SPD'S or not!

btwellz

Spd's or not

I have been riding MTB now for about 6 months and looking to make the change from clipless dmr's over to the Crankbrothers pedals that came with my bike. I'm a little concerned as I often put my feet down to steady myself on difficult sections or on banking single tracks. I did the beast yesterday at Coed Y Brenin and ended up face down in the dirt ( dam root ) at one point and I was wondering if my feet were clipped in what injuries could result e.g snapped broken ankles etc.

Ben

Sir HC

When you fall, spd's generally unclip. Never had any problems putting a foot down then clipping back in.

btwellz

Is it really worth the up grade?

miket-62

If your doing downhill Big scary stuff all the time then stay on flats but if your ding XC stuff..........
Go for it! Get the SPD's
Once you have tried them you won't go back.
There are all sorts of advantages to wearing them
You can pull on up-hills
You never get your foot slipping off the pedals
If you do fall off the bike you generally get out of the cleet without realising how you got out
My advice is try them.....I don't think you'll go back

btwellz

The type of riding I do and enjoy is a bit of both I suppose. I regularly go to coed y brenin and nant arian and the climax as I live in Machynlleth ( midwales ) which leads me to the next question should I be on a full susser as I'm on a Zasker gt expert hard tail at the moment and my back shoulders did suffer yesterday on the beast.

Ben

miket-62

I'm in the NE England and I do Dalby forest quite regulally.
I personally feel the need for a full susser there 'cause my mates with hard tails end up getting sore (down below) if you know wot I mean :oops:

birchy

I was in dalby today and when both wheels broke free going down one of the switch backs i got unclipped in time to rescue it with a quick dab so i would say go for spds you wont look back

timberjack

I use spd's all the time so i persuaded my mate to try them so we went to the kielder trails yesterday he fell off 5 times and 3 were i direct result of being clipped in and he said he will never use them again but i think he should of tried them on xc first so i gave him an old pair of flats. Personally i would never go back to flats

Dan67

Defintely Spds. I have had them for just about month and i wouldnt ride with out them now. Efficiency is greatly improved. Unclipping will start to come naturally but you may have a a few sticky moments and comical falls at first but you will slowly get it.

lucretius

When I first got SPD I leaned bike against wall and practiced unclipping and clipping. I also trimmed the point at which it unclipped a little.

nferrar

I'm a big SPD fan but plenty of the people I go riding with use flats and they don't seem to slow them down. Personally I had too many bear-trap pedals in the shins as a kid on a BMX to want to use flats now :P

niallator

i've got aldi specials which have spds one side and flats the other and they're great
now i cant ride without them!

ukcraigb

I choose to ride SPD from day one of riding so can’t really compare to ridding with flats but these are my thoughts.

Yes you will have one or two silly falling over accidents but once you have come to grips with them you won’t look back.

With winter just round the corner now it’s the perfect time to make the switch. When your riding roots bumping all over the shop and is wet and slippery they give you that extra bit of confidence, I also find it makes it easier to push weight down onto the wheels to give extra grip.

With regards to not comming unclipped when crashing, it’s really not an issue.

I've probably experienced every type of crash imaginable , from the slow mo over the handle bar type to losing the back wheel and sliding 20 yards into a tree, never ever, ever have I stayed clipped in, all my mates use SPD and none of them have ever stayed clipped in either.

The only time I stayed clipped in was when I fell off at 1MPH when I stopped at the traffic lights and hadn’t got used to being clipped in!

Make the transition to SPD, you won’t regret it.

btwellz

Well I have the peddles so will aquire the needed shoes! Thanks for the advice and putting my mind at rest cheers!

Ben

schmako

For xc and road riding awesome, for dh and fr no thanks.

The Big Cheese

I went clipless for the first time recently and loved it - practiced a few thousand times indoors to get the 'technique' down and second nature. Went out Sat and I went for a route which was pretty flat, and you could see what's ahead so there would be no sudden stopping situations - I did find that it made climbing easier and I felt less tired than usal for a £20k journey!

Glad I migrated and my bike actually looks like it's supposed to now!

I relaxed the pedal a lot and slightly greased the entry points/cleats - they just slide in and out. As I get used to them I shall tighten them etc!

brasso

I love clipless now that I got use to them a few comedy falls at first particularly on my road bike. I was used to 520's on a must last mtb and have look road pedals on my road machine. Just got some smarties on my new stumpy so I'll see how I get on with them can always stick some 520s back on for 20 quid.

Really worth practising and leave them on the slackest release position to start with. For XC I would recommend!

ukcraigb

I've used both of these, they we're both excellent with nothing really to seperate them and I can highly recommend both:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... pecialized BG Comp MTB Shoes

and

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 5S%20Shoes

I would recommend the Shimano ones over the spech just because all the components can be replaced. I managed to break the ratchet on the spech ones within a year os so and they cant be fixed.

brasso

ukcraigb wrote:

I would recommend the Shimano ones over the spech just because all the components can be replaced. I managed to break the ratchet on the spech ones within a year os so and they cant be fixed.

I've got those some of the spesh shoes and you can change the clippy rachet bit now it just unscrews on mine.

The Big Cheese

I ended up with these...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/spec%206117-38.jpg

Stiff but a good fit (plus they are still new)

Just realised that's what you posted!!!

