Originally Posted by xroadcharlie

Bingo!

I love the simplicity of a single chain ring too. But when I looked for a new entry level bike in 2018, The one I liked used a Shimano 14 - 34 Megarange cassette. While I give them credit for keeping 6 of the 7 speeds well spaced and providing and adequate range (35 - 85 gear inches), That jump from 24 to 34T is WAY too much to be very practical with any single chainring. And if you spread them out, There're all to widely spaced.

The bike I choose has the same cassette, But thanks to a 28 - 38 - 48 triple chainring, I now have 12 closely spaced gears that cover every scenario I encounter. With a little patience and sometimes a small adjustment, I find the shifting to be reasonably smooth and reliable. Even with the low end Suntour crankset and Shimano Altus front derailleur.

Besides 90% of the time I can leave it on the 38T chainring if I choose. But sometimes it's advantageous to make a single shift of a chainring for a 2 - 3 step gear change.