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I've always riden clipped and not really considered flats before this winter. As winter rolled in and I broke my Fatbike out I thought I would give flats a try in an attempt to keep my feet warmer. Not sure if that's worked yet but it has made me consider flats on my Five though. However, what I can't get my head around is how you stay in contact with the pedals over any kind of jump? Ok, when I say jump I'm meaning really small stuff here, not huge great gaps! Even so, I've struggled to keep my feet on the pedals even over small lifts on my Fatty and that puts me off putting them on my main bike for place like Surrey Hills. I did however find on my last trip out on the Five that being able to put my feet back on the pedals real quick would of been very helpful whilst tackling some steep downhill sections that I hadn't tried before and therefore I was being a bit weary. Also in the mud and slop I can disengage quick enough but flats would be better for getting going quicker.
I bought myself some 5:10 elements and have Saint flats on the Fatty, no idea if one flat pedal has more grip than another? Im assuming the shoe/pedal contact issue is down to technique coming from being clipped all my riding life?
Try moving your feet further forward, if you keep your feet in same position as being clipped in they will come off pedals a lot, try pedal near centre off foot, you want foot to roll with pedal axle
Some pedal and shoe combos are gripper than others. Five tens are pretty much the stickiest shoes though and saint pedals are fine
It's mostly technique, moving the foot slightly further forward as mentioned above helps. The big one is dropping your heels when descending.
You can almost "wedge" the bike between your feet by pointing your non-leading foot slightly downwards and pushing backwards with it as you leave the ground. That's badly explained but hopefully makes sense!
It all basically comes down to moving with the bike. With SPDs, you don't really have to do this- it's still better to do it, but you're bound together so they tolerate a bit of dissonance. But with flats, if you don't work with the bike it'll kill ya.
I'm not good enough to talk about the techniques; I know them, I can't really describe it though, it's all just "how I ride". But it becomes as much second nature as unclipping does. And thing is, all the skills that keep you on your bike with flats, help you work with the bike with SPDs rather than work against it and have to be held on. So there's a good chance it'll make you a better rider to boot.
I cant ride in Flats so unable to offer any alternative, I find that being clipped in gives me one less thing to think about, i've ridden without them for a bit 10 or more years ago when egg beaters first came out i changed from SPD's to these then to flats and straight back to SPD's but now i just do it as a matter of course,
I have found on jumps that when i;m up there i just get thing thought that goes Oooooh, feet - bike - wheres this going to end, Cool for scars up the back of my calves "Once the stinging stops" but apart from that i'm sticking to clips.
Also see here
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/how-to-bunny-hop-video-27418/
Having spd's allows you to be lazy and pull the bike up with your feet but this (although easy) isn't the right technique
Ok, as I thought it is my lack of technique! Some really helpful hints here, thanks, I need to go put some of this into practice. Although most of you said you weren't very good at explaining it did actually make sense most of the time so I know I've got to work at this in order to improve. I'll be sticking with flats on the Fatbike and I think I might buy another set for the Five and man up for a trip over to Surrey Hills before attempting Wales later in the year.
Thanks also for the links, will go do some more reading.
Huge difference in flat pedal grip from one pedal to another. Nukeproof and Superstar do some really good ones IMHO.
Recently with grip being so hard to find where I've been riding I've wondered how anyone could go anywhere clipped in. The number of times I've had to dab a foot out...I'd always be on the floor with spd's on!
Heavy feet, light hands.
FYI, also works for horseriding 😉
superstu - MemberRecently with grip being so hard to find where I've been riding I've wondered how anyone could go anywhere clipped in. The number of times I've had to dab a foot out...I'd always be on the floor with spd's on!
You know how it feels when a SPD rider says they don't understand how we can keep our feet on the pedals? That's how SPD riders feel when you say you don't understand how they can dab. Fast clipping in and out just becomes reflexive after the 5th or 6th time you fall off into the wheelie bins or smash your face on your own car in the trail centre car park
I remember riding with mates on a very slippy broon troot and one of us made a hero-dab-save on a root. Another said "That was fast, bet you're glad you're not wearing spds". "Er, I am". That summed it up really...
Hopefully that heroic last minute dismount will come to me soon, managed two slow mo falls today but for a first outing and no mud tyres I was happy enough with that!
Takes a little while to get used to flats if you've haven't used them for a while but you'll soon get used to it.
Placing your foot further forward so the pedal axle is closer or under to the arch of the foot and keeping your heels down and toes pointing up where the two big things that really helped.
I really don't get the "leading foot heel down, back foot heel up" technique. Its not what I was taught and it doesn't work for me on the trail.
When I'm corning the inside foot is unweighted so may be flat and not heel down but all other times both feet are pointing the same way.
You know how it feels when a SPD rider says they don't understand how we can keep our feet on the pedals? That's how SPD riders feel when you say you don't understand how they can dab
Fair point!
I think the back foot heel up thing is only for the moment when you're actually popping off the ground, well it is for me anyway, I agree, both heels down when wheels are on the ground.
FWIW, I ride flats on hard tail and full sus, I used to ride spd's on the hard tail but I switched back a couple of years ago as I prefer th feel. The only time I think you lose out is pedalling over rough ground, it's easier to keep the power down in spd's, in flats you have to choose you're pedalling moments a little more carefully. With your feet "set" in the pedals I'm as solid as I need to be descending in flats.
Most of the time I'm fairly quick with clipping/unclipping but I do find it lets me down if I have to either enter a down without a run in or if I've had to stop part way down. That feeling of not being connected to your bike whilst tearing through a section is very disconcerting 🙂 Had a couple of these moments on my last ride and I really understood how flats would be so much better for gaining control quicker.
The slippy, muddy conditions were making it happen far more frequently so I think I might put flats on the Five during the winter months to try and get used to them some more.