It's hilly in Bloomington Indiana so I've equipped my Titanflex Tri bike and Giant TCX Cyclocross bike with identical 10 speed setups... I have a 44T Wolf Tooth Wide Narrow upfront with a SRAM XX 11x36 (11,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,32,36) Mountain Bike Cassette in the back. SRAM XX MTB Rear Derailluer too. 44x36 gives me the same climbing ratio as a compact road bike setup
but at the expense of some top end.
Generally the downhills in the area are 45mph coasting so no need to add power downhill...
For reference 700c wheel:
52/11 gearing @ 110 cadence = 40.40 mph
52/11 gearing @ 100 cadence = 36.73 mph
46/11 gearing @ 110 cadence = 35.72 mph (I don't spend much time pedaling faster than this, but I do spend alot of time climbing)
46/11 gearing @ 100 cadence = 32.48 mph
44/11 gearing @ 110 cadence = 34.17 mph
44/11 gearing @ 100 cadence = 31.07 mph (I think a 46T would be just about right as sometimes but rarely the 44T chainring is too slow)