There are a few SS riders in my area, but not many. Most riders I see are over 35. More than half are over 55, and are not named Peter Sagan, so I see more triples in use than SS bikes. Some of the riders that are stuck with compact doubles are wishing they could get a triple. I would not be riding without a triple front chainring setup. I need gears for flat riding that are close in ratio, so I can keep up with other riders. I also need gears to climb hills and mountains, and then I need gears to go fast down hills and mountains. That means I need a LOT of gears if I am going to be riding on varied terrain and in varied conditions (wind, no wind, etc.). I could ride a singlespeed around the block a few times, slowly, but it wouldn't be much fun and wouldn't take me anywhere I might want to go.
jdc2000's post in Freakin' Canada Goose needs to vamoose balcony was marked as the answer