Road Bike Flat Pedals!!

autobahn

I have been cycling on the road for 10 years plus and competed in both open and club racing along with Time Trials all using clipless pedals of all varieties until a year ago when i started to feel uncomfortable with being clipped in and tethered to my bike, to the point I stopped riding . I lost all my confidence riding clipped in .... I took a break and tried again and still felt uncomfortable and lacking in confidence .... to cut a long story short, I now ride my road bike using MTB flat pedals with five ten MTB shoes which are really grippy . I can do club races and ride with my club A group and don't notice too much of difference, in power or feel I'm at any disadvantage - I feel much more confident and I'm riding my bike again which is the important thing compared to not doing anything. I dont want to get into a Flat pedals v Clipless, which is better argument and of course I know, clipless pedals and road shoes look way more pro ......... and I can take a ribbing about riding on flats. What I am keen to know is anyone else had such an experience or indeed ride a road bike on flats ?? Thanks

Ben6899

If flats mean you ride, then great.

My better half is new to clipless pedals. We've gone for MTB SPDs with the pedals that have a flat side. So, if for some reason she feels the need, she can unclip and flip the pedal and ride like she has flats.

We took advantage of this a few weeks ago on a categorised climb in our neck of the woods... the fear of going too slow and toppling over was overcome by simply unclipping and riding the flat side of the pedal.

You do what you need to do, but this might be a halfway house solution for you if you're otherwise a fan of the benefits of clipless pedals.

cougie

I've used clips and straps for racing duathlons - basically I wanted to avoid changing my shoes. I didn't find it as inefficient as I thought it would.

I much prefer being clipped into the pedals though - I think more accidents happen with a foot coming off the pedal at speed/effort than anything else.

DeVlaeminck

Yeah I've got a single speed Specialised Tricross I ride with flat pedals and trainers - mainly because I can use it to ride somewhere as transport but I do use it for longer rides and don't find it a huge issue not being clipped in. Of course it's not like I'm doing chain gangs on it.

I have ridden a cross race on flats (not on the single speed) - mainly because I didn't have any MTB shoes/pedals at the time - I felt it was ok - I mean I didn't do very well but that may be because I crashed 6 times !

Moonbiker

Odd why did you loose confidence after 10yrs?

I like theese flat pedals

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/mks-ct-lite-co ... gLBPvD_BwE

I don't think it makes much difference what pedals you use Ive used both noticed no difference In speed or comfort.

Clipless Pedals Vs Flat Pedals - Which Is Faster? | GCN Does Science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkMCYYNTWUY

svetty

Sounds like a form of anxiety/avoidance. As long as it isn't causing you any issues that's fine.

bartimaeus

I put Superstar Nanos on my wife's road bike, and got her 5-10s as she did not want to ride clipped in. She now has the same set up on her MTB (now she's doing that as well). If you aren't going to ride with SPDs then I think you need proper flat pedals and shoes, and as long as you don't actually 'pull up' then you'll be able to pedal pretty efficiently. The Nanos might be overkill as a smaller pedal platform would probably do... but for comfort you need something reasonably substantial.

Gravity Aided

I like flat pedals I ride a great deal in town, and would be clipping in and out a lot. I have large enough feet for it to be both hard to find shoes as well as hard to clip in and out without interference with the spokes.

chris_bass

Gravity Aided wrote:

I like flat pedals I ride a great deal in town, and would be clipping in and out a lot. I have large enough feet for it to be both hard to find shoes as well as hard to clip in and out without interference with the spokes.

I cant see how having big feet would mean you hit the spokes when clipping in? unless your wheel is at 90 degrees to the frame?

daniel_b

Chris Bass wrote:

Gravity Aided wrote:

I like flat pedals I ride a great deal in town, and would be clipping in and out a lot. I have large enough feet for it to be both hard to find shoes as well as hard to clip in and out without interference with the spokes.

I cant see how having big feet would mean you hit the spokes when clipping in? unless your wheel is at 90 degrees to the frame?

