Just for the hell of it, I disconnected and removed my front derailleur this afternoon and went for a test ride using only my small (39t) chainring...just to see if I would have any issues with the chain coming off. I was cranking pretty hard during a few gear changes too and I had no troubles.
I think I'll go ahead and put my SS crankset on there and experiment with my 42 and 44t chainrings. I'm thinking I'll like the 44 a bit better. Will I even need to shorten my chain for this setup???