Sorry to sound harsh but you need to get over the 1x mental hang up. The gear spread is great, you won't feel gaps between shifts on the mid to higher part of the cassette and you still have the climbing gears you need once you're in the hills. The gaps between cogs are the same as they've always been except for the very lowest ones. Regarding those, you'll be going slow uphill anyway and won't sense a big diff between them (a downshift won't suddenly feel like a hamster wheel). I had the same concern back in 2013 when I got my first 1x and that was before the wide-range cassettes appeared. I also felt the same way when 3x became 2x. I've never looked back.