Right i am now the owner of some CB 50/50s and some 661 launch Taki shoes.

I have not used flats properly ever!

What do i need to know about/adapt when riding?

Your pedalling efficiency will be ruined. Your feet will bounce off the pedals all the time and you wont be able to bunny hop, assuming you ever did.

Aha aha…haa…….but seriously start practicing fast flat corners, small jumps and drops and technical descents.

There are loads of videos on the web that’ll show bunnyhopping technique on a bmx, which should go some way to explaining how to weight/unweight the pedals and how to get the bike to respond accordingly.

cool – no change therethen

you can bunny hop on flats no problem mate, just maybe not as easy as with spds – practice before you hit the trails properly just to make sure

you have a good combo there so you might not notice as much as you think!

Your feet shouldn’t bounce off the pedals: Mine don’t, even on my hardtail.

Remember to position your feet further forward than you would with spds so the widest part of your shoe is in contact with the pedal, for maximum grip. Also, on steep descents, drop your heels down.

I actually find I can bunny hop better in flats that in spds. Flats will teach you to bunnyhop properly, i.e. lift the front wheel first , push the bars forward, and unweight the rear.

you’ll get used to it after about 10-20 hours, you’ll have your weight further back, and your legs do more work bouncing up and down or bunnyhopping over things rather than the lazineness that being cliped in gives you, just takes a few rides to stop bouncing off the pedals.

and your brake pads will last longer, I’ve got a theory why that is, but it may just be me

Has nobody said… watch your shins!

I have been trying to practice the heels down approach anyway – so hopefully all good! Also Goog has said he will teach this white man to jump!!

Has nobody said… watch your shins!

I agree: I can strongly recommend some knee/shin pads. I use Troy Lee Designs Lopes pads for all day rides and they are great.

i found mt ‘xc pedalling’ height saddle was a smidge lower, so you m ight wanna drop your seat half an inch.

Shins aren’t your main concern as the calves on any flat pedal convert will testify. It’s your calves that get chewed the most; they’re soft and fleshy and they bleed like hell! Fortunately it doesn’t hurt much, infact hardly at all.

The main point to make with the transition (which I did myself about three years ago) is to stick with i,t at least for a few months, and try to be consistent over that time, i.e. don’t switch back and forth.

You might find initially that you’re constantly trying launch yourself over the bars whenever you try to jump. That’s because you’re used to using your feet to pick up the bike rather than your arms and legs.

You will loose some pedaling efficiency, so to compensate you need to spin a lower gear at higher revs. This is a good thing to learn anyway as it’s far more efficient than grinding out a big gear. You may already do this anyway.

Don’t try to go all ‘fast and loose’ foot out drifting corners, attacking the apex with a Sam Hill style dab. You’re just going to bin it asap. Learn to ride the bike and get comfortable with the feeling first; the looser style many riders enjoy from riding flat pedals (and by the way you don’t have to ride flats in order to be loose – it’s just that most of us aren’t the Athertons or Peaty so we need a little more help), will come with time as your confidence grows.

There are a number of advantages (and disadvantages) with riding flats, but chief among them for the majority of us is the ability to very quickly dab a foot if things get too hairy. That boosts your confidence but you only get that once you’ve become confident in riding flats in the first palce.

If you stick at it, then it’s a great way to improve your bike skills.

not 100% sure about shin pads, i have a pair of daineese ones, used to wear them all the time, now i dont, and very very rarely do i shin myself.

Just about learning to avoid the things that cause it; feet leaving the pedals, clouting rocks, backpedling (trips up the chain, so when you put the power down it skips), etc

Dont worry about the shin pads – you’re denying yourself the honour of bleeding (just a little bit) for the sport you love. And you’re denying your mates the sight of seeing you leaping around in agony swearing like a sailor.

As you get more experienced you’ll get pedal slap less and less and your pads will just be a £50 ornament in the shed. Also, your shins do become less sensitive to it overe time. 50/50s are a nice big surface to spread the impact over and dont hurt as much as some of the more angular cnc styled pedals anyhoo.

One other point – the pins in Crank Brothers 50/50s are crap being conical and smooth on their top, they don’t really dig into the sole of the shoe. You need to take them out and replace them with something that actually gives you some grip. You can get replacement pins easily, for example DMR make them.