To clip or not to clip?

wollow007

Hi Guy's

I'm sure that the forum has been here many times.

Currently I ride with V12 or Superstar pedals, five ten Sam Hill shoes which are good, grip level is good.

Have noticed myself changing foot position a lot, also pedals keep kicking my feet off in technical climbs and then its a nightmare getting back on the bike. Yesterday I did a downhill section at Swinley Forest and nearly got bucked off twice, both times I lost my footing a little on the pedals.

I have only just brought the Superstar pedals which replace the worn out V12's.

Should I invest on a pair of clip pedals Shimano XTR's are nice, and a pair of MTB shoes to match. I'm a little worried about getting out of them fast in slides, slips etc and if anyone has experienced feet numbness while using them.

Would like your views and comments to enable me to make a decision, the setup will cost around £200 so I want to make sure I will get the most out of them.

Also got an endurance event in May, 24-hour 10-mile laps, I would imagine that most riders will be clipped in?

Cheers for the help

VWsurfbum

personal preference. I clip in during the summer and use flats during the winter, if i'm doing something more gnarley i use flats but when im racing/long distances defiatly clips.

Anonymous

Its your technique that needs working on. If you're getting bucked off the pedals, then you will still be getting bucked with the SPDs. Control is not the same thing as having your feet stuck to the bike.

cee

I recently moved from flats to clips on my trail bike...

long story...but short version is....5.10's are not weather resisteant enough for the riding I do.......neither are vans etc.....shimano discontinued the flats i used to use (mp56)

I got a set of the 25 quid shim dx pedals...and a pair of the white dx shoes (total price £75...so less than a pair 5.10s anyway)

I set the clips to the loosest setting and to be honest....not noticing much difference....although, I need to tighten them up a bit now, as I find I occasionaly unclip when i don't mean it. I had one awesome clipless moment, when i unclipped my left foot and then fell to the right...over a bank and into a stream 6 feet below me....and a couple of times when i unclipped in time and nearly lost my balance but didn't fall...just looked like a giraffe on ice for a second!

i didn't find my feet slipping off with flats to begin with, and could already bunnyhop nearly a couple of feet with flats.....

everyone will have a different preference...and as i use my dh bike this summer (still on flats...) i may find i prefer one over the other...

my advice would be...try it....but don't go stupid buying 200 quids worth of stuff to do it...

get a 2nd and set of pedals from ebay, a new set of cleats for the,, and a pair cheap spd shoes...chain reaction stock 3 different models for less than £25 quid each.

then if you get on with it....buy more expensive stuff to suit your taste.

cee

oh...and plus 1 to what yeehaa said.....getting bucked but still connected to the bike may result in more spectacular crashing.....

as i said...i wasn't having any issues like that before i switched...my reason was availability of decent (for my needs) flat shoes.

bike-a-swan

See if you can borrow some shoes. If you're going to buy the pedals, get the m520s first, they're about 17 quid so if you don't fancy them it hasn't cost too much. I like spds, you may not!

CharlieH

Spent 10 years with spds then swapped to kona wah wah pedals and five10 impacts over the winter. I've just spent a whole weekend at Glentress and Innerleithen, did all the red routes and didn't slip once!!!

It did take a little getting used to at first as I'd been clipped in so long but the best advice I had was dropping my heals. With my heals dropped my feet haven't slipped once. Before I knew about this i had an off when the bike came came to a sudden stop on a rock and both feet slipped off slamming my chest into the saddle!

I can now also bunny hop as high as I could with clips.

Which superstar pedals are they? If it's the Nanos then they are almost identical to my konas and should be great

nicklouse

CharlieH

did the same but a few years ago.

still keep the SPDs for the XC bike but flats on all the others.

bails87

As others have said, don't buy XTR straight away. Get the M520s and some cheap shoes.

I like SPDs, but I didn't have the problems you're talking about. I'm sure there was an almost identical thread this week about someone being 'bucked' off the pedals and the advice was the same, SPDs are fine if you like them, but they won't really do that much to cover up bad technique.

Eranu

I wouldn't ever bother with XTR pedals tbh, pedals tend to hit rocks, tree stumps etc I've broken a few M520's but at £20 they're faily cheap to replace, unlike XTR.

ThePriory1978

Concur with Eranu, cheap spd pedals nice shoes for the win.

Hairylegs66

Have been using Outland flats (very average grip, only 5 pins per pedal) with Five Ten Impacts over the winter as I had too many 'slow motion dismounts' (ahem) with my Time Atacs and Specialised BG shoes. I think that the clipless set up gave me much more power in my pedal stroke than the more flexibly soled Impacts but a lot less confidence in the sticky technical stuff. Also think about your knee joints if you are prone to problems in that area, some clipless pedals allow more float than others, which is why I use Atacs which don't seem to aggravate my knackered knees. I agree with the others here - no need to spend a fortune to go clipless if you are not sure. And practice clipping in and out before you go out for the first time!!

SandyMTB

I agree with what Yeehaa and Cee have said above: if you're not using your legs correctly to absorb bumps, clipping in could worsen your problem. Getting bucked off the bike in flats is bad; getting bucked up over the bars with the bike still attached to your feet would be fairly catastrophic!

Atz

This is complete flashback to an earlier thread.

+1 for technique needed rather than new pedals

but another vote for get whatever makes you happy. If you don't want to bother with practicing in order to get that technique sorted, buy some spds.

TownyDC

Hi

Have been using clipless for over 10 years and have never gone back to flats since.
Currently running Shimano M520 pedals and M077 shoes and get on fine with both.
Only paid £15 (brand new) for the pedals and have had no woes with the cheaper set up.
I find that even on the red trails, being clipped in gives me better balance on the bike, with the feeling of being "part man / part machine".
Have had many a tumble and always managed to unclip.
Being an old BMX-er, the thought of banging flat pedals with studs onto my shins brings back bad memories.

Dave

Too old for this

I've just bought these for my first bash at SPD's, beauty of it is if I dont fancy clipping in I just use t'other side of the pedals. 8) [/url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003623T16/ref=oss_product[url][/url]