I rarely run 1:1, in that bike's case it'd be 32x32. I'm usually in a higher gear. I was just trying to state that limited gearing on my geared bike has been sufficient for me. I've never wished for a higher gear when I've been off-road with the bike and I've rarely wanted an easier gear, that mostly occurred when I was in worse physical shape.

On my SS 26er, I used to run a standard 2:1 ratio, 32x16. That was good for most trails around me, but an 18t freewheel in back helped at one particular trail. I currently run 32x20 on my 29er SS, but will be moving up to an 18 or 19t this Spring. I run 42x18 on my SS CX bike.

I'll leave the question of whether smaller chainrings & cogs would be better to someone more knowledgeable than I am.