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So apparently that is now the preferred way to go? Or it that something for mostly the downhill riders?
RTR is not exactly rough pedaling, although there are some local trail with some amazingly pretty steep grades and some not too punishing side trails that spur off them. No issues with the new setup pedaling up steeper grades or hills?
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1x solutions don't *quite* offer as much gearing coverage as the 3x7 config did.... but that's OK. Unless you're talking about the very WIDEST range 1x setups, they don't quite have the coverage of 2x setups... but again, that's generally OK. Why? Because it's pretty rare for you to be flying along at 30mph on an MTB and still pedaling trying to gain more speed. If the downhill is steep enough that you'll spin out on a 1x, it's steep enough you don't need to keep pedaling.
As to the steep hills, set up your chain ring and cassette so that you have 18 gear-inches (tire diameter * (chain ring/cog)). That's really about the lowest gearing that still makes any sense, and you should be able to climb just about anything you can get traction on. So, for a 29er, say a 28 tooth chain ring with an 11-46 cassette. In your small chain ring with a cadence of 100rpm, that puts you at about 20mph, which for a lot of people, is plenty fast for pedaling (not coasting downhill). The time that breaks down is if you're doing XC racing or generally riding on relatively flat, smooth trails.
That gives you a basic place to start. If you're spending more money, you can go wider range and get more gears. If you're a stronger rider, instead of sizing your chain ring for 18 gear-inches, go up 2 or 4 teeth. If there is a downside to a 1x setup, IMHO it's this: There's often a BIG gap in gearing between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears. If you spend a lot of time slogging up steep climbs, sometimes you wish you had a little more "in between" gears in that range. If your trails are more up-and-down, or they aren't steep, brutal, long climbs, that's not as much of an issue.