Well you're right, I would spend more time on the 50t chainring but for a few issues. From the outer chainring the chain occasionally derails outwards onto the crank arm, and that's never an issue on the middle chainring; it only ever goes onto the lower chainring. Then there's the the chain length and angle issue of the big/big combo (50/32) which I was trying to avoid. Does using all 9 speeds on the cassette make me a big girls blouse or something? Now and again I cycle into headwinds or up steep hills so the 50t chainring can be a bit much. The final issue is simply that changing up on the rear derailleur is really, really stiff. I have to crank the shifter dozens of times until it engages, and then sometimes it just half heartedly rubs the chain a bit... but I guess some tuning would fix that? I was thinking a single 42t chainring would be just about perfect for everything... no?