should i use cleats or flats

ashleyyyy2011

Hi,

i've posted a few questions on here so far. got another

I will mainly be doing XC/trail ridng do i need cleats or are flats better. All/most of the guys i've been off-road with including the guy who owns my LBS use cleats. But every magazine photo i see shows people using flats.

I'm a roadie normally and am used to being 'clipped in' so remembering to unclip isn't much of an issue. Is it personal preference or is there a good argument for one or the other?

Cheers

Chunkers1980

Us MTBers say ride whatever you feel is best for you.

The only way you'll know is by trying.

jweston

The argument for using clipins is that you get more pedalling efficiency, but with flats if you heel down over the top, and scoop backwards across the bottom of your pedal stroke you're getting about the same as you would from clips. Flats also force you to maintain better technique as you go downhill, you need to keep your heels down make them stick to the pedals. When clipped in it doesn't really matter if you point your toes down or not until the forward weighting that promotes sends you over the bars. The key with flats though is to get a decent quality set and to use a sticky rubber soled shoe with them, I use FiveTens but Shimano DX and VANs are also good. Don't use a plastic soled shoe, that won't give you any grip!

I have bikes that I clip into and bikes that I don't, if you can, give both a try and see which you like best just like Chunkers1980 said.

cooldad

Flats, Shimano, Rock Shox and full sus.

Save the next three threads.

Welsh_Wizard

I am in your predicament too mate. Ex roadie coming across to MTB - loving the XC and DH type MTB'ing.

I loved the clipped-in feeling on road SPD's but that was cos you could put down the power on the road and get some serious speed going, with MTB it's more 'finesse'. Don't get me wrong, clip in can work but when your doing serious speed downhill, as a beginner, and you hit a branch do you really want to be attached to your bike ???? I'll suggest no.

5.10's or Teva Links with pair of Nukeproofs or DMR's and you'll be laughing.

compo

Flats.

Cleats are for clipped in gheys

njee20

Don't get me wrong, clip in can work but when your doing serious speed downhill, as a beginner, and you hit a branch do you really want to be attached to your bike ???? I'll suggest no.

It's not like you stay attached to your bike though.

Personal choice, clips for me.

bails87

It's personal choice. I use clips.

As said above, you don't stay attached to your bike in a crash.

nicklouse

use both.

but if using flats with good shoes it can be odd when you cant rotate your feet if you are used to some float.

ashleyyyy2011

nicklouse wrote:

use both.

but if using flats with good shoes it can be odd when you cant rotate your feet if you are used to some float.

this is a good point i hadn't thought about that. i find on the road a bit of float works for me.

At some point i will try flats but i think i will go for cleats as im used to them already. either one it would appear requires a new pair of shoes

nicklouse

also be aware not all pedals offer float.

and be aware of the two shimano cleats single release and multi release.

njee20

Which MTB pedals don't offer float? (serious question). All the main ones certainly do!

nicklouse

not the latest info so there may be more.

viewtopic.php?f=40073&t=12744979

njee20

The only one on that list is the (long defunct) Shimano M636, so the answer, basically, is none ;-)

Roostoids

To the OP.

I switched from flats to clipless on my mtb a while ago. Like you I use clipping in pedals on the road bike so figured it couldn't be that different.

I used to find my feet came off flat pedals a fair bit, especially on bumpy stuff and it ruined my rhythm and got a bit frustrating really, as I was pedalling using the centre of feet or the edge of my feet, just wasn't the way it should be!

Could be I had rubbish pedals and rubbish trainers but it forced the switch to Shimano M520's which were a snip at around £23. They came with the cleats and bolts and I'm much happier now.

Your feet always get unclipped in a crash, without having to actually think about it, and on jumps and drop offs I have so much more confidence and control it's amazing. Good luck.

toasty

Don't get me wrong, clip in can work but when your doing serious speed downhill, as a beginner, and you hit a branch do you really want to be attached to your bike ???? I'll suggest no.

I don't really want to hit branches full stop.

If you feel the need to drag your feet along side your bike while riding I'd advise stabilisers, so you can still apply power to the pedals.

Clips here.

YeehaaMcgee

arrogant prat wrote:

If you feel the need to drag your feet along side your bike while riding I'd advise stabilisers, so you can still apply power to the pedals.

Clips here.

apreading

Once you get past the initial adjustment to cycling in cleats and get used to them, I dont think you will ever feel planted again without them. I just feel so secure. If you are worried about unclipping in a hurry, just adjust the tension right down and your feet come out real easy. My tension is set lower on the MTB than the road bike.

The only real problem with clips on an MTB is when its really muddy and the cleat and clip get clogged up with mud - but I managed 30 miles of sticky, gloopy mud yesterday round Leith Hill, with only a few occasions when that happened and just had to push down a little harder to clip in - a few taps or a twig at stops soon cleared them too.

