OK... I'm an SPD convert.

The Northern Monkey

Had a ride up at Gisburn today..... (which was bloody awesome, the trail builders there have done a fantastic job... the new section with the skinny logs flows perfectly from the upper section of the trail!) .....and it was my 1st proper time out with SPD's.

Having been a "SPD's are rubbish and pointless" follower, I decided to give them a try in the form of some Crank Bro's Smarty pedals and Shimano AM31 SPD shoes.

The difference it has made to my ride is unmeasurable. Particularly at Gisburn.

I always had problems keeping the power down over anything rocky, particularly on climbs which really put a downer on my ride. I tended to stay away from Gisburn and head over to Whinlatter or Llandegla because they are a bit smoother.
With the SPD's I don't have to worry about my feet coming off the pedals so I can just keep spinning no matter what the terrain.... something you just can't always do with flats.

Climbing is also soo much easier, especially on technical climbs. There are 2 climbs at Gisburn that are very rocky and very steep and I just never managed to get up them with flats because I would always lose my footing if the back wheel lost a bit of traction.
I got up them both with ease today, just powered through with the SPD's and it was a breeze.

Needless to say I did have a few lairy moments... my own fault for not looking where I was going mainly, but I managed to unclip didn't topple over which was encouraging!

I'm not going to put all of the success down to the SPD's though, my new forks are immense and I much prefer the stance I get with the wide + flat bars... but they have a lot to do with the massive grin i've got across my face...
it was probably the best ride i've had this year!

Oh and before anyone says "use better pedals or longer pins"... i'd been using slim jims with the long pins or superstar nano's which are grippy to fcuk!

So there we go.... a proper essay comparing flats and SPD's without the bias :P

[/essay]

now where's the popcorn

Anonymous

Great for technical climbs and climbs in general yes. Have you done anything more seriously downhill on them yet?

If I was into climbs I'd probably get them too. Personally I'd rather gouge my eyes out than deliberately seek climbs


Flats - B54s will sort out losing grip and more so with Five Tens. Only times I generally come off them is when I want to put my foot down on a vicious twist descent. Something SPDs would scare me with.

Where are my stabilisers?

Fair play for being brave enough to try them - I'm too scared! I manage to topple with flats on :oops:

Mancunianfightingcat

:idea: Eureka moment!

Anonymous

Good for you.
I'm baffled when you say you found it better when you lost traction ona steep climb though. That was actually one of the main reasons I switched back FROM SPuDs.
I found that if I was going up a very steep climb, and the rear wheel span out, I would end up hitting the hanlebars, and falling over, whereas with flats I was able to dab quickly and carry on.

The Northern Monkey

deadkenny
Going down is great too...means I can use my legs even more to keep the rear from bucking out over roots/rocks!
I know what you mean about not searching out the climbs... but you can't avoid them (unless on an uplift obviously haha!) but SPD's seem to make it easier!

Where are my stabilisers?
Cheers fella, got the pedals quite cheap so I thought why not! already had an old pair spud shoes so I tried them for a bit. Much prefer Crank Bro's pedals over shimano!

Mancunianfightingcat
Most definately!

yeehaamcgee
Wide flat bars with no rise and hardly any sweep help you not hit your bars lol... also means its a bit easier to control the front.
But I had the opposite... with flats I used to lose traction and try and stop the pedals or tap my foot and i'd just loose all rhythm. with spuds you can't really do either!
I'm really chuffed I got up one of the climbs, its been my nemesis for quite a while and it always pissed me off when I couldn't get to the top... its very rocky and very slippy though so it is quite a challenge!

nicklouse

so what did you use before?

The Northern Monkey

nicklouse wrote:

so what did you use before?

flats? :?

nicklouse

The Northern Monkey wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

so what did you use before?

flats? :?

err obviously

you list you new shoes and pedals but not the old shoes and pedals.

so without any thing to compare back to the whole thing is fairly pointless.

The Northern Monkey

nicklouse wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

so what did you use before?

flats? :?

err obviously

you list you new shoes and pedals but not the old shoes and pedals.

so without any thing to compare back to the whole thing is fairly pointless.

think you'll find i listed a few pedals i've used in the op :P

V8s, Slim Jims with short/long pins, and superstar nano tech pedals.

Shoes I mainly used some stiff + supportive skate style trainers with a sticky sole. Tried am40's but they weren't as good...

