Larger "q-factor"?

Greetings! I'm getting back into cycling after way too long out of the saddle, and I'm bringin' my wife with me. I'm working on getting her bike dialed in. Fit is looking pretty good, but I'd like to increase the distance between her feet to reduce stress on her knees. The issue wasn't obvious with platform pedals, but with clipless pedals (Crank Bros. Candy SLs), the issue is more pronounced.

The Crank Bros. cleats don't have adjustable width. I could imagine customizing the cleats to widen her stance on the bike, but I think that might be a tricky modification. I'd prefer to find a longer pedal axle, or a longer bottom bracket axle.

The crank on her bike is an inexpensive cotterless crank, and the bottom bracket is an old-school cup-and-bearing (rather than sealed) design.

Suggestions? Thoughts?

Many thanks!

I ride with Crank Bros, also. When I had my bike fitted they put some shims where the pedal attaches to the crank to widen it a bit. I think there's a limit to how many you can use, though.

There are also some cleats made by Crank Bros that can be adjusted left to right, as well.

Knee savers, available here:

http://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi...d=466287318917

Screws on between the crank and the pedal.

Karen

Excellent! Those knee-savers are pretty much exactly what I was envisioning...I just couldn't fit the right keywords together into Google.

I think we'll try the adjustable cleats first, but I'm sure those knee-savers will do the job if the cleats don't.

Thank you both for your quick replies!

I agree with the hardware adjustments above and for software adjustments try these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa-0NRMg8ZM

This will help her gain better muscular alignment and control to help counteract the imbalances that come with an increased Q-angle.

Peter White Cycles has these, for a few more spacing options:

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/pedalspacers.asp

I looked at the pedals, and recalled that I did have to install them with an allen wrench, as there are no wrench flats.

I'm sure somebody thought that was a good design, but I disagree.

At any rate, I'm going to see if the adjustable cleats, along with perhaps a washer or two, solves the problem.

I so wanted those pedal axle extenders to be the solution.

At any rate, I appreciate all the suggestions! My wife and I are both getting a lot of valuable information from this community.