How much improved performance from using SPD's?

bike-a-swan

:oops:

Ah well, I like my idea too!

bike-a-swan

I've tried towing another bike with a rope before. It ended with me winded on the ground and everyone else laughing. I'd be loathe to try it again.....

Anonymous

Meh, like getonyourbike says, the flats side has REAL MEN, GRRRRRRR, on our side, if you were to clip your feet into the floor, we'd pull your ankles off :twisted:

bike-a-swan wrote:

I've tried towing another bike with a rope before. It ended with me winded on the ground and everyone else laughing. I'd be loathe to try it again.....

Hehe, the more I think about it, the more fun it sounds, especially after a few beers!

bike-a-swan

yeehaamcgee wrote:

a few beers!

That leads to bike jousting. Bike jousting results in 15 minutes of hilarity followed by a couple of days of serious pain every time you try and move. I could probably be persuaded to try it again....

Anonymous

yep, done the bike jousting thing when we were at school, with broom handles. It is also a great laugh.

bike-a-swan

Good one to try is making your own 'velodrome' and running a pursuit race. Works best on wet grass, mark out a square/triangle/whatever, preferably with some sharp corners and chairs on the inside to hit, space people around it with loo roll (or something) tied on to stream out behind them. Everyone starts together, lose your loo roll and you're out, last man rolling wins.

Northwind

tiny_pens wrote:

2. Easier to get 'Awesomely high' bunny hops (in my mind I am the world record holder!)

That's not bunny hopping.

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Meh, like getonyourbike says, the flats side has REAL MEN, GRRRRRRR, on our side

Yup. But also me, dragging the side down. Onto which team will the bipeduals be put?

jon1993

to the initial post i belive they do offer a power advantage because you not only cn use your whole body weight to push down on the pedal but also pull up on the other leading to greater acceleration as you can put more power down, also i belive that being fixed to your bike when flying along on rough black routes is a massive adavantage but i guess once again its down to preferance and if you get use 2 them or get the type where you dont always have to be clipped in also has a pedal surface you get the best of both world pedals in tight turns for the confidence and spds for climbs and rough ground ect hope this helps

supersonic

What is 'power' though? Are you confusing it with torque? Force? Energy?

evo3ben

I have to say, there seems to be alot of contradiction between whats said on this forum and what is printed in magazines pmsl

Only the other month did an artical in WMB talk about how much more efficiant spd's are over flats yet members working for that same mag say totally different :roll:

So, which of the two is right?

Anonymous

Show us some contradiction then.

Anonymous

getonyourbike wrote:

kaiser83 wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Can the Mods make a special section of the forum called something like Boring questions and put one example of each thread of this nature in it so we can just direct people there?

For inclusion:-

Clipless vs Flats?
MTB clipless vs Road Clipless?
SRAM v Shimano v Campag?
Fixies or not?
Is the orange 5 a good bike?
RLJing right or wrong?
Did Lance Armstrong Dope?
Does God exist?
Is josh-tp gay?

Any others?

^^ VERY MUCH THIS ^^

the SPD vs FLATS questions comes up alot and a sticky might be in order??

+ PO
TA
TO
!!!

I just logged on to ask this question lol!!!! I am getting SPDS but not sure weather to get a cage or not?

bails87

lennybalony wrote:

I just logged on to ask this question lol!!!! I am getting SPDS but not sure weather to get a cage or not?

A cage isn't necessary, but I've just changed to the XT trail pedals from 'normal' SPDs and found it good to have a slightly larger platform to aim for. It wasn't really an issue with normal ones, so maybe just get some cheap pedals to start with to see if you even get on with SPDs.....if you know anyone who's just, say, moved to XT trail pedals and so might have some M520s lying around.....

Chunkers1980

I have 3 pairs all a bit nailed.

On CRC sale they are doing the 540s as Njee say's for a bargain £30

Less plastic than the 520s and only 8 pounds more.

tiny_pens

Northwind wrote:

tiny_pens wrote:

2. Easier to get 'Awesomely high' bunny hops (in my mind I am the world record holder!)

That's not bunny hopping.

Eh? Lifting both wheels off the gound like a jump - oh forget about it.

P.S. Stay out of my mind! You might catch something if you hang around too long.

Chunkers1980

Tinypen15 - that's not bunny hopping - that's jumping with your body and pulling the bike up.

A bunnyhop is called that because it looks like a bunny hopping - i.e. it lifts the front and powers up the back.

To bunnyhop the front must come up first then followed by the rear - SPD jumping mean you're able to jump with the bike flat or even rear first.

