I share your dislike for 50 -34. I started my (derailleur bike) life on a 52-35 X 14-28, Way, wa better than enything I ever knew before but when I bought a triple with 52-42-30 (which I quicly changed to a 28), it was "Wow! This is it. I raced that bike, simply not using hte inner ring. Bought a real race bike. 1977. It was geared the usual 42-53 and I acquired 43,44,53 and 54, stitching them depending on the race. I was in my mid-20s, racing strong and loved to climb out of the saddle in big gears. I also loved the 52-42 shift with close ratios in back.
In the 40 years since, I've aged. The triple is a given on all my bikes. All my gearing has come down. But the concept I love hasn't. My best bike is set up 50-38-24; very close to a simply scaled down 53-42-28.
Years ago I had a race bike (but decades after my last race), I geared it 53-39, the gearing that existed but was not at all common when I was racing. Hated it. The 39 was too low to be a good flat ground gear and the shift up and down too big. Went back to the 52-42-28 and all was right again.