Originally Posted by
rydabent
Since for most of the 20th Cen people got by with 10 speeds, I see no reason why if you want the simplicity a 1x is not reasonable with a 9 speed cluster on up.
Not wishing to sound overly pedantic, but as the front derailleur didn't become popular until the 1950s, and the 1980s saw the intro of the 6 speed cassette and the triple, 10 speed bikes didn't exactly dominate the 20th Century time wise.