New To Spd's

Uchiga

I had a fractured spine two years ago put me out for a good 3-4 months so i've only really been riding seriously for about 2 years maybe marginally less...

I can stay on my pedals but when you go over terrian which is constant bumps practically like pot holes one after the other i seem to loose my footing as they get bounced out of the pedals... That is my only problem with flats...

thel33ter

Uchiga wrote:

I had a fractured spine two years ago put me out for a good 3-4 months so i've only really been riding seriously for about 2 years maybe marginally less...

I can stay on my pedals but when you go over terrian which is constant bumps practically like pot holes one after the other i seem to loose my footing as they get bounced out of the pedals... That is my only problem with flats...

Try harder.

wheezee

My feet would fly off the pedals all the time if I wasn't wearing SPDs. In fact, just this weekend, a particularly rough bounce made one of my multi-release cleats let go.

Nothing to do with my weight, or the trail, or the bike, or anything else. It was my poor technique. I can see how it's done, I understand the theory, but sometimes you just have to admit there are things you haven't yet mastered in reality.

thel33ter

wheezee wrote:

My feet would fly off the pedals all the time if I wasn't wearing SPDs. In fact, just this weekend, a particularly rough bounce made one of my multi-release cleats let go.

Nothing to do with my weight, or the trail, or the bike, or anything else. It was my poor technique. I can see how it's done, I understand the theory, but sometimes you just have to admit there are things you haven't yet mastered in reality.

Thank you That's exactly what Uchiga needs to admit to himself. If he did that he would let himself see his mistakes and how to improve them.

wheezee

It seems to me that part of the problem is trying to stay "light" on the pedals, whilst keeping "heavy" enough to keep your feet in place.

Probably the quickest solution is to have someone who knows what they're doing, watch you in action and try to spot how you're going wrong. Alternatively, stick with the clipless.

Atz

I CAN ride both but I choose to ride flats mostly at the moment. If I go back to my HT and put the flats on that, my feet don't go anywhere for the most part because I've put some effort into learning to control the bike when I'm not physically attached to it. There's a lot of reading of trails to know when to be light and let the bike come with you and some where to push down to follow the bumps.

toasty

To be honest, you learn to ride light with SPDs on just the same as you do with flats, it holds your speed much better, stops you getting as tired etc. Once you've got past the scary factor of SPDs I can't see a huge amount of downsides? It's just a bit more security and lets you carry on pedalling where you couldn't normally, it depends what/where you ride.

This thread always descends into people manically trying to justify what they do, by saying how fast they go compared to their friends.

Anonymous

Uchiga You're doing it wrong. Simple as. Now I realise that you refuse to admit it, or realise it (I mean, hell you couldn't possibly be wrong, right?) so telling you that is probably pointless.
It IS all down to flowing with the bike, correctly. It's not forced, it's not induced, it's just flowing WITH it.

Skateboardeds usually weigh less than a paperweight, but you don't see the good ones having problems do you?

cooldad

Without wanting to add fresh fuel to this debate, are your feet in the right position ie. the balls of your feet on the pedals?
Your body is like a rising rate spring, with your feet and ankles being the first section taking up the small high frequency bumps. Feet too far back (chav style using the instep) and you lose this.
I have no idea about heels up or heels down, as too busy concentrating on what’s ahead to think about my feet, but I do know if my feet slip forward a bit everything goes for a ball of sh1t.

toasty

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Skateboardeds usually weigh less than a paperweight, but you don't see the good ones having problems do you?

Fairly rubbish comparison, the point is over bumpy terrain, not just floating off for no reason. I could throw skiing/snowboarding back at you but it'd be equally as meaningless.

While there is obviously a lot of technique to it, you do still see the odd video of the odd pro downhiller in flats floating off the pedals after the odd slightly misjudged launch into the air.

cooldad wrote:

I have no idea about heels up or heels down

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/10/be-a-better-rider-part-4-heels/

Does make a good amount of difference.

cooldad

Toasty wrote:

cooldad wrote:

]I have no idea about heels up or heels down

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/10/be-a-better-rider-part-4-heels/

Does make a good amount of difference.

What I meant is it's not something I think about when I am riding, in fact the point I was trying to make is I don't think about anything to do with technique.
Just concentrate on what's ahead and let it go.
In truth I'm pretty useless and a coward, so that probably helps as well.

Anonymous

Toasty wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Skateboardeds usually weigh less than a paperweight, but you don't see the good ones having problems do you?

Fairly rubbish comparison, the point is over bumpy terrain, not just floating off for no reason. I could throw skiing/snowboarding back at you but it'd be equally as meaningless.

While there is obviously a lot of technique to it, you do still see the odd video of the odd pro downhiller in flats floating off the pedals after the odd slightly misjudged launch into the air.

cooldad wrote:

I have no idea about heels up or heels down

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/10/be-a-better-rider-part-4-heels/

Does make a good amount of difference.

Ever see people do tricks on skateboards? Right. And they don't generally tend to just magically lose the board do they? It's all about control.

Snowboarding requires you to be attatched, since you couldn't lift the downslope edge otherwise.

bennett_346

I'll be honest and say some people (including me) are just too lazy to run flats all the time. I rode flats for 7 months and learned a lot, but i was fed up of having my feet unweight on a slightly misjudged jump or rock. This mostly happened when i was too tired to concentrate and because i'm a lazy guy i'd rather use SPDs and not have to worry about the odd occasion.

I still use my legs and ankles as suspension as you would for flats it's just the one or two times a month where my feet would slip due to a lack of me concentrating that i'd rather do without, as its been the source of bad injuries in the past.

