I'm pretty sure I am running a 50-34 with a 12-32 9 speed on the back and it works quite well for me.I probably would have used a triple if I had one and corresponding shifter in the parts bin, but I didn't, and I have no problem with my current gearing. I could have used a 53 big ring, but I can't imagine wanting/needing that for my commuter. I spend 90% of my time in the big ring, and only drop to the small for steep hills. I'd rather start from a stop in the big ring and somewhere in the back-middle of my cassette - somewhere around 20 for startign on flats, or 22/24 for starting back on a bit of an uphill. Also, I'm fairly certain shifting the rear all the way does give me a 3 cog shift, so even starting in the 34, shifting down 3 cogs and going into the 50 to get a similar gear isn't any kind of a big deal. But really, my small ring is just for getting up hills and I like those smaller increments for variations in hill grade