Roscoe, The amount of your load will make the biggest contribution for how you want/need to gear the drivetrain. While it was suggested to you that you should have lower gearing, what has been your experience thus far? How much weight?

I am a huge fan of the 22-32-44 crank set, but there is no need to purchase one if you only need a little help at the bottom. A 24T inner chain ring maybe all that's necessary, and inexpensive to test. I would recommend a chain drop device if you use an inner chain ring less than 24, which might be nice to have anyway.

Brad