Anonymous

:? It's not a case of paying attention though, it's just, well, learning it. How often do you steer too much in a car and hit the inside wall, for example? You don't because you've learnt that feel for it.
Same with flats. Claiming that you're using SPDs to stop your feet coming off is just saying you never got the technique engraved in your mind, and that you have ni interest in learning it, you'd rather cheat.

bennett_346

yeehaamcgee wrote:

:? It's not a case of paying attention though, it's just, well, learning it. How often do you steer too much in a car and hit the inside wall, for example? You don't because you've learnt that feel for it.
Same with flats. Claiming that you're using SPDs to stop your feet coming off is just saying you never got the technique engraved in your mind, and that you have ni interest in learning it, you'd rather cheat.

Correct, i'm not denying that im too lazy to practice the technique until it becomes second nature. SPDs work for me and solve the problem, and even if it's a cheat who's to say that's wrong? I'm sure this is the same for many people but unlike most im not ashamed to admit it :P

I think it may come from a background in skiing because i've ski'd for 8 years now and have always been used to jumping etc whilst attached to the skis so it feels more natural for me.

Anonymous

technique is technique though. You can hide awzy from it, but not learning it means you may well come a cropper because of it.

bennett_346

I'm not saying i don't have the technique personally as i rode flats for 7 months last year, but i do understand what you're saying. It's just the occasional problem of slipping now and again that i attribute to loss of concentration which SPDs negate.

Uchiga

I would like to point out I bialed from the argument because everything i've seen here is everything i already know, and already do. I no longer ride with flats so problem of feet flying out is actually no issue, i was interested in cause, seems like i hit the nail on the head in the first place. Down to my light weight and the aluminium hardtail. Technique in my case actually had no effect, perhaps i wasn't describing what i was riding over quite clearly enough... Anyway Uchiga out. :roll:

Atz

Still say it's technique. l33ter seems to have no problem with staying on his pedals irrespective of bike choice. You say technique had no effect, sounds like applying the wrong technique didn't

bennett_346

Atz wrote:

Still say it's technique. l33ter seems to have no problem with staying on his pedals irrespective of bike choice. You say technique had no effect, sounds like applying the wrong technique didn't

Who is this reffering to?

cooldad

bennett_346 wrote:

Atz wrote:

Still say it's technique. l33ter seems to have no problem with staying on his pedals irrespective of bike choice. You say technique had no effect, sounds like applying the wrong technique didn't

Who is this reffering to?

You have read the whole thread?

Atz

bennett - you're not saying you don't have occasional technique lapses. Uchiga is most definitely saying he's technically perfect and that gravity is the reason he rides flats poorly. Hope that clears it up

bennett_346

Haha, im saying i have the technique but sometimes slip anyway because of tiredness, i think SPDs suit the 7 or 8 hours rides we regularly do cos you do start losing concentration towards the end. Damn gravity :roll:

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

you'd rather cheat.

So what? We all cheat. We use suspension, when being able to perfectly land any drop or basorb any bump would mean we might be able to not "come a cropper" at some point. Same with good brakes and knobbly tyres. If you were such a good rider that you could ride any DH route on a road bike with 23mm slicks then you'd probably never crash, but we cheat by using 2.5" tyres and suspension and wide bars and frames that can withstand a bad line choice.

If someone wants to 'cheat' by using SPDs then let them, as long as they know that that's what they're doing and they're not buying them in the hope that it'll fix all their riding problems.

Anonymous

bails87 wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

you'd rather cheat.

So what? We all cheat. We use suspension, when being able to perfectly land any drop or basorb any bump would mean we might be able to not "come a cropper" at some point. Same with good brakes and knobbly tyres. If you were such a good rider that you could ride any DH route on a road bike with 23mm slicks then you'd probably never crash, but we cheat by using 2.5" tyres and suspension and wide bars and frames that can withstand a bad line choice.

You're missing the point so completely that I'm wondering if you're in the same 4-dimensional space as it.

If you don't know how to corner, different tyres will not hide that. Going much slower will.
If you don't know how to ride rough terrain, getting suspension will not hide that, going slower will.
etc etc

There's a big difference between "Oh, I couldn't be arsed to learn proper technique so I just ignore it and partially hide it"
and saying "I'd rather use mud tyres in winter gloop"

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bails87 wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

you'd rather cheat.

Blah.

You're missing the point so completely that I'm wondering if you're in the same 4-dimensional space as it.

I've told you a million times not to exaggerate

If you don't know how to corner, different tyres will not hide that. Going much slower will.
If you don't know how to ride rough terrain, getting suspension will not hide that, going slower will.
etc etc

There's a big difference between "Oh, I couldn't be arsed to learn proper technique so I just ignore it and partially hide it"
and saying "I'd rather use mud tyres in winter gloop"

Of course, but what's the difference between saying "by the end of an 8 hour ride, I find SPDs help to keep my feet in the right place. They only start to move about on flats due to exhaustion rather than just poor technique" and "when I'm riding at Llandegla I like to have 170mm of suspension at the back because it helps to stop my feet getting bounced off the pedals"?

Anonymous

Quite a lot :?

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Quite a lot :?

Meh, doesn't really matter tbh, we can all do what we like.

One is using a bit of technology/equipment to keep your feet on the pedals, the other is using a bit of technology/equipment to keep your feet on the pedals.

Anonymous

No. One is using technology to increase traction. The other is using technology to hide bad technique.

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

No. One is using technology to increase traction. The other is using technology to hide bad technique.

And some people don't buy long travel FS to do the latter?

Edit: Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's their bike, their money etc, if that's what they want to do then fair play to them.