As I was riding to work today into a stiff headwind on my 7-speed Nexus IGH equipped Austro Daimler I got to thinking that the gear ratios would be much more tolerable on this hub if I had some half steps.

Right now I've got a 46T chainring on there and the idea of adding a 45T and a front derailleur sounded really good in my head this morning.

I'm wondering, is a 1 tooth difference small enough that I could get away with shifting the chainrings and not adding any kind of chain tensioning device?...its just one tooth!