Originally Posted by
Mos6502
Pardon my ignorance, but why would you need less than a 1:1 drive ratio on a bicycle?
Virtually all deraileur mountain bikes have lower than 1:1 gearing as do the Surly Big Dummy, Yuba Mundo and most loaded touring bikes. This is common gearing for the less athletic to use for riding steeper climbs, albeit slowly. With compact 5 arm cranks and cassettes the practical limit is about a 15" gear on a 26" wheel bike using a 34 tooth rear sprocket and 20 tooth front. 4 arm MTB cranks can take a smallest chainring of 22 tooth size.
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