I live in a very mountainous area and am frequently going up/down 10% grades, so I do a lot of shifting. The bike I am using isn't fancy by modern standards, but the rear cog is an 11-28 (no, that isn't a typo) and the front is a 52/42/30 triple. It is extremely rare for me to drop into the 30 on the front because of the big 28 in the back.

One of my challenges in getting a newer, more modern bike, is that most of the cassette options are a lot tighter than what I have been riding.