Double chaninsets for touring- what are the cool kids using?

[Deano]

I currently have 48-30 with an 11-34 cassette. Works ok, except for the slightly bent spider. It's an old triple, I don't use the outer position.

I've found a 26-tooth inner for my full-on-nineties-but-still-nice chainset, and I reckon I'll swap to 44-26. It should make the big ring more usable overall, leaving the inner for the hills. The front mech may or may not work, but I need a new front mech anyway.

[LateStarter]

My first 20 or so 200 km Audax rides were on my tourer with a triple but I started to think I needed something more cool for a "Audax" bike and the builder gave me the "doubles can cover the same range as triples" line. Got a 46/30 double & 11-36 cassette but maths told me I lost a couple of low gears over the triple but worst of all I found the most used gears were always across the rings and I was always shifting between them. After a miserable year I replaced the double with the same setup as my tourer (24-36-48 & 12-36) and can again spend most of a day just using the middle ring but with a few extra low gears on the small ring for those bigger climbs and a couple of higher gears on the big ring for those very rare down hill pedalling needs. If I really need to be cool (or perhaps odd) I can use the RH 10 speed Ultegra shifter from the double days with a 10 speed cassette all with the same rear derailleur as the 9 speed SORA incarnation.

[grams]

I am hoping, soon, to swap to a GRX chainset. The main downside I can see is that you can't use a double with the long cage rear mech, thus you are restricted to the 11-34 cassette at the rear, whereas if you go 1X you can use the 11-42.

I'm running 46-30 x 11-42 with a long cage mech. It works fine. That bike has Di2 which prevents shifting to small-small, although it wouldn't do any harm if you did and the chain went a bit slack.

My "touring" bike" uses an MTB triple 44-32-22 and 11-32 cassette. I am definitely not a cool kid.

[Bolt]

Given that you're using friction shifters I'd thing again before dismissing the triple option.  The Spa Cycles XD-2 48/38/28 is a capable and lightweight chainset at a bargain price:  https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s109p2000/SPA-CYCLES-XD-2-Touring-Triple-Chainset

[Karla]

46/30 chainsets are an established thing now.  The Shimano GRX double chainsets should fit your bill nicely.

Someone is selling one of these in the forum classifieds right now.

[tiermat]

I am hoping, soon, to swap to a GRX chainset. The main downside I can see is that you can't use a double with the long cage rear mech, thus you are restricted to the 11-34 cassette at the rear, whereas if you go 1X you can use the 11-42.

I'm running 46-30 x 11-42 with a long cage mech. It works fine. That bike has Di2 which prevents shifting to small-small, although it wouldn't do any harm if you did and the chain went a bit slack.

My "touring" bike" uses an MTB triple 44-32-22 and 11-32 cassette. I am definitely not a cool kid.

Thank you, I like real world experience, much better than relying on Shimano...

Going back (ish) on topic, and to repay your experience with some of mine, I ran until about 5 years ago a On-one Inbred 29er set up as a tourer.  The chainset was a MTB one (Raceface Evolce IIRC) with 22-32-44 (I think) and a 11-28 cassette.  All the mechs and shifters were 6603.  The front mech took some fettling to get it to work but once I had it dialled in it worked for many many miles across the UK and Catalonia.  Then I got lazy and bought a soot gravel bike

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

The thing is, if it's a light tourer why have a triple? I used to think they were the bees knees but no longer.. They were a thing with 5 and 6 speed cassettes, but now?

On my heavy tourer I have a triple which I need if lugging 20kg up the Galibier) r. On the Touristique, it cycling around N. Yorks, a 16 speed double is very nice. Early this year I was doing club rides with riders with tons more cogs but had little trouble.

I'd like to reduce my Roberts to a double when opportunity arrives. Triple shifting is a needless complication. .

We are of course, all different!

