I've found that, with a 22T low chain ring, I don't have enough forward momentum to feel stable, especially in the lowest cogs. (ETA: this is in my local terrain, YMMV.) And that's on a 29er- on a 26" wheel, that 22T chainring will "feel" even lower. I greatly prefer the 26T ring, paired with an 11-36T cassette (10-speed on a 29er). I think that the reason that the 9-speed doubles were 22-36 was because there wasn't an option for a 36T cog on the cassettes. IIRC, that started with the 10-speed stuff. For reference, I'm now running 26/38T chainrings and a 11-36 cassette on my 29er.
If it were me, I'd play around with a gear calculator and look at how the combinations of chainrings, wheel size, and cassette impact gear inches.