Originally Posted by
70sSanO
If it is a business model, you need to define your market for your product first. If you can’t identify who will buy your bikes, no one, especially on an internet forum, can tell you how to set them up.
I pretty much agree with you. Just to write what I've been already saying in slightly different words and bouncing them off your thoughts...
Definitely need to identify what customers will be buying your bike or bikes. Not everyone rides a bike for the same reasons or with the same desire for effort. Some like a leisurely ride through the hills and mountains, others will want to be thoroughly exhausted when the crest the top or finish their ride. They'll have different gearing needs. The former a lower low ratio and probably wider range. The latter a tighter range and less need for a really low ratio. So identify your customer if your bike is not coming in different configurations of the same basic frame.
Also the more local the sale, the more local knowledge is needed.
Which is why I think that what people are currently using in that area successfully might be what needs to be offered on bikes sold in that area. Ask your local cyclist. Are there not cycling clubs?