Camilo

What I was getting at saying "real cross bike" are the bikes sold off the shelf as factory built-up cyclocross that I saw back in the rim-brake, 10 speed cyclocross bike era when I bought my Jamis frameset used. My wife's used Cannondale 10 speed cyclocross bike came with the same gearing. They very typically had something like 46/36 cranksets and 11-26 +/- cassettes. I liked neither the 46-11 high gear nor the 36-26 low gear. To me, that was just impractical gearing - but probably well designed for what a cyclocross racer would see on a typical course - no need for either normally high or super low gearing on a cyclocross course that a road rider or a mixed surface/gravel rider would prefer. I have no idea what cyclocross bikes are marketed with these days. I think they now have disc brakes and probably 1X 11 or 12 speed gearing? I don't know what an off the shelf cyclocross bike now has for high and low gearing or if there's any consistency at all. But there are some differences between what a gravel/mixed surface rider would want vs. someone who rides on a cyclocross course.

And yes I do "stress" over gearing because I know which high and low gears I need for my age, fitness and terrain - in other words what's proper for me. I don't call it "stress", I call it simply knowing what the rider wants and needs for their age, fitness, terrain, etc, and actually going out and getting it rather than putting up with impractical gearing. Why imply that it isn't a good thing to do?