Q factor matter much? 172 vs 182mm

Wondering if it’d be worth swapping OEM crankset for a narrower one to match what I have on my non-e MTB.

I didn’t even notice riding both back to back when I wasn’t aware of the difference, but I’ve also read of people develop knee issues riding unsuitable q or swapping between q’s regularly. I’m not a big or wide guy, nor do I have big feet, so thought probably no reason to go wider, other than OEM’s penny pinching. There’s plenty of clearance on the bike and cranks with 171 q are available aftermarket. Also the bike would be slightly narrower for avoiding pedal strikes. That said, I seem to favour riding with my feet 2cm from the inboard edge of the pedals on my normal bike, and that’s on a pedal with an axle gap of about 1cm (so it’s not a shoe crank arm clearance issue). Maybe that’s bad for me and wider would exaggerate it.

Obviously if it hurts on a long ride that’s easy and I’ll swap it. But I don’t want to slowly wear away the insides of my knee the wrong way over a couple of years.

I’ve certainly heard of folk having knee pains due to riding fatbikes, with their large Q factor. Personally, I don’t really notice the difference. I’ve done multi-day stuff on road bikes, MTBs, gravel bikes and fatbikes and not experienced any issues.

That said, I seem to favour riding with my feet 2cm from the inboard edge of the pedals on my normal bike, and that’s on a pedal with an axle gap of about 1cm (so it’s not a shoe crank arm clearance issue). Maybe that’s bad for me and wider would exaggerate it.

this makes me think that you are riding with flat pedals. I always feel that on flat pedals your feet end up where they want to be.

So if you with a  wider Q factor on your e bike your feet would be in the same place in relation to your hips, but the pedals would be more under your feet.

ftom my own experience, I don’t think it will make a difference to your knees

Watching one of those bike fit James videos, he suggested that most people he sees need to go wider and very few if any, need to go narrower. A symptom of the fact that the cycling industry, particularly the road side, is designing for 68kg 20 yo professional athletes rater than their actual customers.

I’ve taken the GRX cranks off my gravel bike and replaced them with FC-M590 so add about 20mm to my stance width.

I’m fortunate enough to have a lot of bikes.

Apart from the fattie they all feel the same. I doubt they are, so that probably means that it’s just not something I feel if it’s just a small difference. I use spds too.

I’m the same as Scotroutes  I ride a mix of spd and flat and have my feet centred on the pedals

Some people are sensitive to it, some aren’t. Some are riding too wide, some are riding too narrow.

If you’re not having issues, and don’t need new cranks, don’t bother.