Reduce either the highest gear or lowest and the gear choices get even better. I just picked rings and cassette to include just about everything anybody would want. Still has cassette jumps the 1X folk would die for.

I actually prefer 53-12 as a gear high enough for Portland's faster descents, more to steady the bike than to go faster. Also has a place in closing gaps with tandems. Since I run only 9 of those cogs, I often skip the 13. 53 or 50-14 gives me all I need on the flat and I still have a reasonable downhill and tandem catching gear. (That 12 bailed out my best tandem following descent ever, down the east side of Oregon's Blue Mountains. I was in second place, behind a single behind a tandem. Single bailed about 2/3rds of the way down. I had to pass him and do a full race days chase in the 12 to get back on. Never would have happened in a smaller gear. Big thumb's up from the young woman stoker when I got back on!)

And on the 9-speed - I went Campy 2008 when I picked up my TiCycles custom. Love it! Picked up two more cassettes and now have all the cogs from 12 to 28 except the22, 24, 26 and 27 that Campy didn't make (to my knowledge). Top cogs of 12, 13 and 14. I can make cassettes to do anything I need. And 16 years later, all the cogs work so well (yeah, with a pile of retired, not very expensive SRAM chains) that I feel no urge to upgrade and start all over again.