Guys guys you’re missing the point…… to be super fast down hill you must wear some type of daft hat at all times except when wearing your lid….. TJ please just keep your knotted hanky on for safety. All Dh’ers wear some type of cap with a) laser straight brim, or B) a bobble hat with no bobble, or c) a bobble hat with no bobble but ear flaps with knotted dangley bits from the ear flaps. The whole pedal thing is a marketing con…….. So in summary to be very fast down hill get a flat brimmed bobble-less ear flapped dangley knotted hat……in red bull colours…..

It’s probably psychological but knowing you can shove a leg out, dab a foot down or simply bail makes me attack stuff with more purpose than I did riding clipless (I’d had a few spills made worse by clipless in the past).

But it’s not like you can’t do that with SPDs – just unclip!

A year ago I’d have said “I’ve never, ever had a crash and experienced the horror of staying clipped in all the way down”. Now I have, a couple of times, including one episode where my foot came out my shoe, which stayed clipped in! But it’s still sufficiently rare that I don’t really worry about it.

I find not wearing leg armour with flats is a guaranteed way of making my leg come into contact with them!

Uncoupling is never the problem. It’s getting clipped back in at speed over rough ground….

jam bo – Member
Uncoupling is never the problem. It’s getting clipped back in at speed over rough ground….

I’m with you on that one. I’ve ridden flats for years on end. I’ve tried SPD’s a few times and go through periods where I will use them on my more XC orientated bike. I even took them to the Alps to try them and did a couple of days riding with them. I’m fine with them, like the connection to the bike but as soon as I unclip, I find it a nightmare to clip in again on rough ground and that unnerves me.

I should probably just use them more often and get used to them but my opinion as far as this thread goes is that whatever you are used to will work best for you. Really helpful, eh?

i ride flats 50% of the time, spds 50% of the time. if i’m heading out for a ride i just choose what pedals i want for that ride and stick them on my bike ie: flats for DH days, hike a bike, pub rides and spds for xc and cross etc

really worthwhile getting used to riding both imo – that way you can get the benefits from both types

for me its clips 90% of the time… only when it gets really shittty out there do i move over to flats…

but then i ride more rocky trails that hold togeather in the wet. If I rode more clayey / slippy trails I guess I would use flats more.

clips just help you let the bike do ts thing over the rough stuff, esp braking bumps in the alps IMO

that way you can get the benefits from both types

until you pick up the wrong shoes for the pedals. that’s no fun at all i can promise…