Does anyone else consider the gearing of the MTB an advantage over their road bike for commuting?

I have a fairly flat commute with lots of stops. I never have to leave the big ring - generally start out from lights in 3rd or 4th, which is plenty low for good acceleration.

On the high end, i'm generally cruising in 6th or 7th (out of 9 total). I occasionally spin out 9th at around 30mph down the one hill. so out of 27 gears, only 5 or 6 get a lot of use. but those 5 or 6 are perfectly geared & spaced for what i have to do. i only keep the other rings on the crank for the occasional family outing / towing duty

on the road bike i find myself going up & down b/w the big & small ring. A lot! Small is too small, big is too big, and the difference between cogs in back is (relatively) tiny.

i think the optimal bike for the elusive *average* commuter, with a decent route on decent roads, might be a disc-brake cross bike, maybe a single ring up front, and a mtb cogset in back.

Another point to consider is that my back o' the envelope calculation indicates that 26" wheel with slicks has around 20% less inertia than 700c. Anyone else feel that their road bike accelerates slower? It might be true... this would indicate smaller wheels are "better" for stop&go commutes. of course, there's a lot of variables in the calculation, and I'm probably just fooling myself with lower gearing on the mtb.