Bill Kapaun

PRACTICE. It'll answer your questions far better than someone else can.

You'll learn what works best for you. You can experiment a bit once you get a modicum of confidence.
I'm a decrepit 74 year old and you're probably not. Even when I wasn't so decrepit, I tended to use the easier gear and keep my cadence up as long as I was going up any elevation. I simply didn't care how fast that was because my lungs were the limiting factor. I'd go as fast as I could maintain and not go into distress.
Of course, I use triples and close spaced cassettes. The wide gaps between gears on a 1x would finish off my crappy knees.
I use a 12-27 on my grocery getter and a 13-25 on my hybrid. Both 9 Speed triples. 22-32-??.
Seriously- The time you've spent here could have been better used on the bike.

Bill Kapaun

Maybe read the FIRST PARAGRAPH of my FIRST POST!

sweeks

When I was getting ready to purchase my "nice" road bike at age 50, I read Joe Friel's book, "Cycling Past 50". He recommended a "3-by" drivetrain as more friendly to the aging rider's body. In the first few years after I bought the Airborne (Ultegra 3 x 9), I used the "granny" less and less; now I rarely use it. But, at 72, I don't doubt that I'll be using it again before I stop riding.

Rolla

Yes. There's a hill on a favorite route of mine that rears up VERY quickly after a short descent. You can stay in your descending gear to keep some momentum at the beginning of the climb, but then it bends to the right and gets vertical in a big hurry. Being able to downshift three cogs can be the difference between cleaning it and walking it.

Rolla

Aren't you a little ray of sunshine today?

happy_cyclist

Sorry, I had read that but it slipped my mind. Your example of not wanting to stop suddenly at a traffic light in too high of a gear has been noted!

Darth Lefty 

It makes less noise cross chain than the front derailer ever did and you can shift half the cassette with one sweep of the shifter. The shifts are the same size they ever were (15%) because hybrids have always used mountain bike cassettes. Honestly, what do you want?

Digger Goreman

Basic answer, yes. BUT, it depends on the spacing of your rear cassette: When I was running 9 speed 32x 11-34, it was common for me to shift 2-3 cogs in one go; either by max trigger shift or, later, with the thumb shifter. NOW, I am running 40x 11-50 and finding the wider spacings a benefit, requiring only one or two cog shifts to gain anywhere from an eighteen to a 48 percent boost in pedaling ease. Once you are familiar with the shifts, uphills become more routine. Downhills, I usually spin up cadence a little to accommodate the 18-25% increase in difficulty. Having said all this, I am still very pleased with commuting by bike on this setup.

Interestingly, my retrofitted 40x 11-50 is stealth quiet, even with max chain deviation. So, either my mechanic is a freaking genius (he is), or I'm damned lucky (a problematic preposition, outside of my marriage)

jccaclimber

1. The need to shift multiple gears at once is a function of how far ahead you can plan and and how fast the grade is changing. I live in a very hilly area and there are a few places on my commute where the grade goes from 10% downhill to 10% uphill in 30 feet. In those places I’m shifting down just as fast as I possibly can. The rest of the time shifts are a pedal stroke or two apart at worst.
2. The key to smooth shifting is practice. Those of us who grew up on friction shifters and wanted a silent shift were forced to learn the interaction between load, speed, and shift lever movement. Something I tell new people to do is bike along with pressure on the pedals (ie normal riding) then coast for a split second so the rear hub ratchet disengages. Then, try to start pedaling, but without reengaging the drivetrain. Too slow and you’ll hear your free hub ratchet clicking. Too fast and you’ll start to put pressure on the pedals again as the rear hub ratchet engages. Just right in between and it’s as if your pedals are coasting like the wheels. Like one cyclist following another closely. You don’t touch, push, or pull on each other, you just silently move in concert. This is the condition you want to shift in. Once you under this you can let off for a split second and then command the shift. As soon as the chain has a couple teeth of engagement in the final gear you can resume power.
At first this takes a couple pedal strokes, but once you’re good at it, it takes less than a quarter turn of your front crank, all without your feet really slowing down.

Two things to remember: Shifts don’t work under full load because the chain doesn’t want to let go. Shifts don’t work if you stop pedaling because the chain needs to be moving in order to go anywhere, including to the next sprocket. Stay in between these two conditions and all is well.

cpach

1x drivetrains work fine, I wouldn't worry about anything you're mentioning. They somewhat obviously can't offer as close gearing with the same number of cogs as a 2x or 3x setup, but honestly in city traffic (or mountain biking, for that matter) you hardly ever settle into a consistent speed long enough for that to bother most people--long road/gravel rides are different issue and I'd personally find it slightly annoying in those applications. If the noise isn't bothering you it's probably not indicative of anything that will lead to more frequent service or shorter service life. You may or may not have a quieter chain if you match a Shimano chain to your Shimano drivetrain--KMC mostly works great, but can sometimes be a little noisier.

happy_cyclist

Sorry, I'm not following. Where are you getting that you can shift half the cassette with one sweep of the shifter?