Originally Posted by
Steve B.
Shimano mt. bike 12 speed has trickled down to the 3rd tier SLX groups, equal to 105 road and it's a very reasonably priced and functional group, so not a bad upgrade if you pair it with a better designed Sunrace cassette. A 12 spd. 1x SLX upgrade kit is a very reasonable $220.
Bikepackers as well are often times mt. bikers and they tend to be susceptible to "upgrade-itis", IME. When I want something new for my mt. bike my local FB and website pages for my mt. bike club are the first place I look.
While the simplicity of a 1x ring appeals to me it seems you need a comically large cassette to have touring-adequate gearing. It seems a 2x ring, 10-spd cassette and bar-end shifters provide the best blend of range, simplicity, repairability and relatively low weight.