On the main bike, in particular my gearing evolved through 3x7 -> 3x9 -> 4x9 -> 4x8, the latter to take advantage of more robust chains. On a folder I evolved over 2x3 -> 2x2x3 -> 3x2x3.
4x8? Pictures please and gearing specs
Anyway riding single track with 1x11 is awesome, I can dump 4 gears with one push of the thumb then two pulls of the lever gets me 4 gears up and I'm sprinting away. No muss no fuss
Plus the 11-40 cassette has superior spacing to my old 11-34 9 speed.