Mynameisdann

Would like to try but wouldnt want to shell out incase i didnt get bit by the bug

The Northern Monkey

Mynameisdann wrote:

Would like to try but wouldnt want to shell out incase i didnt get bit by the bug

I know what you mean... its sort of a "do I/don't I" situation lol.

try and get some cheap in the classifieds if you do want to give it a go.... never say never

nicklouse

The Northern Monkey wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

so what did you use before?

flats? :?

err obviously

you list you new shoes and pedals but not the old shoes and pedals.

so without any thing to compare back to the whole thing is fairly pointless.

think you'll find i listed a few pedals i've used in the op :P

V8s, Slim Jims with short/long pins, and superstar nano tech pedals.

Shoes I mainly used some stiff + supportive skate style trainers with a sticky sole. Tried am40's but they weren't as good...

ahh new used 5:10s then.

i can see why you like the SPDs then.

The Northern Monkey

:?:

Tried some 5:10's on when in Scotland... they made my feet feel huge! Didn't like!

The Northern Monkey

The Northern Monkey wrote:

:?:

Tried some 5:10's on when in Scotland... they made my feet feel huge! Didn't like!

"Clompy" thats the word i'm looking for!

snotty badger

The Northern Monkey wrote:

I always had problems keeping the power down over anything rocky,

Thats coz your on a HT though innit! :arrow:

The Northern Monkey

snotty badger wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

I always had problems keeping the power down over anything rocky,

Thats coz your on a HT though innit! :arrow:

but... i'm still on a HT :P

popstar

General question, what is your position of feet on a pedal? SPD's give you the -stylee- of standing/touching pedals with your toes, while with Flats your feet positioned further forward to kind of rotating over the pedal's axle?
IMO SPD's are great for squeezing extra perfomance, while Flats are better suited to MTB due to -Aero- trade and constantly changing technical feautures of trail ?! Correct me if I am wrong.

Thought SPD outright of the box 'cos of feet position promoted bad habbits on pushing on pedals while pushing your bike away from you while in air? Also it's easier to pump the bike on Flats, but thats my own opinion.

sparrowlegs78

I'm tring SPD's out tomorrow at Rivington...I'm a flatpedal lover so far, lets see how tomorrow pans out as to whether I still love my flatties or if I love SPD's..I can see bruises first lol
Caz xx

bartimaeus

I put my spds on my Anthem this weekend - they have been sitting in their box since Easter. Had a good ride out on them today, so maybe I'll keep them on.

Up to now I've been on V8 copies - stuck them on while I was getting to know the new bike. I've really enjoyed the flats - though the recent rain made it clear I did not have grippy shoes to go with them. I've now got a bash and bruise on my shins after slipping off a pedal over a (pretty much rolled) jump. This was (a) painful, and (b) bloody terrifying as the next feature was a berm which I negotiated with little poise, no style. and only one foot on the pedals.

I think the lessons I have learned are that spds are great until something goes badly pear shaped. Flats are also great as long as you have the right shoes to give you decent grip.

So the question is, am I going to shell out on some Nanos and new shoes?

The Northern Monkey

Bartimaeus
pm me for nano's lol.

Uchiga

Welecome to the convert family :P

SPD's allow you to move you feet if you wish they have float on them that allow you to twist your feet if needs be. Feet position on SPD's so long as they are set up with your shoe properly is in actual fact both performance enhancing (slightly) and also i personally find more comfortable.

How you finding the crank brothers? I've known plenty of people with the egg beaters saying that they had to carry a spare pedal with them incase it gave up on them and a complete strip down and service after almost ever major race or serious ride they do just to keep them running. How do yours compare?

The Northern Monkey

I had the usual shimano spd's beforehand but didn't get on.. the felt very clunky and stiff, you could always tell you were connected and it made me feel a bit more wary.
The crank brothers are just smootheee and soft in comparison lol!

Had no problems as yet with the crank brothers, I had heard about problems before I got them but they only cost me £10 lol! Been doing cycle paths to get used to them and had a very wet and muddy ride yesterday and they seem to be fine!

The think with the crank brothers smarty is that because they have a bit of a bigger platform without adding much weight, I don't feel as "tippey toey" as I had done before hand.
I've also got the cleats set right back on the shoes to mimmic where I have my feet positioned on flats... I have moved the cleats a bit further forward now though as it feels a lot more natural!

snotty badger

The Northern Monkey wrote:

snotty badger wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

I always had problems keeping the power down over anything rocky,

Thats coz your on a HT though innit! :arrow:

but... i'm still on a HT :P

And theirs your flaw!