flats or spd's?

mudcow007

just been havign a conversation with a guy in work over pedals.

i personally love platform pedals like (my current) DMR V12's



super grippy even in the wet an theres no need to wear "special" shoes

plus, you can simply put your feet down at the traffic lights (when you fail at a trackstand)

also how wrong would it be to stick flat bars on a tricross?

Mr Plum

SPDs, and give the drops a go.

pastryboy

What makes you think you can't simply put your foot down with SPD's - have you actually tried them?

hatbeard

could chuck some holdfasts/cheaper equivalents on the flat pedals for a half decent compromise between the two.

Kieran_Burns

Both.

I do.

shimano M324 - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=5937

Interestingly - the holes in the sides allow you to fit pedal reflectors.

Best of both worlds.

sketchley

SPDs as once you are used to them you will not go back. When I got back into cycling after 20 year lay off I went straight to SPDs. I adjusted to them very quickly in less than a day. Only had one stupid moment when I stopped at a cash machine and ended up on my arse. Might be a bit harder transistioning when used to falts but these days when stopping clipping out is as instinctive a braking. My advice get some and go to local park and practice clipping out when stopping, then use on commute worth every penny IMO.

dhope

pastryboy wrote:

What makes you think you can't simply put your foot down with SPD's - have you actually tried them?

Hello, my name is Dhope and I can't trackstand :oops:
But yeah, I use SPDs and they're fine. Just becomes second nature clipping and unclipping (apart from at the start when you fall over once or twice).

mudcow007

pastryboy wrote:

What makes you think you can't simply put your foot down with SPD's - have you actually tried them?

yeah i tried them years ago. anyone rememeber the old Shimano DX pedals?

clarkey cat

Mudcow... I get this feeling that you are resisting the call to start riding with drops.

This bothers me.

Just bite the bullet and do it. If you get the tri-cross it has brakes at the top anyway so you can just pretend its a hybrid until you're ready. You won't go back. I promise you.

unixnerd

SPDs, and give the drops a go.

+1

mudcow007

you see i like how comfotable mtbs ride but i know something like a tricross will be much more efficient and faster on the road and the fact that i have never really ridden one so i dont know what they are like

i just dont want to spend £750+ on a bike an then after the "new bike novelty" wears off i dont like it....

or am i just being a drama queen an need to MTFU?

clarkey cat

my missus, who is possibly even girlier than you, used to ride an MTB and not a day goes past when she doesnt say "Clarkey, thank you so much for convicing me to ride with drops. It has changed my life. I feel complete."

mudcow007

ha!

im going to speak to my LBS an see if i can go out on a ride with the tricross or just anything with drop bars

its going from really wide bars to something skinny. thats the worry

i promise i will man up soon.........

cee

until recently, I had only ridden flats. last week i decided to order some spd pedals and shoes and give it a go...(to be fair, I was struggling to find a decent pair of flat shoes that would suit all my mountain biking needs). I had no issues with my flat pedals.

so, over the last week, I have had one 'moment' (unfortunately, I unclipped my left foot, then toppled to the right, over a bank and fell, bike and all about 6 feet straight into a rock strewn stream....right elbow and hip a bit bruised and swollen).

other than that, they have been very easy to get used to....however, I cannot say that I have noticed much in the way of any other difference.

Maybe my pedalling technique on the flats was quite good already, maybe I will notice more difference as time passes.

I ended up with the shimano m424 pedals, which i guess are the modern deore equivalent of those dx pedals....

clarkey cat

Mudcow - why dont you set up a poll and ask the wider forum?