The only possible way I can think is if you bring your heel in towards the bike to unclip - I always twist my heel outwards, so no issues.

roastie_cyclocross

I have nearly always ridden with flat pedals, probably 12k miles in the last few years. I've done lots of 100 mile rides & cyclocross races in trainers. Mainly because I have knee troubles caused by flat feet and wasn't getting any knee pain cycling, so just stuck with flat pedals.

I did try some MTB pedals and shoes earlier in the year, but that has now given me ankle problems, that is still causing me issues now.

Moonbiker

I cant see how having big feet would mean you hit the spokes when clipping in? unless your wheel is at 90 degrees to the frame?

Maybe he means top overlap?

Gravity Aided

Moonbiker wrote:

I cant see how having big feet would mean you hit the spokes when clipping in? unless your wheel is at 90 degrees to the frame?

Maybe he means top overlap?

I have always clipped out by swinging the heel in, probably a balance thing. Toe overlap not so much of a problem, as I mostly have very large frames, including one of those Raleigh Super Grand Prix with the 25" frame, although that shows almost no seatpost, and the straddle height is very close to the McNuggets.

chris_bass

you'd have to have pretty tiny feet to not have issues unclipping inwards i'd have thought. just unclip outwards - problem solved!

perfectmark

If I am going a long ride on a weekend, I will generally use my clip-less pedals as I do find I can go faster than with flat pedals. But on my commute, I often find that I am faster with flat pedals. This is generally because there can be a lot of stopping and starting (so quicker to get off the line), but I also find I am more confident to push harder knowing it is easier to stop when someone does something stupid. I have twice come off my bike because of people suddenly walking into the road and causing me to stop quickly/take avoiding action and not be able to unclip in time (didn't hit the people though). So I know how you feel.

Gravity Aided

Chris Bass wrote:

you'd have to have pretty tiny feet to not have issues unclipping inwards i'd have thought. just unclip outwards - problem solved!

Probably a balance and coordination issue. No, I'm about a size 15US.

gt8374uh9jiodpo

I started road cycling after buying a road bike a few months back. Purchased a nice pair of flat pedals and just use trainers. Longest ride so far being 47 miles. Have no intention of going down the clipped in route.

cowboyjon

I've only ever used flat pedals.

I have knee issues and being able to kind of let my feet do their own thing as I ride along completely alleviates any pain at all. I have no doubt if they were in a more fixed position I'd have all kinds of trouble.

chippyk

Always used flats and toe clips albeit without straps on my MTB.

Ben6899

There seems to be a misguided, widespread assumption that you can't use clipless pedals if you have knee issues/injuries.

Simply not true so don't let that be the reason you don't try clipless pedals.

Gravity Aided

Ben6899 wrote:

There seems to be a misguided, widespread assumption that you can't use clipless pedals if you have knee issues/injuries.

Simply not true so don't let that be the reason you don't try clipless pedals.

That is very true. Everyone should try clipless pedals, I just don't think they work for everyone. Differences in feet, fit of shoes, and reaction to pedals and cleats may all have a part to play.

Ben6899

Gravity Aided wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

There seems to be a misguided, widespread assumption that you can't use clipless pedals if you have knee issues/injuries.

Simply not true so don't let that be the reason you don't try clipless pedals.

That is very true. Everyone should try clipless pedals, I just don't think they work for everyone. Differences in feet, fit of shoes, and reaction to pedals and cleats may all have a part to play.

You can overcome these too, if you seek advice from the right people.

johnmcl7

I ride flats on my road bike currently Raceface Chesters although I'm thinking of changing to Deore XT pedals as I'm really liking the feel of them on one of the mountain bikes.

I was convinced to try clipless on my road bike so tried out one system and didn't like it, I was convinced to then stay with it and go with another clipless system which I didn't like either, no matter how many adjustments and changes I made to it I didn't like the feel. Eventually I decided since I wasn't getting any benefit and only using clipless pedals because people kept telling me to, I switched back to flats and started really liking my road bike so never looked back.

I do get that many people prefer the feel of clipless pedals but I prefer the feel of flats and done many long distance rides on them. I will admit though it's an issue with cycling with road bikers because I have to put up with a near constant stream of people telling me how I need to change to clipless and I'll really appreciate it when I start doing long rides which gets tiresome.