Originally Posted by
cyccommute
A 44/11 really isn't that tall. It's only 108 gear inch. Even my tiny wife spins out a 44/11 pretty quickly. A 46/11 or 48/11 gives a much better range.
Well, at 90rpm, 32mm tires, and a 175mm crankarm a 44/11 gets you 28.9 mph, a 46/11 gets you 30.2 mph, and a 48/11 gets you 31.5 mph. All speeds reached only while descending. Any benefit of the taller combination would be fleeting at best.
In fact, I think the new 2x10 MTB setups (42/28 or 39/26) with a 12-36 10 speed cassette could be of interest to many tourers. It would be nice to get rid of that pesky triple front der.