Q Factor (1)

Triathlon Forum
1

I was just wondering if anyone knows of ways to reduce Q factor (how far apart your legs are positioned when riding). I’ve been riding a Cervelo Soloist Team for a little over a month and have had knee pain. I’ve narrowed the reasons down to Q factor. I ride on Speedplay Zero pedals and FSA Team Issue carbon cranks, is there any way to decrease the Q factor with those?

Thanks,

Sergiy Zubko

2

Several options, none of them you want to hear. I don’t know if all their cranks are the same, but my FSA’s are a cm wider than Campy or the old Dura Ace ones.

  1. Narrower BB can be an option sometimes, not too sure what bottom brackets fit your cranks. You have to watch frame clearance and chain line doing that.

  2. Some pedals have Q adjustment. You can only get so close to the cranks or they rub. Sometimes you can cheat on the cleat interface and move your shoes inward.

  3. Different cranks. Some of the Ritchey cranks claim low Q factors. May be some of the retail guys can give you specific models .

Like I said those are all options you really don’t want to hear, but those are the ones I know of.

3

I was just wondering if anyone knows of ways to reduce Q factor (how far apart your legs are positioned when riding). I’ve been riding a Cervelo Soloist Team for a little over a month and have had knee pain. I’ve narrowed the reasons down to Q factor. I ride on Speedplay Zero pedals and FSA Team Issue carbon cranks, is there any way to decrease the Q factor with those?

Thanks,

Sergiy Zubko

I would be surprised if your problem was really do to Q factor. It can hardly be changed much at all on most bikes because you have to miss the bike stays, chain, etc.

4

Perhaps adjusting your cleats all the way to the outside…

5

Odds are strongly against Q factor as cause of your knee trouble.

Try orthotics, Le Wedge or adjusting cleat position (my suggestion for knee pain is to turn the cleats outward slightly so that your toes point in (slightly).

Trick is to change the pressure angle on your knee. A good fitter could help.

6

Q factor is a huge factor, more important in most cases than crank length in deteriming efficient power output.

Speedplay make different spindle widths. You don’t often see them advertise this, but there are at least 3 widths I’m familiar with.

Ritchey cranks have a low Q- factor as another poster mentioned.

-SD