Originally Posted by
csimons
Negative. It seems though that when the chain is throw off, it comes off on the right side of the crank (away from the frame). It seems that a shorter spindle would bring the crank closer to the frame and so might not necessarily help for this particular problem. I will look into it, though. Is it best practice to do this so that the chain will not be so stressed? I'm somewhat new to bicycle mechanics, so please forgive me if I misunderstand this point.
Yup. It keeps the chainline as straight as possible so the chain is less tempted to jump off the ring when it's shifted to the extremes in the back. Basically, the ring should be as perfectly in line with the center of your cogs as possible.