[Brucey]

re GRX chainsets, shimano make both 2x10 and 2x11 models with (in some cases) the same chainring sizes.  The 2x10 model is "quite a lot less expensive" than the 2x11 model, yet cannot differ (in the big chainrings which have different pns) by more than a fraction of a mm because of the difference in chain widths.  I have hypothesised that the 2x10 model will work fine with 11s chain but (as yet) have no practical experience of this.

cheers

[joy of essex]

As  I said,  a light tourer  is what's being built. I don't really need a triple as it's not going to be used for
 duty  touring; I have a bike for that.
Yes , I ve seen the GRX chainsets and have Spa chainsets in mind.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

A handy article on everything you already know about bike gears.

https://road.cc/content/feature/beginners-guide-understanding-bicycle-gears-171317

[Tomsk]

I don't normally need the triple's granny gear (47/36/24 x 11-30, 8 speed) on my Holdsworth, but it's there for extreme angles of ascent (eg: up to King's YH in the BCM) and fatigue at silly o'clock, somewhere slightly lumpy. The weight penalty of a 24t ring and a bit extra on the crank must be minimal. And the front shifts are much less extreme than a wide range double, plus it all works perfectly with down tube levers - I don't think indexed STI triple levers were ever very slick or reliable. My experience of indexed doubles isn't all that great - my 53/39 on the road bike needs a bit of willpower and force to get a good up-shift, likewise son's 50/34.

Matches the un-cool saddlebag, mudguards, sandals etc. There's nothing so uncool as caring if you're cool, to misquote Andy Warhol.

[sojournermike]

I’ve got 50/34 and 13-40 (or 42) in 10 speed on one bike. Although happy, the big ring works for most everything and the little only occasionally. I have considered alternatives such as 46/33 or moving it to 11 speed with some other bits, but haven’t got there yet. I’ve also got 50/34 and 13-32 on another that seems very nice - occasionally spin out downhill, but close ratios and low enough with a rack pack.

[giropaul]

Indurain had a triple on for a stage in, I think, the Vuelta. There’s no way he isn’t cool!!

The bike I’m currently riding when I go outside is a race frame , but running a triple. The reason for this that, as I get older, I know I’m dropping cadence, especially on climbs. Using the little chainring I can work on keeping the cadence high.  I’ve still got my usual range of gears available for most of the ride.

[joy of essex]

And so,

I ve decided to go for 34/46.. with an 11/32 or 34 on the rear. Controlled by Dura Ace friction DT, Sora 9 speed mechs

This should cover most eventualities.Think of it as an homage to the Rough Stuff fellowship; though such a bike really ought to have a single chain ring on the front and a 5 speed on the back.

I was tempted by a Tiagra / GRX combination- which would be 46/30 in the front and a 11/34 or larger at the back.

However, the GRX chain set is not a thing of beauty, but we may  return to this  setup if this bike comes N.

Thanks for the advice and observations...

[mrcharly-YHT]

If I move to somewhere hillier, I'll need to change my gears.

Tiagra 4500 double shifters

Currently with tiagra derailleur and crankset with 48 / 34 on the front. 32 is biggest sprocket.

would prefer lower gears for grinding up hills.

[Brucey]

If I move to somewhere hillier, I'll need to change my gears.

Tiagra 4500 double shifters

Currently with tiagra derailleur and crankset with 48 / 34 on the front. 32 is biggest sprocket.

would prefer lower gears for grinding up hills.

different chainset, eg GRX one would be easiest..?

cheers

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

WRT shifters, I was interested to read this on SHeldon Brown:

Campagnolo/Shimano 8-speed cassettes have different spacing , so you can't generally get good indexing using a Campagnolo 8-speed wheel with a Shimano shift system or vice versa.

With 7-, 9- and 10-speed systems, the sprocket spacing between brands is close enough that it rarely causes any difficulty in practice.

For perfect matching, you might substitute different spacers, use alternate cable routing, or use a Jtek ShiftMate pulley adaptor.

See my "Spacing Cribsheet " for more details on this.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/speeds.html

and wondered what experience others had with such compatibility issues.

[Brucey]

you could write a book on the subject.  One of the main problems in talking about this is defining what might be considered 'acceptable'.

I reckon at last half of those running 'mixtures' or 'adaptations' are running compromised systems that either don't work quite properly all the time or don't stay working for as long as they should. However whether that is really 'good enough' is very much in the eye of the beholder;  I've used systems which are not perfect and have been intensely irritated by them; others have run such systems and reckon it is 'OK'.

But then maybe I shouldn't be too surprised by this; about half those running a matched index system manage to make them not work properly either....

cheers

[ElyDave]

If I move to somewhere hillier, I'll need to change my gears.