Chunkers1980

These new trail pedals are completely different to what you're after.

You are talking about M324 or M647.

That's another topic not to get into - Proper SPDs or hybrids....

njee20

But think I want a platform so can use them unclipped and in reg shoes if possible.

They're awful for anything more than 2 minutes to the shops. Just buy Bails' 520s.

Sizing varies, as with regular shoes, so yes, trying is a good idea.

Anonymous

njee20 wrote:

But think I want a platform so can use them unclipped and in reg shoes if possible.

They're awful for anything more than 2 minutes to the shops. Just buy Bails' 520s.

Sizing varies, as with regular shoes, so yes, trying is a good idea.

are they? dam!!! some one should sort that issue out. seams coman sense to me! I best get looking for some shoes and see if bails87 still wants to sell.

njee20

Why? You'll be putting a pair of shoes on to cycle, so why not just put on cycling shoes? You can get casual looking shoes if you're riding to the pub or whatever.

tiny_pens

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Tiny_pens - that's not bunny hopping - that's jumping with your body and pulling the bike up.

A bunnyhop is called that because it looks like a bunny hopping - i.e. it lifts the front and powers up the back.

To bunnyhop the front must come up first then followed by the rear - SPD jumping mean you're able to jump with the bike flat or even rear first.

You say potato I say tomato. :P

<shattering sound of dreams breaking/>

bails87

DHB M1s are good enough shoes, and Wiggle now do free returns for clothing, which I assume includes shoes. So buy two/three pairs of shoes and send back the ones that don't fit. Or buy one pair and if they don;t fit, swap them for another pair.

Thewaylander

njee20 wrote:

Why? You'll be putting a pair of shoes on to cycle, so why not just put on cycling shoes? You can get casual looking shoes if you're riding to the pub or whatever.

You seen what most sets of cycling shoes look like mate there upseting to the eye in the extreme!

njee20

Plenty of 'skate' type shoes out there. 5.10s and what not - which are often the choice for flat pedals.

Personally though, not being a fashion victim, I wear things for their intended purpose, not other things I may do whilst wearing them. It'd be a bit weird if Lewis Hamilton started racing in jeans and a t-shirt, so he looked more normal for the walk to the podium. :roll:

Thewaylander

Yeh but race jump suits look cool,

Bright iluminous yellow shoes on the other hand. I mean there isn't a reason they have to make you look like a complete wierdo, bit of sensible styling and colours is needed in the XC world hehe

supersonic

evo3ben wrote:

I have to say, there seems to be alot of contradiction between whats said on this forum and what is printed in magazines pmsl

Only the other month did an artical in WMB talk about how much more efficiant spd's are over flats yet members working for that same mag say totally different :roll:

So, which of the two is right?

Are you referring to me? Could you be kind enough to point out the contradiction, rather than rolling your eyes and 'pissing yourself laughing'?

My stance on pedals has been the same - personal preference. They can offer advantages to some riders, but maybe not others.

evo3ben

Just read back through your posts about your opinions on spd's and must apologise for my harsh mistake with the comment i made, sorry :oops:

There was an artical in one of the mags, think it was WMB stating that spd's are more efficiant that flats. Think the artical was called 'Thank God for clipless'.
Obviously this is his opinion which i totally agree with but also agree that they are not for all.

supersonic

No probs, and really appreciate you coming back and posting.

Anonymous

It does make a change, and means evo3ben is not lumped in with the forum mentalists!

The problem is that there appear to be a few schools of thought. Many (I'd argue, most, in fact) people and research seems to show that there is an increase in efficiency with SPDs, but this is more to do with the stiff interface.
However, there are other studies, which show that pedalling however you personally prefer results in the best overall performance.

For example, if somebody's been riding well on flats for 20+ years, then switching to SPDs won't have much advantage.

So, until someone conclusively proves once and for all that one is more efficient than the other, then it's all in the air. And if you're racing, then stick to SPuDs, since there's certainly no way you'll lose efficiency using them.

Think of it as an atheist who goes to church each sunday, just in case he was wrong about there being no god and no heaven

Bike Bloke

Having pretty much done all my mountain biking with SPD's I recently have started getting into the move gravity/gnarly side of things and found that whilst SPD's are not really an issue, they're not doing my technique any favours & there's always the "what if" in the back of my mind.

As a result I switched to some huge platform grippy pedals & some 5/10's. First few laps of the local jump line and it was like learning to ride a bike all over again ( :oops: ), however it's amazing how quick you learn to ride properly. My riding has improved greatly since the swap, that said I still miss the SPD feeling, especially on tricky climbs! No more fake bunny hops here!