Until now I have had clips on one side and flats on the other on the MTB as I thought it would be good to have the option to ride unclipped through technical sections to keep my feet free to push off things, but honestly this is no more difficult to do from the clips and I am now replacing them with a set of clips on both sides.

ashleyyyy2011

got some shimano clips in the end. wasn't sure how well the mechanism would work as its quite different to my keo road clips. Upon trying them i found it even easier to clip in. So as i'm already used to being attached to the bike i think this was the right move for me.

Also had a look at one-sided pedals so i could ride in normal shoes too, but i'm unlcukly to use my MTB for going into town.

toasty

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

arrogant prat wrote:

If you feel the need to drag your feet along side your bike while riding I'd advise stabilisers, so you can still apply power to the pedals.

Clips here.

Don't worry, you'll get there soon. Chin up little soldier.

njee20

Also had a look at one-sided pedals so i could ride in normal shoes too, but i'm unlcukly to use my MTB for going into town.

Dreadful idea, worst of both worlds. Just wear your cycling shoes if you're riding into town, or if it's a short distance just use trainers on your SPDs.

Good Old Bakes

I'm a newcomer to cleats. Fixed my SPD pedals on at the weekend, tootled off and got on with them like a house on fire. Definitely made an improvement and I'm glad I gave them a go.

IanLD

Road bike user here with Look Keo and Spd on my hybrid, so used spd on my mountain bike.

No problem at all doing green and blue runs at Glentrool, and green at Glentress was fine. Different story for the blue Glentress run where I really struggled on some of the steep rough rocky climbs. Ended up having to walk a bit, but to be fair, so were the guys with flats.

My technique is pretty dire at the moment, so I find myself hurriedly trying to unclip and have a big gouge out of my left calf when I only just got out on an uphill section. Problem with the climbs is the pressure of pushing down to try and keep going makes it harder to unclip.

Seemed to me that most of the red and black run guys at Glentress were on flats, but that might just have been what I could see at the car park and where the runs combined.

Going to stay on green and blue runs, so will persevere with spd and see how that goes. Going to see if I can get some advice on basic mountain bike skills too which will help keep my momentum up and reduce the need for a quick dab.

paul.skibum

IanLD wrote:

Road bike user here with Look Keo and Spd on my hybrid, so used spd on my mountain bike.

No problem at all doing green and blue runs at Glentrool, and green at Glentress was fine. Different story for the blue Glentress run where I really struggled on some of the steep rough rocky climbs. Ended up having to walk a bit, but to be fair, so were the guys with flats.

My technique is pretty dire at the moment, so I find myself hurriedly trying to unclip and have a big gouge out of my left calf when I only just got out on an uphill section. Problem with the climbs is the pressure of pushing down to try and keep going makes it harder to unclip.

Seemed to me that most of the red and black run guys at Glentress were on flats, but that might just have been what I could see at the car park and where the runs combined.

Going to stay on green and blue runs, so will persevere with spd and see how that goes. Going to see if I can get some advice on basic mountain bike skills too which will help keep my momentum up and reduce the need for a quick dab.

I would suggest you loosen the spring tension on your spds if you are finding it that hard to unclip - If I really needed to put my foot down I could pull my foot out in any direction I wanted. There should be a little allen bolt on the spd with a + - sign - turn it a few clicks to - to ease off the spring

YeehaaMcgee

I'd suggest binning the SPDs if you're struggling with the climbs on Glentress Blue, or you'll end up in real trouble on more technical trails.

Cymru-dave

Hi, I'm a total newbie to mtbing but I do a lot of road cycling, I used to use SPD on my road bike before buying SPD-SL's so I then had some shimano SPD pedals and cleats spare, last week I bought a Specialized Camber Expert and shoved the SPD's on straight away as I had them sat there, I went up to Brechfa (south Wales) to give it a bash and had no real issues, I set the pedals on their easiest setting so I could get our of them quickly, I fell off once but that's purely because I ended up on the black trail instead of the red but nothing to do with the pedals (all on my mates gopro... Gutted) my feet came straight out of the pedals and I wasn't 'attached to the bike', I've started with clipless and I'll stick with them I think against my experienced mates advice, but I can see pro's and con's to both.

Me, clipless... But I dont really know any better.

Dr Avinuon

I used SPD’s for a few months last year but found it hard to unclip on slow and tricky sections and had a lot of falls where I could not unclip. It got to the point where I would unclip early to avoid a fall and stopped trying tricks. So I went and got myself a set of flats and my confidence is back and I don’t think I will try SPD’s again for some time. There is no answer to your question just give it a go and see how you get on.

apreading

Dr Avinuon wrote:

I used SPD’s for a few months last year but found it hard to unclip on slow and tricky sections and had a lot of falls where I could not unclip. It got to the point where I would unclip early to avoid a fall and stopped trying tricks. So I went and got myself a set of flats and my confidence is back and I don’t think I will try SPD’s again for some time. There is no answer to your question just give it a go and see how you get on.

Just wind the tension down - no problem unclipping then.