Am I going to die.

Thinking of popping the flat pedals on (having just replaced the entire drive train) and heading to Whinlatter since I am working up that way in the morning anyway.

Being not used to them this could end badly? Been riding clipped in since the late 90’s!

Think I will probably only have time for one half, since I did the North last time the South is my intended test bed!!!

Well the south does have the option of some air time but is smoother… Maybe to a bad place to learn…..
Why not pop in Cyclewise and a quick coaching course 🙂

Reckon that you’ll feel the difference alright but I doubt you’ll die, lose your footing a bit maybe

Good luck

lol mainly as I will be skint after popping into Wheelbase on the way up the road 😉

I tried it once after years of SPD’s…

Hated it!

go steady on any jumps – what I thought of as naturally gifted “pop” was really just pulling up on the spds

it’s a slightly scary thing to learn

Well my Crank Bros pedals are dead, so I figured it was a good excuse to give them a try!

May go back to Shimano or try Times if I don’t like the flats!

Do it!!

Swapped from SPDs about 6 months ago and couldn’t be happier.

Reason for change was a couple of skills courses (jumps and drops) and it’s been the right thing to do. No more cheating on bunnyhops, climbing is as good as ever (probably not saying much though) and you’ll only lose a pedal if you don’t have grippy soles.

Good luck. I think the North loop is better, you could do that and the blue loop perhaps?

Also, Ive heard hiking boots are great for flat pedal riding. All the pros use them.

Basically, if your footwork is OK on your SPDs, you’ll be fine. If it’s bad, you might not be- but it’ll be worth finding out and learning how to do it better anyway, so still a win.

It depends on the weather for what footwear. If it is dryish then I will try the shiny new Teva proper MTBing flattie shoes. If it is grim I will probably wear my “work” boots – which are North Face hiking boots with Goretex linings… and the sole near enough worn off flat!

Going to be interesting I think!

Don’t forget your foot should be further forward on flat pedals, so you may want to drop your saddle a fraction. When I first made the change I was using the spd foot position and wondering why my foot kept slipping, I much prefer flats now.

From this post I’m getting the impression that using spd’s can be a skills compensator ? I’m about to try them this wks after many years on flats .

Dont forget the shin guards to avoid that “Raked by a Tiger’ look in the car park…

Flats didn’t work for me but in all fairness I probably didn’t put enough time in and my biking went backwards so quick it was like starting all over again. . Good luck!

Whinlatter was fairly slippy on Wednesday night, still mahoosive puddles here and there too.

is he back yet? – or dead in a ditch?

can i have his bike?

remember, heels down Captain!

I hate jumping with SPD’s, you can’t feel what’s going on under you and I have much less confidence than when using flats. I’m not interested in hard climbing these days (that’s what the road bike’s for) and my riding is all about fun. I still use spds on my light bike (which also has mudguards, light brackets etc etc) but the fun bike is pure and simple.

I assume you have decent pedals with good pins on the,? You’ll be fine and you shouldn’t have shin problems. The work boots sound good if the sole is not too rigid (steel midsole etc are out).

Coming from a BMX background I couldn’t imagine riding anything technical off road clipped in. Not being able to quickly dab a foot if I misjudge a line would completely mess with my head.

I’m sticking with my Vans Half Cabs for now, and leaving the SPDs on my road bike!!

If you’re one of them safety types, wear shin pads.

go for it! but if you’ve seriously never ridden flats off road before, i’d suggest going for a quick blast round your local woods/bmx track to get the feel for them first. you don’t want to hit the first jump flat out and lose your footing mid flight sending you somersaulting into a void of doom….

scaredypants – Member
go steady on any jumps – what I thought of as naturally gifted “pop” was really just pulling up on the spds

That was the main thing I noticed when I changed – fist thiong I rode down was a really rocky trail, loads of steps to pop off, and I nearly killed myself because I was still trying to lift the bike. Had to stop, compose myself, and just concentrate on compressing the bike and then letting it come up underneath me, as opposed to hauling it up.

Felt natural very quickly after that.

Capt. Kronos – Member
Am I going to die.

Absolutely

Remember when you were a kid just riding about. Its like that.

I’ve too and frowned with spd’s and flats for years, atm i’m on spd’s. Its good, but so are flats……

If you’re one of them safety types, wear shin pads.

You’ll probably end up getting more scratches on the back of your calf if you do any pushing up!

ads678 – Member

You’ll probably end up getting more scratches on the back of your calf if you do any pushing up!

Aye… It’s a long time since I’ve pedalled myself while riding, and when it does happen it’s always mid-crash, but I do it all the bloody time while pushing, and quite often while just moving the bikes round in the garage. (that’s why I have a pedal scar on my head, and a couple on my shoulder)

Basically- try and remember your previously friendly bike now has 2 morningstars attached to it.

all this makes “popping” the bike with spds sound pretty fun i have to say! should give it a go..

I am back! And… almost entirely not dead!

Climbing seemed easier, which was odd. Whether this was the shiny new 3×10 drive train I don’t know – but I did feel more confident on the tricksy bits that would usually have me bailing early (the fact there is no unclipping required just boosted the confidence to have a bit more of a go).

Descending… now… I am not sure if was the pedals or not, but it was very, very quick (by my standards). The bike felt like it was moving around alot more under me, with the back end sliding and bouncing like I haven’t experienced before.

The problems – my feet kinda escaped from one pedal whilst experiencing some air time. So I need to practice that a little more. And I had a very close call when I caught the cranks on a rock and rearranged my boy bits on the cross bar. Not sure if that would have happened on SPDs – I kind of think it would have gone more badly!

In balance – I need to practice, but I wasn’t left hating the experience. Infact I rather enjoyed it! Just the movement of the bike was a bit alien and a couple of issues with keeping my feet on the pedals. There was certainly a lot more speed (both up and down) involved – or at least perceived speed 😉 That keep your heels down comment may have been the key issue! It was damn slippy on the trails though, so I am really starting to consider my choice of rubber – the Halo Choirmasters have been on the bike for several years and I am thinking the rubber may have gone hard (they don’t do UST ones anymore do they???)

That front brake hose looks like an accident waiting to happen, is it held on anywhere?

When whinlatter is not soaked it’s very slippy, I don’t think tyre choice will make any difference IMO.

Lot more grip in the wet up there.

Lol – front brake hose… no, I had to cut the cable tie holding it in place when changing some bits and pieces and keep forgetting to put a new one on! I shall do so at the next opportunity!

Been out again today on some natural trails – starting to gel with the flatties now, can even bunny hop still 😉

^ Nice bike, looks similar to my Marin! 🙂