Tiagra 4500 double shifters

Currently with tiagra derailleur and crankset with 48 / 34 on the front. 32 is biggest sprocket.

would prefer lower gears for grinding up hills.

How about grinding into the wind?

I was looking at mine the other day thinking what might get replaced with what when things are worn.

Recumbent - set up for touring, and Audax - Ultegra 52/39/30 and 12-32 10-sp on the back, had me up 14% at minimum wobble speed, laden
Roadbike - on the turbo and general/audax use is 48/36/26 with 12-28 10-sp
Spare 50-34 in the shed

I like the triple for big hills on the recumbent, and it's pretty much required anywhere other than here. The thing stopping me putting the 50-34 on the roadbike is the 15-year-old Sora triple shifter that's still going strong, though increasingly narky back might force it.

[sojournermike]

WRT shifters, I was interested to read this on SHeldon Brown:

Campagnolo/Shimano 8-speed cassettes have different spacing , so you can't generally get good indexing using a Campagnolo 8-speed wheel with a Shimano shift system or vice versa.

With 7-, 9- and 10-speed systems, the sprocket spacing between brands is close enough that it rarely causes any difficulty in practice.

For perfect matching, you might substitute different spacers, use alternate cable routing, or use a Jtek ShiftMate pulley adaptor.

See my "Spacing Cribsheet " for more details on this.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/speeds.html

and wondered what experience others had with such compatibility issues.

I built up a bike for my daughter a few years ago with 10 speed shimano shifter and mech (Ultegra, but it shouldn’t matter) and 10 speed campagnolo cassette (I had a campag hub spare) and it’s been perfect. Clean, reliable shifts and no rattling. Never needed to adjust it, even when I put it on the turbo for her with a shimano 10 speed cassette.

[Brucey]

I built up a bike for my daughter a few years ago with 10 speed shimano shifter and mech (Ultegra, but it shouldn’t matter) and 10 speed campagnolo cassette (I had a campag hub spare) and it’s been perfect. Clean, reliable shifts and no rattling.

there is a 0.2mm difference in sprocket pitch between campag 10s and shimano 10s.  Many (about half ?) the people that try this arrangement find it doesn't work well enough for them.

cheers

[sojournermike]

I built up a bike for my daughter a few years ago with 10 speed shimano shifter and mech (Ultegra, but it shouldn’t matter) and 10 speed campagnolo cassette (I had a campag hub spare) and it’s been perfect. Clean, reliable shifts and no rattling.

there is a 0.2mm difference in sprocket pitch between campag 10s and shimano 10s.  Many (about half ?) the people that try this arrangement find it doesn't work well enough for them.

cheers

Yes, I was surprised how well it works to be fair. Obviously, someone else might not be so fortunate.

[joy of essex]

Which is why the bike has  DT shifters on friction... These are now quite cool, if you believe Henry Wildberry and the next big thing according to Jan Heine.

My view on indexed  groupsets is that they are made as a system that relies on each part to work for the system to work as a whole.  Mix and match might be fun, but the results are often sub-optimal.

[mrcharly-YHT]

If I move to somewhere hillier, I'll need to change my gears.

Tiagra 4500 double shifters

Currently with tiagra derailleur and crankset with 48 / 34 on the front. 32 is biggest sprocket.

would prefer lower gears for grinding up hills.

How about grinding into the wind?

I was looking at mine the other day thinking what might get replaced with what when things are worn.

Recumbent - set up for touring, and Audax - Ultegra 52/39/30 and 12-32 10-sp on the back, had me up 14% at minimum wobble speed, laden
Roadbike - on the turbo and general/audax use is 48/36/26 with 12-28 10-sp
Spare 50-34 in the shed

I like the triple for big hills on the recumbent, and it's pretty much required anywhere other than here. The thing stopping me putting the 50-34 on the roadbike is the 15-year-old Sora triple shifter that's still going strong, though increasingly narky back might force it.

Windy riding is a big reason why I have a 48 on my bike now.

Grinding up long inclines is where I'd want the lower gears at the bottom end.

I think that 34 is the smallest I can get on the crankset.

Hmm, if I fit a different rear derailleur, can I get a bigger sprocket on the back?

[sojournermike]

I think, but you should check, that 4500 will work with a 9 speed mob derailleur. I have an Alex doing duty on an 11-40 cassette.