I just did my first longer ride on a triple and really enjoyed it. It was
fifty miles of mixed terrain. I use downtube shifters and like to not fuss
with both levers when you are not sure what's around the bend on trails so
I left my front crank in the middle gear like a 1x during those sections
I find a 46-36-26 triple with a 9 speed 12-36 cassette on 650Bx38 wheels
gives me a 100 to 19 gi range and nice steps in my cruising range (50 to 75
gi) with a relatively straight chain line. The middle and inner ring
chain lines are relatively straight if shifting to the middle after cog 5
a