Bicycle Mechanics - Crankset Installation

I'm making my first attempt at any real installation, and need help. I have a decent book, but it's not helping. When properly installed, should the crankarms be a certain distance from the chainstay? It's a straight chainstay, not bended. Also, how can I tell if the arms are far enough on the spindle? They aren't as far on the spindle as they are on my new bike.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Well typically as long as your granny does not hit the frame,and your chain will shift to it with no real problem than it is fine. In alot of cases there are cranks that seat much further on the bb spindle than others, and require longer bb spindles. Most of the time shimaNO cranks will fit on a 107 to 110mm bb. However if you were to bolt on a Sugino, or AC crank you will need to get a longer bb spindle, for they seat a little further on a bb spindle. It depends on the taper of the crank arm.

Grab a long straight -edge,and assuming you're using triple rings,run the straight-edge from the middle ring to the about the 4th cog on your cassette to check your chainline,it should be perpendicular to your middle ring. try this and let us know how you got on .... cheers - Buddy

Although I generally agree with the previous post, in practice, one usually obtains the best overall chainline when the inner chainring barely clears the chainstay under maximum load/flex. With a triple, and particularly with modern mountain bike cranks, crank-to-chainstay clearance is almost never an issue.

Once again we reiterate , it depends upon what type (ie: brand) of crankset you wish to install,bb axle length etc , once you have your cankset in place and the axle bolts tightened(no grease)then check your chainline as previously explained,if chainline seems to line up, join the chain up and check the operation of the front deraileur,if the c/line is correct there should be a minumum of adjustment...if the c/line is out you will experience difficulty in shifting front and rear no matter what "tweaks"you try to do
!!... '''nuff said !"

Ok I see Buddy is a little mad on this one. He is correct you need to have a straight line middle ring up front to middle cog in back. You can eyeball this without any real measurements needed.