself get over the past two months (see “Junk Miles“). While there was never any danger of me stopping on the way up, the ride which is relatively easy in late summer was a struggle this time.

I finally made it to the top, and stopped for a gulp of Heed and a Lara Bar. From here it’s another two-mile downhill, hitting 34 mph without much effort on my part. Then a swing through a four-mile circle loop through a nice residential neighborhood, the road always sloping slightly up, and in some places getting hilly.

Just before the end of this loop and the turn back onto Southwest Parkway, I make a rest stop. It’s at about the 24-mile point on the ride, and I was ready for a break. My heart rate was elevated, but I wasn’t breathing too hard. I chugged down some more Heed, and discovered that my new seat post-mounted water bottle cage had come loose. A quick tightening job, and I was ready to go again.

On this leg, I have to climb up the two-mile hill that I’d gone 34 mph on coming down. In late summer, I did it in the large chainring. This time, it was the small one, with an easy gear. Yech. I decided to make a slight modification to the route. Instead of climbing all the way to the top of the hill, then flying downhill toward home, I took a cutoff that eliminated both the uphill and the downhill.

Total ride time was two hours, eight minutes. Distance 28.7 miles. The 13.6 mph average speed was mostly attributable to the first leg of the trip, when I was slowing down for Mrs. Noob, but to be honest, those uphills in the SW Parkway leg probably took their toll, too. OK, I overreached. I tried to add too much mileage and intensity all at once, without ramping up to it. If nothing else, I now have a benchmark from where I’m starting for the coming year’s riding. Time to HTFU.

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Categories // Rides, training Tags // hills, Mopac, Rides, SW Parkway, training

Long shadows

11.16.2008 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

After making a deal with Mrs. Noob that I take care of some things around the house, I got out for a nice 17-mile ride this afternoon. It’s a ride I haven’t done for some months now, although I did it at least once every couple of weeks during the summer.

The difference in today’s ride was that I started at about 3 p.m. During the summer, I rode the route closer to 9 or 10 a.m. Man, do things look different in late afternoon!

Those long shadows look cool, but they can cause problems.
Those long shadows look cool, but they can cause problems.

The shadows are so much longer. That’s not news to riders who do a lot of commuting, but this is not a typical time for me to ride. And once you get past the novelty of the long shadows, you see some of the trouble they hide.

One of the attractions of today’s route is its hills. They’re nothing like the ones my friend Mike tackles, when he rides Austin’s Tour Das Hugel, but they’re a good workout for me. I like the downhill part best. I was moving along at a pretty good clip, about 33 mph, when some of those long shadows darkened the road ahead of me. The next thing I knew, I was fast approaching a raised manhole cover. Lucky for me, it was built up around its edges with blacktop, so it didn’t abruptly stick up out of the asphalt. But I didn’t see it until I was upon it, and when my front tire hit it, I had the sickening feeling that here we go again, I’m going to lose control and fall. But I didn’t.

For the rest of the ride, I tried to really concentrate on what was under those shadows. Sometimes, it was a layer of acorns, fallen from the live oaks that line the road. Other times, it was broken glass. The shadows kept the glass from glinting in the sun to warn you of its presence. Most of the time, though, it was just irregularities in the road surface. I could feel them under my tires, but I couldn’t see them in time to dodge them or brace for them.

So the ride was a mixed bag. On the one hand, it was great to get out in cool but not chilly weather and ride. On the other hand, all things being equal — I think I’ll go back to my morning rides as often as I can.

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Categories // Uncategorized Tags // autumn, hills, shadows

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