> you'll be wanting higher than 14-44 on even modest descents of any length.

Years ago, I used an 88" high gear for many thousands of miles of touring (on a 10-speed where I sacrificed the high gears in exchange for mid-range and low gears, with a granny of 27" -- lowest you could get w-a-y back then. I like mountain country touring). Any down hill run that I could not keep up with in that gear, I just coasted down. Nothing wrong with coasting -- relax and enjoy the descent.

100 rpm with an 88" gear is 26 mph. If the hill is steep enough, I can easily coast faster than that. The high gear on a stock Trek 520 is 128". At 100 rpm, one goes 38 mph. Coasting is STILL faster.

Mike