was wandering around the eastern suburbs of bangkok this morning, stopped in a small non-chain bike shop, mostly chinese mid-range mtb's and some crabon racers.
what caught my eye was a $500 mtb.....the gear cluster was bigger than the brake disk.
turns out it was a 33-spd....22 small ring in front, with an 11-spd 11-46 cluster, using a deore rear derailler.
i didn't know, but now i do. perfect gears for laotian mountains! 22:46 with 26" wheels ---->
12.4 GI 
(or 13.7 with 700c)
daddy's goin' shoppin'!