Clipping in

RossoCorso34

I tend to ride a little more on the road than I do off-road now, and on the road I'm always clipped in. It took a little bit of getting used to, but now I could not imagine riding on flats. However, I've always felt that I wanted to stay on flats for the MTB, but last night riding some trails it felt like there was something missing. I felt as though I missed being clipped in.

So, now I'm trying to chose which pedals to go with and why. I ride with DMR V12s at the moment, and they are much bigger than the stock pedals, and I really like how you feel the extra size under foot. Does this matter with being clipped in? At the moment I'd like to have something that's they and sizable incase I have to be unclipped for a few pedal stokes.

The short list currently is the Nukeproof Horizon CS CrMo Trail, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... prod156620

Shimano XT M8020 Trail Wide Platform
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... prod135891

And finally Funn Mamba One Side Clip
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... prod122715

I like the Funn, as they are flat one side, but I'm not sure if that's useful or not. The Shimano get a great set of reviews, but don't look as big of a platform as the Nukeproof.

How does the experience of being clipped in off-road differ from on road? Is the advantage quite as great?

fat daddy

theboyfold wrote:

How does the experience of being clipped in off-road differ from on road? Is the advantage quite as great?

good question

some people love being clipped in .. some hate it .....then there is me that straight down the middle.

being clipped in gives you loads more control, your feet don't move, you can pull up with your feet which is particularly useful when climbing a hard arsed climb

the only downside is losing the bike sometimes your foot doesn't come off the clip and you fall .... but how often does this happen ? ... its happened twice with me ... few close calls but having clips has only resulted in two offs

I don't know how many crashes I have avoided by being clipped in though .. probably none.

Mostly I still ride mtb with flats ..... if nothing else I have convinced myself that it teaches me good form with bunny hops and jumps. that with being clipped in I would have cheated on and just pulled up with the feet

For not overly technical riding though, easy trails etc, then clips I would say offer more advantage than when on road

JGTR

Not sure what shoes and pedals you are using but a decent set of pedals and MTB specific shoes (e.g. fiveTens) are very good and the level of grip you get in my experience is akin to being clippped in so it may be worth investigating this depending on your currrnt set up. I used to use Vans but having switched to FiveTens the difference is like night and day.

That said I also ride clipped in which does give a much better connection with the bike and gives extra confidence once you get used to it. I've never had a problem with high speed crashes as my foot always comes out and if you set the cleats up so they release easily then it becomes second nature to unclip in the event of an off.

The most serious injuries I have seen from
Clips have been low speed (walking pace, stationary) where riders have not been able to unclip early enough or have been caught out on a slow technical section, have fallen to one side and invariably injured a shoulder, wrist, arm etc so be aware of this.

I find where clips let me down are slow speed technical sections, especially up steep inclines. I have SPD pedal with a platform so will ride unclipped in tricky sections which actually isn't too bad.

The reason I went to flats was that as I got faster I found I was holding back in clips whereas I felt more confident pushing myself knowing that if I needed to I could just put a foot down or ditch the bike. It's more of a mind thing in reality as clips do give a better connection which helps when going faster.

Basically I have used both and most of the issues are in my head if that makes sense, just need to take more care when wearing clips but overall IMO they are better.

Not sure if this helps??

figbat

I ride clipped in all the time except if there's an especially technical or slow or really boggy bit that looks more likely to need a dab, when I'll unclip. I use Shimano M324:



...and use the 'flat' side for unclipped riding. I found that trying to use double-sided pedals when unclipped led to me naturally becoming clipped in again as I pedalled. Having the flat side also allows me to ride the bike with regular shoes/trainers when I bimble about with the kids.

For 99% of the time I am clipped in - it allows for more efficient/powerful pedalling and keeps my feet in the right place on bumpy or downhill sections. I did take a few newbie tumbles early on but it's been a while since I had a failure-to-unclip-in-time fall.

RossoCorso34

Thanks for the considered replies, it certainly doesn't seem as cut and dried as road use.

To answer one of the questions, I currently have DMR V12s on the bike which I like in terms of the size of the platform.

What I could do, would be to try and pair of Five Tens on those pedals, and should I want to test the clipped in element later, I could swap them from my CX (which is mainly used for commuting) as that has a set of SPD / flat pedals and I have shoes that work with those pedals. I could try those and see how I feel about being clipped in when on the trails. However, the flat side on those pedals is pretty poor.

JBA

Buy a cheap pair of Shimano SPD pedals and see how you get on.
M520 or M530 are around £20.

If you are worried about not be able to unclip then fit multirelease cleats to your shoes. They allow you pull out without having to twist your foot as much. They are marked with an 'M' and are silver rather than the standard cleats that are black.

RossoCorso34

JBA wrote:

Buy a cheap pair of Shimano SPD pedals and see how you get on.
M520 or M530 are around £20.

