Q Factor, quack quack..

[lensmansteve]

Ah Woz, I read his book some years ago. What a classic obsessive right there. And reckon he dreams Q factors. So will we if we're not careful..
You have covered a lot of good ground there, Oranges! Or course we should do what we can to make our bikes fit. But some people are so hung up on how their bikes look aesthetically that ergonomics aren't even considered. Those people don't do many miles though, they'd wreck their bodies if they did. As you know, I love late 80s to mid 90s bikes in particular, but the slack seat tubes and horizontal top tubes of the earlier ones haven't exactly been a help in getting a good fit for me. It's a hard old life, innit?

 

[Woz]

......a classic obsessive right there. And reckon he dreams Q factors. So will we if we're not careful.

I really don't know what you mean :!:

 

[Woz]

More.

 

[Woz]

Some more...for the road....errhhh gravel or CX or tourer or hybrid or whatever.

 

[lensmansteve]

Classic light reading there, Woz. I'm going to print them out, and laminate in case I need to refer to them in a deluge. You can't be too careful :roll:
Surprised the crank length table takes height as the factor though. Inside leg would be better.
Suit you, Sir..

 

[Woz]

Classic light reading there, Woz. I'm going to print them out, and laminate in case I need to refer to them in a deluge. You can't be too careful :roll:
Surprised the crank length table takes height as the factor though. Inside leg would be better.
Suit you, Sir..

I wouldn't take too much of it to the mm exactly. All good for indication and start points though.

 

[lensmansteve]

Seriously,yes. I've been giving the tables a quick butchers, biggest are around 200mm. Who wants that? Desperate Dan's big cousin? The BFG? I know, it's them fat boys, sorry, fat bikes. I hope so anyway, but I think I might have read somewhere that Q could be as big as 240mm on some fat bikes. That would really wake my old knee joints up. :cry:

 

[Tootyred]

I dont know if it's because my knees are knackered (not that I've noticed) by 40 years of riding on whatever q factor was presented to me, bouncing around off road without suspension, but I find some cranks feel too narrow now.

I set up a pair of raceface square tapers as close as possible to the frame to get the chain line right and I found it really uncomfortable.

Might explain why I walk like John Wayne though.

 

[lensmansteve]

Well, you're being a bit jokey (all for that!) but we are all different, in our dimensions and our preferences. I might prefer a slightly bigger Q for off-road, and do. Basic principles are true though, we should give our bodies the best bike to work with that we can.
If your Q really is too narrow, and it doesn't sound very likely, your tootsies will tend to go outboard on the pedals. If you wear clipless, you'll be uncomfortable at least, maybe worse. If Q is too wide, your feet might rub the cranks.

 

[lensmansteve]

Just re-read the above, and maybe the RaceFace cranks are set too narrow for you. Next you'll be actually measuring up, it won't hurt your bike, honest..