I was kind of quoting what I have read here at least a 1000 times that 100 GI is tops for touring. When I made the change from 52,42,24 to 45,42,24 I had a little concern about losing my 106 and 115 GI top gears as I did use them from time to time almost exactly as mentioned. I would shift up into them on a long gradual downhill or sometimes even with a tail wind. Riding my bike a lot around home we get a west to east wind off Lake Erie that will often equal a nice downhill that in places can push you along for ten miles at a time. I liked those tall gears not to try and spin up to 35MPH but often to keep the legs moving and warm I would crank them at about 50RPM not at all mashing though and just cruse at 18MPH.

So when I gave up my 52 I had a tradeoff getting the simple half steps but having to spin a little more in these semi coasting runs. Now I have to do about 60RPM to maintain my 18MPH with a little less torque. The tradeoff for me was a no brainer as all the positives outweighed the negatives.

Like I have said before I could live with my 42,24 just fine and had a double. But given you have a triple shifter setup and a crank that has the 3rd ring mounting why not take advantage of it and get the extra 6 gears.