The wider gaps are hard on us older folks. I have to burn too many matches to get up to speed as it is. As long as I can get into that higher gear I'm ok, I just cant let my cadence down , now if I have to slow, and down shift, I may have to wait and recover before up shifting with a larger spread. Its just too hard to get back on top of a gear after a couple tooth jump. But like you said its all a compromise. With a nice tight close ratio cogset Its not so difficult for me. I slow, down, shift, then when its time to speed up, I can usually over cadence the current gear, shift, give it a little bit more, and I am back on top of it. I have found it too be easier to spin the higher gears up that way than pound them into submision.