That's not a bad shout, I can reuse the SPD shoes I already have

GedFoss

fat daddy wrote:

Mostly I still ride mtb with flats ..... if nothing else I have convinced myself that it teaches me good form with bunny hops and jumps. that with being clipped in I would have cheated on and just pulled up with the feet

I hope you'll forgive my ignorance here, but how else do you pull the rear end of the bike up with you when you jump? Grip the saddle with thighs/arse cheeks? I'm trying to understand the physics having only ever ridden clipped in!

whyamihere

GedFoss wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

Mostly I still ride mtb with flats ..... if nothing else I have convinced myself that it teaches me good form with bunny hops and jumps. that with being clipped in I would have cheated on and just pulled up with the feet

I hope you'll forgive my ignorance here, but how else do you pull the rear end of the bike up with you when you jump? Grip the saddle with thighs/ars* cheeks? I'm trying to understand the physics having only ever ridden clipped in!

Nothing to do with the saddle. You angle your toes down, and then scoop the pedals slightly back and then up - That movement increases the pressure between your shoes and the pins on your pedals. Difficult to describe, but pretty easy to work out by chucking some flat pedals on and practising getting the rear end up. Getting the weight shift right makes this a lot easier.

JGTR

Just pulling a wheelie and transferring your weight really, good hip action helps :-)

GedFoss

Thanks, both. I've been giving it some thought, and having watched a couple of videos, it had seemed to me as if it must be almost an illusion that you're pulling up with your feet. If you watch this video https://youtube.com/watch?v=6f-91HEKdQI, he talks about pushing forward on the bars, causing a rotation of the bike. I've always used my feet clipped in to get the bike in the right orientation to land, so I'd never thought about pushing forward on the bars.
Like you say, it's something I'll just need to try for myself! Thanks again.

Cubehead555

Never used clippless but my cousin told me to buy a pair of Crank Brothers DoubleShots,he said there really easy to unclip and also have a flat pedal the other side.

cooldad

And being CB, are made of low grade cheese.

RossoCorso34

cooldad wrote:

And being CB, are made of low grade cheese.

I had a pair of Egg Beaters that were made of just that...

dusk

theboyfold wrote:

JBA wrote:

Buy a cheap pair of Shimano SPD pedals and see how you get on.
M520 or M530 are around £20.

That's not a bad shout, I can reuse the SPD shoes I already have

This is a good idea for a first time MTB SPD rider however as a long term user of M530's I can say that they don't give any significant additional support or traction over a non caged pedals. I've recently switched to CB Mallet DH/E and they're so much better when it comes to riding technical terrain, there's more support and genuine grip when not clipped in. Downside is they are very expensive and longevity is an issue.

kirkee

I use Time Atac MX2. They have a platform around the clip area so provide a bit more stability. You dont have to be clipped immediately to peddle. They maybe worth a try as opposed to the standard spd's. Also Time Atacs offer alot of float compared to some others.

RossoCorso34

kirkee wrote:

I use Time Atac MX2. They have a platform around the clip area so provide a bit more stability. You dont have to be clipped immediately to peddle. They maybe worth a try as opposed to the standard spd's. Also Time Atacs offer alot of float compared to some others.

Thanks, they look interesting, but as they aren't SPD it'll mean another pair of shoes which I'm not going to do.

I have been running my Shimano pedals on the MTB of late and they are quite nice. Just need to make it to Swinley before I make my final decision.

.blitz

OP if you haven't already bought some off-road shoes and pedals have a think about your current road setup.

It's exactly the same off-road but some clever marketing has convinced us that the pedals actually make a difference whereas in reality it's all about the shoes. SPD pedals are simply brackets for the shoes, and it's the soles of the shoes that strengthen the weakest part of the legs (same as big platform pedals).

Buy any SPD pedals XC/trail/520/XTR with some stiff shoes they feel absolute identical there is NO difference and get the best shoes you can afford

kirkee

theboyfold wrote:

kirkee wrote:

I use Time Atac MX2. They have a platform around the clip area so provide a bit more stability. You dont have to be clipped immediately to peddle. They maybe worth a try as opposed to the standard spd's. Also Time Atacs offer alot of float compared to some others.

Thanks, they look interesting, but as they aren't SPD it'll mean another pair of shoes which I'm not going to do.

I have been running my Shimano pedals on the MTB of late and they are quite nice. Just need to make it to Swinley before I make my final decision.

Time Atac cleats use the standard mtb/spd 2 bolt sliding rail type sole so they should work on any mtb clipless pedal compatible shoes.

Initialised

I have SPD M520s on both road and MTB. I'm going to get MT20 Saints fr the MTB as sometimes I don't want to be clipped in but want more connection than I get with the middle of my shoe (2FO Clip) on a 520.