I run a hub gear on the back as well. I have a compact double on the front, but I only use one ring at a time (don't we all). I was shifting the front so infrequently that removed the front derailer. I almost removed the big chainring with the intention of putting a chain guard on there, but I have since found that my legs have gotten a little stronger, and the big ring actually works well for commuting. When I'm carrying some weight, I'll manually put the chain on the small ring. I still want a chain guard/chain case, but I haven't done it yet. But I do know that I've expanded my options a lot by taking that derailer off. I will probably have to drop my bid chainring from 50 to 48 teeth to fit any of the options I'm looking at, but that's not big enough of a jump for me to worry about, and would probably actually be more functional for me.