Originally Posted by
BlazingPedals
What you're reading is just marketing lingo, like saying 650B is stronger than 700C but forgetting to mention that it's weaker than 559. I would take it as axiomatic that if you're comparing two gears that have similar ratios, the one using the bigger chainring ("front plate") will be more efficient and faster. A 10T cassette gear will be terribly inefficient no matter what chainring it's paired to.
Why is 10T cassette inefficient?
I understand that the chain probably takes more beating when curling over a smaller cassette (similar to motorbike with a smaller drive sprocket).