Great minds and all that jazz.....

fireheed

Although i like having my feet clipped in most of the time i still like to have my feet loose so to speak on the pedals.
I've started doing a lot more technical stuff and freeride so was thinking of going back to flats or changing my shoe to one that has a bigger sole so i can still use the best of both.

The Big Cheese

I agree, on my burlier rig I hammer it a lot harder and hit sections where I wouldn't dare on the race XC rig, I have flats on this burly rig in case i have to bail (which sometimes is inevitable )

lost-time

I only clipped in about two years ago. I will often pre-unclip if I think I'll get in a spot of bother (usually an a technical 'up') but I wouldn't want to ride flats for my kind of rides.

BTW, Peaty rides DH clipped in...

But it's horses for courses... what suits one person wont suit another. Try it. If it works, great, if not, then at least you can say you tried it.

Morty_Oxon

I think it's good to use both for all types of riding. Being clipped in makes things a lot easier when out doing XC like hopping over logs and ruts and you never slip a pedal on rooty or rocky descents, but it's really satisfying to be able to do the same skills on flats.

I used to rely heavily on the SPDs to bunny hop but by learning the technique properly on flats I can go higher and further and hit jumps with confidence. I feel secure regardless of what pedals I'm riding now with the one exception being on super muddy days. Also sticky soles on my fivetens mean I can barely tell the difference when on flats.

sc0ttb88

Just seen this and thought i'd post... i'm literally just in the door from my first cycle on SPDs! I've been riding mainly XC and some light downhill stuff for about 6 months now and only decided to get the whole SPD thing since everyone else at the club has them. Well what can i say - they are amazing! I have only tried them out on the road there for 22miles but the pedalling efficieny is immense - hills are much easier and your feet don't slip at all.

I got a pair of Adidas Voltage shoes and Shimano M647s. I was a bit weary about going through technical sections or down steep hills with SPDs so went for the flats with SPDs built in. But to be honest it was so easy to clip in and out there that i doubt i'll even unclip when doing any technical sections. Overall I am so impressed with them and would honestly urge anyone doing XC/Trail riding to seriously consider getting a pair!

KeithH

Here's my advice. If you can try out a friends and see if they are something you can get into. I've had friends that tried and hated (even after a little perseverance) and others that have never looked back.

It is a relatively large amount of money to invest, I picked up my first shoes on ebay for less than £15 and that was over 4 years ago and they are still going fine (not well known make - Exus) - borrowed some pedals to try and then bought some of wiggle.

Great advice has already been given, the only extra thing I'd add, is that on nasty downhill sections that I haven't riden before I personally unclip one pedal, as a safety.

Speshrider15

you wont go back after youve tried (and got used to) them.....

formerlyknownasbonj

I often wonder this as well.

ukcraigb wrote:

With regards to not comming unclipped when crashing, it’s really not an issue.

I've probably experienced every type of crash imaginable , from the slow mo over the handle bar type to losing the back wheel and sliding 20 yards into a tree, never ever, ever have I stayed clipped in, all my mates use SPD and none of them have ever stayed clipped in either.

How does that work then? - if you accidentally have your weight too far forward and go over the bars? I do that often-ish, only ever at low speed, but it's usually on soft ground so never hurts much. But if the bike's going over me I'm more likely to land on my back or head... or the bike to land on top of me. That's my main worry...
I believe you when you say it doesn't happen.. but why?
other than that i would like to go clipless on the mtb because of the more surefootedness on technical sections, and because it often takes about 5 goes to get the right position and even then it's sometimes slightly different on right to left.

harry_jones1984

with SPD's you may find yourself not trying to unclip and riding something you'd normally put your feet down for. it also allows you to throw your bike around a little more.

When you first get SPD's you'll constantly forget you're cliped in and fall over sideways in the middle of your street however it's def worth it for your own skill improvment and speed.

As for going Full sus? well i've done the beast hard tail and havn't had anything sore and that's with a brick for a saddle, you'll find if you stick with a hard tail you'll learn to be a smoother rider which is always good.

HansRoaming

Hi,

I'm a bit of a noob to mtb having only just recently been getting into it with my gf. After the purchase of a Specialized Rockhopper disc 08 the thing that was bugging me was my footwear. I was using some light hiking boots but spinning the pedals really made you feel they were there, also bouncing around would always have me thinking about my feet being on the pedals.

So on Saturday I went into the local shop and whilst the bike was getting its new bike service tried on a few pairs of shoes. Because I like ankle support I ended up buying Specialized Trail 120 SL's and one ride later went back and bought Shimano M540 MTB SPD pedals. The difference I found between them and flats was like night and day, your feet don't bounce around and as your able to propel the pedal all the way around the crank you can really pour on the power. The shoes I got are very comfortable too, love em.

Being paranoid about slow motion falls I practised clipping in and out whilst in the middle of a doorway about 50 times each foot then went out and kept clipping in and out. Basically I'm just unclipping early until its second nature. The downside is that you'll sound like you're wearing heels when walking on the floor which really amused my gf.

Travis_M

i've only just started cycling again after a 5 year break... 1 month on the flats, then I had to get some SPDs on it.. I missed them so much, pulling up hill etc.. okay a little scary for me on some descents but hey... if you start thinking about falling on a descent, then you probably will, so now I just clip in and go for it... upgraded the pedals.. next, the bike