The chain rarely leaves the big ring on my commuters (46/30 on one, 48/36/24 on the other) even with full bags and hilly terrain. I don't think lower gearing would be beneficial, as the low gear on both of my bikes is plenty low for anything you would encounter on a normal commute. The 'standard' 48/38/28 crank is a very versatile setup that will work for a very wide range of riders, granted it might not be the ideal choice for many. I think that this vanilla triple setup is aimed at cyclists who are still cutting their teeth, and may not yet have any experience with choosing different gearing.