I don't think i will ever go clipless!!

Darra8

Hi Guys,

I have been trying to get into clipless for a while now. I'm fine on the road and have been trying my best off road too with some shimano dual sided ones.

I had my first real taste of propper mountain biking yesterday at Llandegla (red route) and have realised that thay are a pain in the @rse. I spent most of my time looking down at the pedals to make sure i was on the flat side and that my cleats were not going to clip me in.

I have also realised that i am just too chicken sh!t to go clipped, It gives me so much more confidence to know that my feet will hit the ground before the rest of me does.

Anyone else feel the same?

Steve

Anonymous

i am with you on this one, a mate of mine loves spds as he can pull up on the pedals during a climb to make it easier and he is skillful enough to trust them everywhere else, he did fall off the log shore part of the llandegla route because he was clipped in though.

i did try but i just cant get on with them, even my road bike has flat pedals on it, ive got 3 pairs of spds in the spares box that i am certain i will never use!!

stumpyjon

Nope, I much prefer to be clipped in, then I know my foot will stay on the pedal. Part of your problem may be they fact you're using the dual sided pedals. I started on those and found them too much hassle. Now using XT pedals with cleat brackets on either side.

However you may just be one of those people who prefer flats.

Surf-Matt

stumpyjon wrote:

Nope, I much prefer to be clipped in, then I know my foot will stay on the pedal. Part of your problem may be they fact you're using the dual sided pedals. I started on those and found them too much hassle. Now using XT pedals with cleat brackets on either side.

However you may just be one of those people who prefer flats.

That's me!

Seems rare in XC riding world but I really do prefer flats by miles.

Moose.

Yup! DMR V12s and Five-Ten shoes are the only way for me. Nearly as good as SPDs but with the added confidence of being able to jump clear if it all goes pear shaped It's the perfect setup.

Went out yesterday without my Five-Tens on (they were soaked from the previous day's ride) and was slipping all over the pedals. Won't make that mistake again, I'd rather have wet feet and be able to stay on the pedals!

Surf-Matt

Agreed - I rode in the foulest of foul conditions yesterday and never slipped at any point on Wellgo MG1s with Shimano SPD shoes with no cleats - been using the same set up for years.

Darra8

It also made it worse because i had my spd shoes on with cleats. This gave me very little grip on the flat side because of the cleats getting in the way.

I have ordered a pair of Pearl Izumi Vagabond M4 from wiggle for £29, i had a £5 voucher so used it on those. I will leave them without cleats and get a pair of flats to go with them. Hopefully this will sort me out.

Steve

Yukon Lad

am thinking of getting a pair of flat-specific shoes becos my normal combo of the stock pedals i got and my NB shoes is not good but don't think i'll go SPD for a long time

Yukon Lad

jeffers696

dident like them when i first got them, but i couldent be arsed to change them back to flats but now i really like them, i can keep up with my mates who are fitter than me just because of spd's.

However i feel like i cant hammer it any more, but i do feel like i want to ride smother and in some ways its more enjoyable. Maybe i am just gettin old or beastin a trail dosent feel the same any more

Surf-Matt

jeffers696 wrote:

dident like them when i first got them, but i couldent be arsed to change them back to flats but now i really like them, i can keep up with my mates who are fitter than me just because of spd's.

However i feel like i cant hammer it any more, but i do feel like i want to ride smother and in some ways its more enjoyable. Maybe i am just gettin old or beastin a trail dosent feel the same any more

Hate to be pedantic but I think that's BS.

Barrian

love them, use a pair of Shimano PDM-647s (iirc) with resin cages, and a basic pair of Shimano shoes. On the odd occasion I wear flat shoes, keep lifting my feet off the pedals - where initially I thought I'd never get used to being clipped in to take proper advantage, obviuosly making a difference.

