I needed lower gears on my old road steed ,especialy after I crashed & snapped the hip-joint off my femur.The bike had a 6 speed screw-on f/wheel 23-13 ,to cut a long story short I changed it out for a 7 speed s/on f/wheel but a city /mountain bike version, a 28-14 & with the 52-42 c/rings on the front it made a big differance, the rear mech. handles it ok but you have to get the chain length right !
I can get up all the hills ok with these ratio,s ,My next mission will be to change the 42t inner ring for a 39t. to make those hills a little less steeper on the bad days