Fiets, when I mentioned my 16t jump from 24 to 40, the bike shifted fine with proper technique, the thing I wanted to bring up was more that the large jump between the two is a bit of a pain, having to up or downshift 2 or sometimes 3 gears to make up for the large jump.
No diff from using a compact 50/34 I guess, and it certainly works fine enough, I just personally find the hassle something I would avoid if setting up a bike, and anyway for my skinny legs I just find smaller mid rings in the 32, 34 (of which you dont see much) or 36 to be much better suited for loaded touring riding.

heck, even my 26in wheeled bike with a 44/32/22 works fine with the 32 mid, for the weight I carry on the bike I still find the 32 to be a very versatile ring and I generally only shift up into the 44 ring when I get up to close to 25kph.

but then Im more of a spinner than a tractor leg guy and am comfortable at slightly higher cadences than others.

jef, I guess you'll have to do a bunch of searches and adding up the costs of parts and tools.

PS I have a bike I use as a commuter, a 20+year old hybrid by GT, GT Cirque, that has a cheap stamped crankset with non replaceable rings, but its a great ring combo--- 42/34/24 which with this 700 wheeled bike gives a great range with the stock 11-28 seven speed cassette of 23 to 104 gear inches.
The mid 34 ring is 33-84 gear inches, which is a pretty good mid ring range and although I dont have a bike computer on the bike, Im sure I can easily get to 35kph in the mid ring.