wkndwarrier, One of the bicycling problems living along the Gulf Coast is that there are a few gentle hills, but otherwise it's flat. Not far away, Sealy comes to mind, we can find some short nasty hills that flatland gearing isn't appropriate for. Austin and Kerrville are certainly not too flatland gearing friendly. Compromising the two riding conditions works best for me by using a triple on my distance bike. I'd suggest a 13-26/similar rear with your standard crankset as the 11T and 12T are often unused and more suited to a compact crankset, IMHO, and you can fill the middle with closer ratio gearing.

Switching to a compact double will require a new BB, crankset and a chain length adjustment in the least and go north of $200. A rear cassette swap is just that and cost roughly $50-75. 110 BCD compact chainrings can also be substituted.

Brad