I”m looking to buy an XX1 groupset for my new build and was wondering which Q Factor to order, I’ve read that narrow is better for the body but wider is better for clearance, the bike is a Nicolai Ion !6. What Do you lot recommend?

Cheers,

Phil

I’m running 168’s on my Mosiac 29er hardtail and Jones diamond.

I think you’ll find that the 156’s might not give you enough clearance.

Edit- Have a look here for the Sram guidance on fitting 1 x 11. It includes the measurements of their chainsets which might give you more of an idea.

narrow is better for the body

Not for everyone / as a rule perhaps. I like road chainsets on road bikes but road q-factors on off-road-cx style bikes can give me minor knee pains after a while, all I take from that is that q-factor is like bar width, it changes with the bike or riding style as much as the rider.
Maybe wider q factors help stability in the way wider bars can.

The stays are reasonably wide on Nicolais. I’m running 168 XX1 cranks on my Helius AC, and a mate has been running the same on a Helius AM. I think my heels would rub the stays more if I used the 156 cranks. My mate ordered an ION 15 29er and planned to use the same cranks on it.

I was thinking that the stays would be wide on Nics, plus i would have thought that the extra width might help towards a more solid stance if that makes any sense?