I searched the boards but only found a few posts about increasing stance and Qfactor. Has anybody gone narrow? While riding my knees turn in toward the top tube, and tibias are angled outward to the pedals. Doesn’t seem optimal. I remember Graeme Obree making some serious modifications to get his pedals in line with his knees and hips. Are there any cranks or pedals out there to narrow Qfactor… I am not looking for shims. Has anyone experimented with this? Thanks.
Some TT bikes had specifically narrow cranks. You’d need a custom BB/crank and frame though. Eg. Walser (http://www.walser-cycles.ch/)
You might have some luck with a track BB, or modifying an old square taper crankset. Your frame should have a 68mm or narrower threaded BB shell. If you do get narrower cranks, you’ll need to move your FD inboard, and watch your chainline. You might need a custom narrow hub to keep the RD working. Are you up to welding parts in your kitchen like Obree?
Pedals won’t help much more than a few mm, unless you have custom narrow shoes. Normal shoes will start touching the crank where the pedal attaches.
If all you want is for your knees to remain in-line (aesthetic concerns), different inner soles can help. Speak to a bike fitter.
If you want to train pedalling up-down vs. pushing outwards (biomechanical concerns), put your bike on rollers.
Good luck.
You could also try reduced Q-factor speedplay pedals. IIRC they go down to 50mm spindles.
picky point, but, it’s actually stance width you’re changing. q factor measures at the pedal shoulder, where the pedal faces up to the crank. you can measure q factor with no pedals on the bike. what you’re changing with spindle length is stance width.
Huh, good to know the difference (at least my ignorance has good company).
Thanks Dan. Any suggestions to narrow stance width without changing to speedplay? Although that would be an option eventually. Seems like a complicated process.
Are your dogs still getting about 50miles a week up there?
Dan
As another poster said… you can only get so narrow.
Either the inside of your toe box rubs the cranks, and/or narrower cranks won’t clear the chain stays.
narrowing stance width: no. no way to do it that i know of. you’d have to narrow the cranks without moving the chainrings. or you’d have to narrow the frame’s BB. but then you’d have to narrow the rear end. big problem, small reward.
you’ll also have to contend with whatever problems are associated with narrower stance width. for example, is it more aero? the typical fix for knees that splay out at the top of the pedal stroke is to widen stance width. so, if you narrow stance width will your knees necessarily still track up and down? even if so, will your power remain the same? do ride splay footed like i do? if so, will you have heel clearance at both the chain stay and when your heel passes the crank when the crank arm is directly in front of the crank? will the bike still be stiff enough?
and, again, remember, this assumes that you can get the q factor tighter without changing the distance of the chain rings from the bike. you can’t change that chain line much without some trouble. for example, if you don’t change the rear spacing at some point you’re going to have chain ring rub when the chain is on the small ring and cogs on the outside of the cogset.
and, again, this all assumes the whole complex you’re creating is really more aero. is this really the best way to make that gain, of all the things available to you?
I played around with going narrower last year. Ended up running a shorter (think track) Square Taper BB with a 7400 Dura Ace crank. I’ve heard the Old Record Cranks can get you narrower still, although you have to start worrying about the chainrings hitting the chainstay depending on what bike you have.
I searched the boards but only found a few posts about increasing stance and Qfactor. Has anybody gone narrow? While riding my knees turn in toward the top tube, and tibias are angled outward to the pedals. Doesn’t seem optimal. I remember Graeme Obree making some serious modifications to get his pedals in line with his knees and hips. Are there any cranks or pedals out there to narrow Qfactor… I am not looking for shims. Has anyone experimented with this? Thanks.
Are you sure going narrower is going to fix that? I actually got fit and widening my stance improved the tracking of my knee (outward) and put far less stress on my abductors of my hip.
Nope, not sure. Looking to experiment. I’d like to see the power difference having my tibia close to a 90 degree angle to my pedal vs an 80-85ish degree angle (currently). Going wider would make this worse.
another way to “fix” that, if you want your knees to track straight versus diving toward the top tube, is to varus wedge. my cleats are varus wedged, maybe 2 wedges total each side. you could do the same thing with a custom footbed.
I did varus wedges for my fore foot and my cleats. But I also needed 4 mm of increased stance width.
Keywin pedals will allow you to swap between six different axle lengths to adjust your stance width. It takes all of a minute to swap axles in and out of the pedal bodies, so it can be a quick change.
Dan has you going in the right direction. I had the same issue and the combo of varus wedges and spindle length now has everything tracking right in line. Once you’ve got it lined up, you’ll feel a huge difference and will be way more comfortable. IMO going narrower probably isn’t your solution and could create some other issues.