No this is not the end of the front derailleur?

Or, no we do not change gear to allow a change in cadence?

I think 90% of people could do without a front derailleur right now.

Really? Even with my 53/39 front and 26/11 cassette I frequently do not have enough range on either end during the same ride. Especially this time of year, doing base and trying to stay in a steady zone 2 my cadence will drop to the 50s in my 39/26 while climbing a big hill when I'd prefer it near 80. Then bombing down in my 53/11 I'm spinning over 110. I know not everyone lives in hilly terrain but lots of people go out of their way to ride hills. Even riding in Florida where it was dead flat I had the pleasure of riding 30+ miles into a 30 mph head wind and then made the return with the tail wind. So even used the extreme ends of my 20 speed gearing there. Related to Ghisallo's post, I find my heart rate to have some correlation with cadence even while maintaining a steady power, so I watch my cadence during base.

I think 90% of people could do without a front derailleur right now.

Check this out:http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/12/bikes-and-tech/spotted-prototype-sram-cyclocross-single-chainring_269580.

Single chainring up front on a CX bike, without anything to keep the chain in place. Is this a sign of things to come and will we be seeing the SRAM 1x11 setup on a road bike soon?