Best bit of advice I was given when I started with them - loosen them right off, and keep them well lubed to be sure you can unclip when you need to. I can confirm it is very embarassing (and usually painful) when the bike comes to a stop, you can't unclip, and you fall over with the bike.

rhunderhill

Spds are great but there are a couple of things beginners should do:
1. unscrew the tension screw so that it's easier to get out (at an "oh sh$t" moment)
2. Practice getting out of them (obviously). Try it at the top of the pedal stroke, at the bottom and in the middle. Practice on both sides. Most of us have a weak side and often a tendency to fall one way more than the other.
3. practice not putting your feet down at all even at road junctions(!) until you have to. If you stop with the bike vertical it will take a while to fall over and there's plenty of time to get your feet out (honest). We fall because we are unbalanced.
4 Learn to track stand - turn the wheel sideways as you stop and then use the brakes and pedals and try to balance! Try it with flats first...
5. practice doing a circular motion with your feet to generate extra power using the upward pull. This will get you through some difficult parts of a trail when you need extra power so you don't need to put your feet down.
6. believe in yourself. believe you can correct a falling moment by turning into it and using the extra power of spds.
Go for it!!!

Personally I love to be clipped in so my fit don't bounce of the pedals when I'm on bumpy terrain and I love the power. But I do still fall off occasionally(!) but that's part of it for me :-)

jeffers696

Surf-Matt wrote:

jeffers696 wrote:

dident like them when i first got them, but i couldent be arsed to change them back to flats but now i really like them, i can keep up with my mates who are fitter than me just because of spd's.

However i feel like i cant hammer it any more, but i do feel like i want to ride smother and in some ways its more enjoyable. Maybe i am just gettin old or beastin a trail dosent feel the same any more

Hate to be pedantic but I think that's BS.

well mate, since they dident have to wait at the top for me, and they dident slow down. What could it be then?!

gazvenn

had my first run at llandegla yesterday and first offroad experience with the new bike and in over 5 years and did it with spd's i'm using some:

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/pedals/mountain/product.-code-PD-M647.-type-pd_mountain.html

and to be honest i was fine, i've got them set pretty loose but on any tech bits i wasnt comfortable with i just popped out of the clips and sat my feet a little more forward on the pedal to avoid clipping in and i was fine. no worrying about which side i'm on with these aswell.

Surf-Matt

jeffers696 wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

jeffers696 wrote:

dident like them when i first got them, but i couldent be arsed to change them back to flats but now i really like them, i can keep up with my mates who are fitter than me just because of spd's.

However i feel like i cant hammer it any more, but i do feel like i want to ride smother and in some ways its more enjoyable. Maybe i am just gettin old or beastin a trail dosent feel the same any more

Hate to be pedantic but I think that's BS.

well mate, since they dident have to wait at the top for me, and they dident slow down. What could it be then?!

Probably just you being amped up and riding fast!
Having ridden SPDs for two years and flats for many more, I honestly think SPDs give you no speed advantage except maybe at Elite race level or above - I ride lightweight flats with SPD shoes (no cleats) and have no problem keeping up with pretty much anyone uphill - and I'm not some cycle fitness god! Yes a slightly different technique needs adopting but I honestly think SPDs give no speed advantage.

Darra8

I think, also if i was younger that it wouldn't be so bad. But at 37 and feeling much older some days i worry about falling off too much. I have already had a disc removed from my upper spine and have lower back problems too, so trying to be ultra careful is always foremost in my mind. It's alright people saying that falling off is part of the fun etc, and i can see that, but one wrong fall could mess my new hobby up before it's really started.

Steve

Anonymous

haha, nice signature and again, i couldnt agree more, falling off sucks ass real bad.

Darra8

Hi Sheepsteeth,

I think me and you should meet up sometime. I'm sure we could have some real fun, as long as it's safe and easy!!

ST Colin

I've been back on my new bike for a few months, been so close to coming off so many times. It's going to happen soon, I just hope I fall into something soft

As for going clipless, I went clipless striaght away and that was after being away from biking for about 8 years. I couldn't change back. I just have my cleats set loose and try to think about riding instead of my feet!

ride_whenever

Darra8 wrote:

Hi Sheepsteeth,

I think me and you should meet up sometime. I'm sure we could have some real fun, as long as it's safe and easy!!

