Clips or flats?

[Chew]

Flats off road, but clipped in on road.

On road I'm 99% pedalling, so it makes sense as it's less to think about.

Off-road I'll spend time walking/pushing, and it's in the back of your head that you can just jump off the bike if needed.

I've some Superstar pedals on the On-One which I must have fitted before the dinosaurs were about, and after no tlc, lots of rock strikes and general abuse they're still working fine.

As for shoes it's either a summer/winter set of Solomon running trainers which work faultlessly. Full benefit of good performance for HAB, quick drying etc...
Never felt the need for anything 'specific'

[Zippy]

. Got a set of DXs that's going on the Jones for my next overnighter.

I had a set of DX's - I wasn't impressed with their flexiness when riding. They're alright for walking about in, but nothing special.

For those that like clips (I won't go into a long discussion of why I prefer them,...)
Currently rocking shimano's with the "torbal" sole, which I've been quite happy with - good for riding in, but enough compliance for the odd bit of HAB - the torbal thing is meant to be for the "'enduro" scene where they have to do odd bits of scrambling to get a "rad" descent - so I suspect that helps them for the walking bit. I also heel rub - and these shoes seem to be withstanding that quite well too.
Shoes are a pretty personal thing though.

I seem to recall at the start of the HTR550 last year, deffo more people in clipless than having flats.

All a pretty personal thing though.

[Alpinum]

Beyond having your feet further forward than you would with SPDs, etc, the "trick" is to drop your heels so that your weight is pushing forward on the pedals as well as down. This is more for descents or coasting over technical sections than for pedalling on the flat or uphill.

I don't really want to get involved in a full blown discussion about this here but ...

Dropping your heels is used to reposition your body to counteract braking forces. If you ride with your heels dropped when not braking, you have nothing to counteract braking forces with except a big, slow, exaggerated body movement - not good.

Dropping your heels, shifts your weight from pressing down on the BB (the bikes natural CoG) and moves your weight rearward which upsets the balance of the bike, puts more stress on your arms / hands and reduces grip on the front tyre.

Oddly, one place where dropping your heels will be of benefit is when riding loose, technical climbs - the kind where you're stood up

Me neither wants "to get involved in a full blown discussion about this here but ..." but...

There's more to dropping heels, not just braking.
Setting the bike up for traction during edging. Hammering through rough sections…
And there's more to braking, not just dropping heels. Try bending your arms and go into a lower position. This way you can't drop your heel as much, so imbalance is less likely and in general you get a more stable riding position, more grip, more leverage (of your body) and thus more control.

More stress on arms? Did you mean strain? Leaning back will lower pressure, leaning down/forward will increase pressure.

If you build up your riding skills on flats, you'll transfer it to clips. You can still drop your heel on clips and nowadays many shoes offer adequate cleat positions to support a more neutral foot position.

Perhaps I misunderstood your post, but it sounds like dropping heel is a rather bad thing. It’s not. Make use of dropping one side more than the other. Choose to do it in the right place, where the bike has to be set up for particular traction (to get those side knobs into the ground). Drop both heels equally for a little more suspension and a more supple ride. Drop one for flat out cornering. Drop for preloading the suspension etc. etc. etc.

[Alpinum]

[quote="Zippy"]
I seem to recall at the start of the HTR550 last year, deffo more people in clipless than having flats.
[quote]

Thought it was odd in ’13. I was on clips and only had started to ride with clips a few months before. Actually the only reason was the highland trail. Then at the start I see all those "clipper" running flats

[Richard G]

I have been told on occassion that there's no way I can be efficient enough riding flats to do some of the events I do in a decent time.

This is usually before I stomp their faces in up the first hills.

Related... When I switched from SPD to flats last year on my turbo trainer, my FTP actually increased.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Perhaps I misunderstood your post, but it sounds like dropping heel is a rather bad thing.

I didn't say it was a bad thing. However, what is bad is people not understanding the effects it can have and dropping their heels as a default position ... obviously Gian, you have a full understanding

More stress on arms? Did you mean strain? Leaning back will lower pressure, leaning down/forward will increase pressure.

Stress / strain ... either way, your hands and arms shouldn't be under much load either in compression or tension as your weight should be 'on your feet'.

Drop one for flat out cornering.

Much greater benefit to be gained by dropping / weighting the outside crank rather than just rotating your pedal / heel surely.

[Pickers]

Before we go too far down this route (at least for my benefit...)

Setting the bike up for traction during edging. Hammering through rough sections…

Bear in mind I'm not Rad to the Power of Sick, I'm barely even Rad to the Power of Tense Nervous Headache

[Chew]

Ask on the classifieds. Someone will have some decent flats hanging about in the spares box that you'll be able to have for pennies and I'm assuming you'll probably have some walking shoes knocking about so you can have a try.

Give it a go and see how you get on

[Richard G]

A cheap pair of Vans aren't a bad bet for just trying out flats. They'll give you most of the grip you need.

[Pickers]

Right then, a shiny pair of Saint pedals should be winging their to my humble abode, lets see how we get on.

