Originally Posted by bostontrevor
Actually the opposite is true. A small cog means that it takes less slack to be able to get the necessary play to clear the teeth and move the chain laterally off the cog. Note that this applies not only in the stand but on the street, so a drivetrain with smaller cogs and chainrings will be easier to derail.
i'm not trying to be rude, but that is wrong. removal from smaller sprockets takes more slack because there is a more severe angle difference needed to allow the chain to climb over the leading teeth of the sprocket for removal. the same goes for belts on pulleys on a car. it's easier to get a somewhat tight belt on/off a large pulley than a small pulley as you rotate them. try it.
yes, this does depend on chainstay length and dropout length and sometimes rear wheel setup preference. sometimes a bikes dropouts may be too short to ad a link. when dealing with smaller gears, taking a link out or adding a link make a much bigger difference in wheel position in the dropout so _sometimes_ the dropout can not accomodate. also, remember i'm talking about horizontal rear facing dropouts. so, you can always run smaller gears, but you may have to change frames to be able to run the exact gearing/wheel position setup you want.
peace.
*edit* ok ok you could use a halflink, but i really do not care for those things so i normally don't even consider them.