Originally Posted by
smd4
If I’m unclear for some reason, I can just glance at my cassette.
NOT a safe thing to do.
By the time you put your eyes back to the road, your front wheel is about to roll into a giant pothole or there's big truck stopped right in front of you and it's too late to evade.
You don't really need to know what gear you're on if your drivetrain is shifting through the whole range including cross-chaining without any problems. Especially on 1x. Shift as you need. Downshift at least two gears when coming to a stop but that will depend on the gapping of your cogs and the size of your cassette. On a tight range cassette, you'll have to downshift a lot more.