but that change from 19 or thereabouts to 16 or thereabouts is basically the equivalent of one downshift lower, which is still pretty nice
but yes, not carrying that much weight (his estimate remember, he hasnt packed yet) is probably the biggest factor also, but even with less weight, having that one gear lower equivalent will be appreciated and will be used.
Oh, I agree..the 16 will be used if it's there and if it's cheap to do..so why not...
The OP mentioned he's not well-versed in gearing. From the tooth# differences in either the 26t->22t chainring swap or the 48-38-26 to 42-32-22 crankset swap, one
might think some major moves are taking place, however, in reality, there's nothing major happening and it's only offering a relatively minor adjustment. I recently went through all this with one of my bikes. A crank swap would have made the biggest difference, however, for the money, it wasn't worth it(to me) as the change was very modest. I did swap out the cassette (27t top to 30t top) and I did pick up 3gi...rode 75 miles earlier this week on the bike. I did use the 30t and noticed it, but it was a very minor change.
I think it's useful to stress to the OP, the proposed 60-70 pounds of gear, by far, remains the elephant in the room(if he swaps out the entire drive train..the excessive weight will still be the elephant to worry about..no pun intended..).