I've been waiting for the 2005 Bianchi Eros in my size. While waiting, I decided to look at eBay. There are Campione bikes in my size (from previous years), with double chain rings (Mirage). I'm completely new to this. This will be my first road bike.

Can I swap out the doube for a tripe chain ring? Also, is it worth the trouble? How much money will I have to save over the Eros to make it worthwhile?

I've been waiting for the 2005 Bianchi Eros in my size. While waiting, I decided to look at eBay. There are Campione bikes in my size (from previous years), with double chain rings (Mirage). I'm completely new to this. This will be my first road bike.

Can I swap out the doube for a tripe chain ring? Also, is it worth the trouble? How much money will I have to save over the Eros to make it worthwhile?

You can do that swap, but you would need at the least a new crankset and bottom bracket (you would need a longer spindle) and possibly a long cage derailleur to hand the extra chain wrap. I would tell you to try running a 12-27 cassette or 13-27 cassette on there first and then decide if you really need the extra gearing of the triple. Another option could be getting a compact crankset that fits your current bottom bracket so you only need to replace the crankset and not the rest of the package. Sometimes you may need to change the front derailleur too so that it doesn't rub, but often you can get away with not going this route.

Hopefully someone with better experience with low gears will give you a more definitive answer.. I live in Florida where it's arguable that I even need 2 chainrings.

Russ

Thanks for your advice. I've already started looking at the components I'd need and decided that it's not worth the effort. I'm probably better off getting the bike that I want when it comes in.

In Florida you probably don't need even a double chain ring, but I live in San Francisco. I've been in Florida and know how flat it is. If you've ever been to SF you know that 3 rings is barely enough. And I love doing hills. Here all the bike stores automatically stock triples.

Sometimes you may need to change the front derailleur too so that it doesn't rub, but often you can get away with not going this route.
Russ

I'm switching to 50/34 chainrings? I can see that it may not be necessary on 50/36.