Not for the purists, but clutched rear mech makes perfect sense for cobbles, there is less cabling, maintaining and cleaning faff for the overstretched mechanics, all terrain scenarios are covered with a cassette that has got manageable jumps with 13 cogs, chainlines can be better optimised for the area of the cassette that most time is spent in, and solid rings are proven to be more aero. Not much more aero than finger traps, but it all adds up.
I changed my gearing over the winter. I was using 44 x 11-42 (11 speed) last year but am now on 50 x 13-46 (11 speed cassette with 11t cog deleted so 10 speed - i don't need bigger than 50x13 and the cassette can be moved outboard to improve chainlines). Using a Clutched mech and a cheapo tiny chain guide the chain has stayed onboard without a 'narrow wide' chainring. In the beginning i was on the fence, but after a couple of years i am sold.
I think that it makes perfect sense for the pro teams to be embracing 1x tech as they now have more dedicated groupsets with 13 and 14 speed cassette's, there are more clutched mechs to choose from to mix and match road/mtb and money/time needs to be saved.
