The biggest strike against the Fairdale is the horrible 1x10 gearing. 42x11 is a decent high gear; I can spin a 42x12 to ~38mph so unless you typically need to go 35+, you can make it work. However, the 11-40 cassette is atrocious for road use. Those steps are going to become really annoying any time you want to push hard and especially irritating if you try to ride in a group. I briefly used a 11-32 9 speed cassette on my old commuter (Gunnar Crosshairs) and those big steps removed any benefit of the wide range. I just didn't enjoy the bike as a result. SRAM can yap on all they want about 1X drivetrains being the next big thing but their usefulness is severely limited in my opinion.