Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
So after your pithy analysis, what wisdom with regard to the original question do you have to offer?
My advice would have been to change to a cyclocross crank, 48T large ring and 36 or 34T small, but I was beaten to it by a similar suggestion, saw you reject it, so went no further.
Down side is that 1 tooth cassette jumps represent slightly larger ratio changes, but a 12-25 now covers the gamut that your 13-26 proposal would. And a 12-25 is lighter. And readily available.