Hey jargo,
as you said, let's keep this positive.
First of all, good choice of bike. I have a troll and bought a xs stock one for my wife and she really likes it.
Re gearing, my bike is used for full on loaded touring, 4 panniers plus, and was bought for doing long Latin American trips, and it has a 44/32/22 on it, 9 sp 11-34. Gear inch range 16.7-104 I think
My wife's 2017 stock uses the standard 48/36/26 but with a 10 speed 11-36. Don't have gear chart near, but I think with 1.5 in tires, it's about 18-110
For general riding, the 48/36/26 is a good compromise, but for heavier load and slower riding, a MTB triple works wonderfully, as I find the chain rings are well suited to loaded riding speeds.
I put trekking bars on her bike, changed shifters to 10sp deore trigger shifters, and along with the uncut steerer, makes a good comfortable riding position that my wife enjoys. Bar height quite a bit above seat height.
re rims. I have lighter 32 hole rims that aren't made anymore, stock rims are Alex adventurer 2 which have rim brake surface and 36 spokes. I was concerned about my rims, but they have held up very well with 4.5 months of heavy touring, but I'm a light guy, 135-140, so take that into account vs your wife. My experience shows that a lighter wheel set can still be very reliable, even loaded up.
Re triples, I still find them to be the most useful, for gear range, chain line, and despite what gets wrongly stated, shifting just isn't an issue as any good shifter just plain works. I guess for off road stuff, it makes things easier, but a single ring setup still has limitations that even a mountain double gets past.
Do you think it will get used more off road or paved dirt roads?
What are your thoughts on what setup will work best for the riding you will be doing together? Despite what others have said, if the case is that your wife doesn't know bike stuff, or has no interest in tech stuff, it's potentially good that you come up with a set up that will work best for making the riding you will do together the most enjoyable.
I bring this up because my wife has no interest in bike stuff, but I knew the changes I did would increase her riding comfort, especially as changing out the jones bars to trekking was an easy switch, and trigger shifters were more enjoyable than the thumbies.
Ask away with other questions.
The main thing is that the troll is still a neat versatile bike, 26 wheels make a xs frame work well for no toe strike and the bike is an extremely robust solid bike.
I've ridden mine through Central America and half of Mexico and wouldn't hesitate taking it anywhere in the world.
Cheers