I'm leaning toward replacing my 11-28 cassette with a 12-27 cassette. I hardly ever use the smallest gear, and when I do (downhill), even then I usually use it for about 30 seconds and then realize the next cog would be more comfortable anyway.

In fact, It seems utterly ridiculous to me that nearly every road bike comes with an small 11 tooth cog. Even with a 50 tooth chain-ring, a 90 rpm cadence would have you going well over 30 miles per hour, and most mere mortals can't sustain anywhere near that kind of power for any length of time. It seems like that should be a special option for racers, rather than the standard.

I'm pretty sure I would be fine with a 12, or even 13, as the smallest cog. Any faster than that and I generally stop pedaling and just coast down the hill.

Rant ended.