If you are worried about riding something really skinny then just get a nice tourer or a CX bike. They are pretty chunky.

pastryboy

ME = mtb with flats > spd > drops > single speed > fixed

Change is good - wouldn't go back.

mudcow007

clarkey cat wrote:

If you are worried about riding something really skinny then just get a nice tourer or a CX bike. They are pretty chunky.

i think it all stems from the way i have rode most of my life i started riding street trials and moved onto big gnarley downhill bikes poking my finger and sniggering all the way at all of those lycra clad riders on them silly skinny bikes

but now i want a silly skinny bike, i think im in denial!?

i had a race with someone last night riding a specialized roubaix, that looked sweet

clarkey cat

how about this?

http://www.ifbikes.com/OurBikes/Road/Ti_Crown_Jewel/

veronese68

Stick with drops, you are paying extra for the levers. A flat bar bike with the same spec would be cheaper.
I went from a mountain bike on my commute to a Kona Jake, similar to the Tricross, and have never regretted it. The variety of hand positions is good. I don't often ride in the drops to be fair. But I did this morning trying to get out of that poxy wind.
I bet people riding into London from the south west had an easy ride in.

flatpat

I have 424s on my commuter and generally like them (I also have some on my mtb). the only BUT is that they pretty slippy if you're wearing ordinary shoes on a damp day. If, however, you're OK to wear SPDs for the every day commute and normal shoes for just the odd pub trip, I'd recommend them. As the others say, I've never had any problem getting out other than the first week prattfalls.

I also swapped from drops to a flat bar (on a Kona Sutra) but that's because I bought too large a frame - so I felt unconfortable/too stretched out when down in the drops which is where you want to be for full-power braking. The weight-forward position also made the stiff fork uncomfortable. That's user error though - I'm sure if you'd buy the right size it wouldn't be a problem.

kelsen

mudcow007 wrote:

ha!

im going to speak to my LBS an see if i can go out on a ride with the tricross or just anything with drop bars

its going from really wide bars to something skinny. thats the worry

i promise i will man up soon.........

Was it not you who posted that your boss had a Tricross lying around AND that your dad also ordered one? Surely one of them would be happy to give you a go on their bike?

Marcus_C

I saw a tricross with flat bars the other day (with bar ends), it looked like a hybrid...

Mr Plum

Given your recent threads, if I were you I'd be tempted to buy a fairly decent used road road bike for £350 to £400 from the classifieds forum to give road riding a go and see if it's something you can get into. This way you get to try a few new things, don't have a £750 initial outlay and you should be able to recover most of your costs if/when you come to sell the bike if you decide to 'upgrade' or that road riding isn't for you.

mudcow007

kelsen wrote:

Was it not you who posted that your boss had a Tricross lying around AND that your dad also ordered one? Surely one of them would be happy to give you a go on their bike?

yeah that was me, im going to wait for my dads tricross to arrive to test ride. reckons that will be the best bet then i go for a few miles on it an see what its like

my boss has said that he might be keeping his one.

clarkey cat wrote:

how about this?

http://www.ifbikes.com/OurBikes/Road/Ti_Crown_Jewel/

thats shexy!!

Sailorchick

Get SPD's. I got a set of M324's in January sales which I've fitted to my commuter. Last night I was in a rush home from the gym (read starving) so couldn't be arsed to change my trainers to my cycling shoes. First time I've ridden on the flat sides and it just felt totally wrong. SPD's really are soo much better.

Just got to get some new pedals for my Specialised as it still just has the basic pedals on it came with. I decided to learn clipless on the commuter as its so battered a few more scratches when the inevitable happens was no worries, however fall off on the Dolce and I'd not be happy. Have actually yet to have that clipless moment yet, come close though.

roger_merriman

try the drops for fast road work they really are lovely.

regarding flats or spd's stick some flats on and get used to the bike.

for the record I have flats on the MTB.

spd's for the old roadie

and cheap flats for the SS drop bared commute bike.

the drops are a better help than the spd's just make sure the flats are grippy.

MaxwellBygraves

Drops and SPD's all the way.
Just bite the bullet and you won't look back.

notsoblue

All of the above...

Get drops and SPDs. And don't be put off by your first ride on a road bike, it will feel awkward and twitchy but you get used to that incredibly quickly. Having been used to a heavy old hybrid, the first ride on my Planet X down Blackfriars Ramp and along the embankment was as terrifying as it was exhilarating. The brakes took some getting used to, I found it tricky to brake on the hoods. But after a couple days it was second nature.

Do it!