Originally Posted by bud16415

I agree a 1X10 isn’t going to be a first choice for almost anyone and as the OP points out people have toured on a single speed. Given the choice there and a 1X10 the 1X10 looks a lot better. I also had a 52/42/24 until a couple weeks ago when I switched it to a 45/42/24, and in terms of the wider range I lost “times bigger my large gear is than the smallest” I didn’t really loose anything of value. A 52-11 gear was nothing I needed even though it made my range bigger I only kept it for the overlap gears.

I posted a link above of the 1X10 with a 32t ring as a starting point and that could work for a strong rider lightly loaded. If I was forced for me to ride a 1X10 under load I would personally pick a 26t ring and 11-36 cassette that would be a GI range from 19GI to 63GI. 63GI is like a middle gear for me so I would be coasting a lot because at a cadence of 90 RPM I would spin out at 17MPH. But it wouldn’t be all that bad riding along at say 10MPH with 5 or 6 gears to select from.