Cue Darth Vader: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

To get a granny gear you wouldn't need a whole new bike: you can change out the chainrings in the front. I found actually that compact cranks are perfect for me: lets me have a bit of an easier gear in the front, and I have close to the same options by using the right cassette for me in the back. I no longer feel like I run out of gears climbing, and it makes me more willing to use the gears I've got (I had this feeling I should save gears in case the climb got worse).

Another option would be to get a larger cassette in the back, but if you are really wanting a granny (ie something nice and easy) it might not get it easy enough for you.

What is the cassette on your Saber? If it's a 12/23, you could get a 12/27 which would give you two more gears. You can buy the cassette at Performance Bike for about $60. You'll need a new chain, another $20. I'd buy a couple of quick links so you can swap back and forth between the cassettes.

The other option that does not include any gear changes is to build you leg strength on the bike by doing hill (Yuk) repeats. 12 weeks ago I was using the lowest gear to climb some hills I ride, but now after multiple hill repeats I dont even get into the two lowest gears on the same hills. I have also found my overall speed is better as well on the flats.

Do the 12-27 rear cassette + compact crank with 50/34 or 50/36 front chainrings on your current tri bike (Some front derailleurs won't play nice with a 50/34, some will. Your bike shop should know the difference.)

Total price should be around $300-500 and up depending on what brand of components you buy and how much work you do yourself. If your chain is getting on in years, it will be a good time to replace that as well. You might, and this is not definite, need a long cage rear derailleur too. But I would try this setup with your current derailleur first and if you absolutely cannot get the rear shifting dialed in then make the switch.

Triples are too finicky for me. While it looks like you have 27 gears, you can actually only use a couple gears per front ring before the chain starts to rub the front derailleur. As a result, you find yourself shifting the front rings fairly often to keep at 90 cadence, which is no fun at all. The compact front with a big cassette gets you nearly the same granny gears with much less fuss overall.

I think you have three considerations here.........physical effort, time, money.......leaving you with three options

1. More physical effort, more time, less money: train harder
2. Less physical effort, less time, more money: change your gearing to something more appropriate to "spinning" uphill
3. Less physical effort, much more time, less money: Make a list of hilly races that you currently have hill problems with...make a pact with the devil...have said evil lord of the underworld posess the government members holding jurisdiction over the areas the hills are in...have said evil lord of the underworld have said government members declare said hills discriminatory against height challenged humans who are incapable of seeing over them and therefore in violation of the ADA (americans with disabilities) act...have said evil lord have said government members declare said hills are to be leveled via bulldozer to a height at which all humans, regardless of height, can safely see over them to adequately assess any potential hazards over the crest of said hill...

It's an easy choice really