This is exactly what I thought but don't say for fear of being criticized. I mean for goodness sakes I competed in Tri for 7 years + riding 5 years prior to that and still riding today. And although not competing in tri anymore and I competed in Sprint/Oly/Half and Full IM - I NEVER, EVER cared about ratios, but it seems as I creep back in to just pure road cycling to "enjoy" it (+/- the constant pull that drags all of us into the drooling desirous need for more tech and more goodies) everyone is hell bent on this discussion of what's "best". And that just simply cannot be because 1. everybody is different 2. there will always be riders who SPEND MUCH more than they RIDE and yet regardless of their ultra-sophisticated ratios - some newbie is gonna blow right by them on a 75% less expensive rig...

Anywho, very cool feedback, thanks so much.