I think someone is doing internet grooming, just use protection kids...

Darra8

[quote I think someone is doing internet grooming, just use protection kids...[/quote]

The use of protection was going to be my next question, but you beat me to it

Anonymous

ride_whenever wrote:

Darra8 wrote:

Hi Sheepsteeth,

I think me and you should meet up sometime. I'm sure we could have some real fun, as long as it's safe and easy!!

I think someone is doing internet grooming, just use protection kids...

well, i have some lightweight 661 knee and shinpads, depends on what we are doing though i spose!!

it is nice to feel wanted though

passout

I prefer SPDs for anything/everything. The Shimano DX ones are good because you can use them without clipping in too.

There is a slight advantage to SPDs on the 'up stroke' I reckon but nothing that matters unless you race or do long distance stuff (as i sometimes do).

They do take a while before they come second nature. Stick with them.

Darra8

Darra8 wrote:

Hi Sheepsteeth,

I think me and you should meet up sometime. I'm sure we could have some real fun, as long as it's safe and easy!!

I've just read my post back...it does sound pretty dodgy, doesn't it.

I'm not a perv, honest :oops:

Anonymous

well we can stil be friends anyway

realnumber 1

Flats for me. Don't like the idea of not being able to dab my foot down on fast slippy corners and the like.

KonaKing100

I am a downhiller and would never think in a million years of going clipless on that for 2 reasons, one is the safety aspect, i like being able 2 put my foot down if needed and secondly i once tried it and just seemed to ride faster on flats

But having said that, I have a cheap-ish XC bike and I use SPDs on that as i don't feel the need 2 put my feet down when on that.

stubs

Flats on my Saracen Zen which is used for trail centres and general hooligan riding

clipped in on my On-one Scandal for riding cross country. I find I have better endurance clipped and my knees dont creak as much

schmako

Good to use both for different riding types. When I go freeriding I wouldn't be clipped in (doing a double clipped in doesn't sound too appealing). Plus I don't cycle uphill much when on the Patriot so no need to have spds to make the climbs easier. However on the xc bike it makes so much difference to your pedalling efficency. After using spds for 3 years now I wouldn't go back to flats for xc or road. They weren't difficult to get the hang of either.

lost-time

realnumber 1 wrote:

Flats for me. Don't like the idea of not being able to dab my foot down on fast slippy corners and the like.

I ride clipped in and can still manage to unclip and dab if needs be. I do find that riding clipped in means that you are more carefull in line selction on technical rooty sections, especially uphill. Yes it is harder to unclip and dab...it also takes a 1/2 second or so reation time more so care needed then too but having feet clipped on the pedals the rest of the time feels more natural to me now. I rode a few times on flats over Christmas due to some toe-nail surgery and couldn't fit my SPD shoes on. I hated it. I didn't feel at one with the bike. The bike felt totally seperate to me. But I may have got used to it given time but it's not something I want to see if it's true or not.

I like the idea that some people think if you're clipped in you need an angle-grinder to remove your feet.

realnumber 1

lost-time wrote:

realnumber 1 wrote:

Flats for me. Don't like the idea of not being able to dab my foot down on fast slippy corners and the like.

I ride clipped in and can still manage to unclip and dab if needs be. I do find that riding clipped in means that you are more carefull in line selction on technical rooty sections, especially uphill. Yes it is harder to unclip and dab...it also takes a 1/2 second or so reation time more so care needed then too but having feet clipped on the pedals the rest of the time feels more natural to me now. I rode a few times on flats over Christmas due to some toe-nail surgery and couldn't fit my SPD shoes on. I hated it. I didn't feel at one with the bike. The bike felt totally seperate to me. But I may have got used to it given time but it's not something I want to see if it's true or not.

I like the idea that some people think if you're clipped in you need an angle-grinder to remove your feet.

I accept that it is possible to remove your feet from spd's but I think it depends on the type of riding you do.
For example I have a friend who I would say was of a similar standard to me but when I showed him one of my favourite downhill runs really struggled being clipped in.