Originally Posted by gorn
Try the cyclocross forum. I hear it's common in cyclocross to just have a single front ring. Also I think Bianchi has a commuter that comes that way standard. Forgot the name of it though.
In Cyclocross you will often see bikes set up with a 40 or 42 t ring in the front with chain guards on either side and a 9 speed cassette in the rear. Here is a ready made ring kit but in the past I have just ground the teeth off of an old ring which it slightly bigger.
http://www.store.yahoo.com/cyclocros...mtasinkit.html