All my touring has been with 52/46 front and a 14-28T rear cogs. Going over the sierras I would change out the 28 for a 30T cog. My wife has a triple front chainring but she only uses two of them. What I like about a 2x drivetrain is that when I start up a hill I can change to the smaller front chainring and not miss a beat. I have a lot more control than with a 1x where I need to look at the shifter to see what new lower gear the bike is in while hitting a grade.