A single ring with a 9 speed cog?

For the life of me I cannot find something like that .....well .... I found a few but not many.

I am planning to keep things simple for my wife. Not only for leisurely rides but also for commuting.

I posted also on road cycling forums, but it seems that is not interesting to them.

I am planning the lightest bike on the under 1k budget.

Where is the kicker? Saving me a bunch of troubles on using an indexed downtube shifter instead of STI levers.

a 40t ring and a 13-34 9 speed cassette will give her more than enough ratio ranges than she will ever need.

Has anyone tackled something similar?