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Tonight I went for a ride with flats for the first time in about 5 years and loved it. Any tips as I have pretty much always ridden with SPD's. Got a couple of puncture marks in my shin from the pins but Im guessing this is to be expected till I find my feet (excuse the pun). I have some V8's and flat sole shoes but they are not mtb specific.
Hardest part was tabletops, Im pulling the bike in to me and applying force to pedals but they feel a little sketchy.
heals down
heals down
On tabletops?
And drop your saddle a bit. Ride so you feel you're tucked into a ball with your legs bent. Then you are not pushing your bike away from you.
This is from a man who's recently started with flats after 44-plus years of being attached to his pedals.
on table tops??? what do you mean grumm?
jedi - for jumping I find having my toes down better, means I can lift the back of the bike better. May be wrong but it would seem odd to me to have your heels down in the air.
eg
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toes down happens naturally in the air. heels down before takeoff!
Before someone else mentions it, 'heels' not 'heals'.
"propper" shoes
Something with a nice chunky stiff sole, replaceable tread and moderately tacky.
5.10's are good, but flipin expensive and look a bit special. Especialy when something cheeper with a seperate tread and sole will look better and still leave enough dosh to pay for a re-sole in stealth/C4 rubber.
Proper pedals, v8's are good and cheep, but a lot of people find them too small and hurt after a few hours.
I found changing the pins to longer ones such as 'Terror Pins' helps quite a bit too. That, and as others have mentioned, decent shoes such as 5.10's for extra stickyness
Got a "shoes for flats" thread going on at the moment so good timing. My shins have also been taking a hammering from the pins.
put your feet in the right place and ride heels down and the need to have silly grippy shoes disappears.
Before someone else mentions it, 'heels' not 'heals'.
Doh
As mentioned 5'10s and nice big pedals also very good.
Thanks for the pointers I am still shaky over tabletops compared to with SPD's maybe its just a time thing. I know there are certain point where you should load/unload the pedals but I am finding that as soon as one pedal feels sketchy its throwing me. How do you keep your feet planted whilst in the air, pressure down with legs - pull bike up?
This is pointing out my bad habits fom wearing SPD's could sail over with them 😐
just practice bunny hops on the flat until you've nailed it
you dont do anything with your feet in the air. its all done before hand