Originally Posted by
cubewheels
We're talking about gravel bikes so a 50T ring didn't cross my mind at all. I was thinking more of a 36T or less.
Maybe you were thinking specifically about gravel, but the discussion was 1x on the road. But yeah, top end isn't the biggest compromise of 1x - it's there if you want it.
Also, 36t on a 1x gravel bike? Very uncommon. 42t is far and away the most common and Shimano doesn't even offer anything smaller than 40t, IIRC.