I'll start off with some approach type shoes I already have, they're a bit knackered but will give me some info on what I want in a new pair

[RIP]

"Bear in mind I'm not Rad to the Power of Sick, I'm barely even Rad to the Power of Tense Nervous Headache"

But are you fair chuffed Rich? And do you send gnarly flowing switchbacks? Is your frame stiff or plush, or both at the same time in defiance of all logic?
As far as I can see, most "MTB" publications only have those words in their lexicon, plus a few random verbs to connect them together.

This was a fun game that WRTLHC-B played at odd moments.

"Reg"

[Alpinum]

Much greater benefit to be gained by dropping / weighting the outside crank rather than just rotating your pedal / heel surely.

Oh, absolutely. Good you point that out. Dropping heel and crank, or heel only or crank only – there’s a lot to the feet.

Before we go too far down this route (at least for my benefit...)

Setting the bike up for traction during edging. Hammering through rough sections…

Bear in mind I'm not Rad to the Power of Sick, I'm barely even Rad to the Power of Tense Nervous Headache

I'm quite sure those techniques apply to all bikers.
Hammering through rought section is highly subjectiv either way

[scott of the woods]

HI Pickers,and all
Just to add my two pennith , I've ridden for 20+ years using spds I swore by the four points of contact, keeping them attached to the bike and you could do pretty much anything. but since starting Bikepacking adventures I soon realised that i was doing quite a lot of walking/pushing and hated trying to push in stiff soled hard plastic spd shoes,slipping on rocks etc, so my set up for the last couple of years has been a cheap pair of lightweight hiking boots, gaiters and some (Gnarly) Nukeproof flats from CRC. to be honest i now don't really think about if i'm clipped in or not, the flats are so grippy your foot doesn't budge, but get the advantage of footwear that is more suitable for pushing and cursing up a steep hill, i just keep spds for road riding and xc type hacks

[littlegirlbunny]

Flats on the MTB for all types of off-road (used to be clipless but stay with flatties now)

Clipless on roadie

[brotherhuw]

After the wrt I have decided to switch to spds. I didn't do too much pushing but I did find I was getting "hot spots" on my feet from I think the flexible soles of the walking boots I was wearing and the fact that my feet were moving in position quite a bit. Figured it is worth a try. Now just have to get my ceased peddles off...

[Richard G]

Out of interest, why wouldn't you try using proper mountain biking shoes? I wouldn't even consider using walking / hiking boots on the bike.

[HaYWiRe]

For those of you that ride clipless on a road bike, what type pedals do you use?

I get some weird looks on my roadie from club cyclists because i use XC shoes and SPD on the road bike, not look/keo/ ect.
As much as I love being clipped in I never understand road shoes and walking on cleats, my recessed SPDs dont bother me walking compared to hobbling in race shoes.

[whitestone]

I use Look Keos on my main road bike, SPDs on my commuter. My wife uses SPDs on both her road bikes.

[Dan_K]

I use look keo carbon my road bike and spds on my cx/winter road bike.

[Richard G]

I used to use the platform sort of SPDs.



Edit - Oh, on road bike. Bog standard SPDs... and flappy mountain bike clothing. I've actually noticed people intentionally trying to drop me and getting frustrated when they couldn't.

"That sh*t is like a sail, you'd be so much more aerodynamic with lycra."
"Meh."

[Kumquat]

Generally I use Clips but I have had some Teva Links and Spry pedals on standby for over a year so I may go back to Flats for a bit.
Why can't we have a pedal that does both? I suppose they would be called Flaps or .....................ah ok maybe not.

[voodoo_simon]

For those of you that ride clipless on a road bike, what type pedals do you use?

I get some weird looks on my roadie from club cyclists because i use XC shoes and SPD on the road bike, not look/keo/ ect.
As much as I love being clipped in I never understand road shoes and walking on cleats, my recessed SPDs dont bother me walking compared to hobbling in race shoes.

The pressure is over a larger cleat area, so some people find it more comfortable after a few hours in the saddle. Also, road shoes are generally much much lighter and work better with booties too

[jameso]

. Got a set of DXs that's going on the Jones for my next overnighter.

I had a set of DX's - I wasn't impressed with their flexiness when riding. They're alright for walking about in, but nothing special.

I have the the light grey old DX flat pedals, rather than the DX shoes I think you mean? : )

Good point though, what's a good flat shoe these days for HAB and riding, something pretty stiff? Like a crampon-compatible mountain boot sort of stiff.

[Chew]

Out of interest, why wouldn't you try using proper mountain biking shoes? I wouldn't even consider using walking / hiking boots on the bike.

Is there any real difference?

Never tried 5:10's as they seem to be fragile, take ages to dry and expensive. Not really ideal for mutliday stuff

[cyclingtiger]

SPDs on the road bike. Coming from a touring and audax background, I've learnt that Looks can be dangerous on a nice polished wooden floor in a village hall, or the smooth wet brick path leading up to it. And if you ever get caught out on the col d' Kings YHA near Dollgellau you've no hope. SPDs - quitters choice. I do tend to the more roadie looking shoes because they're usually a bit slimmer and fit in overshoes a bit better. Also, if you have lots of bikes with the same type of pedal, you can chop and change shoes when your usual ones get soggy.