Loot never rots if you have someone to DE it. At least that's my philosophy. DE > Sell Mats > Buy gear I can use.

Really, gear is rarely a problem. If you go with the first group, make a tailor who can supply everyone with bits and pieces while you're waiting for drops, or in place of drops since a lot of the crafted gear can be really nice.

If you go with a mixed group, you might have better chances for gear drops, but you also might have to spend more time trying to farm different places to get gear. You'll certainly have to spend time farming up various reps to get things like head enchants. And if you do want some crafted gear, you'll have to either increase the number of crafters you bring up {LW, BS, Tailor} or pay someone else's prices for it.

But like I said, gearing is the least of my concerns when deciding on a team. You're going to have crap loot sometimes no matter what the team is.