My road bike has a 13-21 straight block nine speed cluster...so the "granny gear" is a kneecap-ejecting 42x21. Nice smooth shifting though 
How big is your second ring? The only time I ever use the low-low gear on my road bike is when I climb the little hill coming into Crystal City. Mostly because I'm usually spent by that point and because morons walk down that hill not paying any attention and could cause a serious crash if I came shooting out of the tunnel at 15mph.
