I wasn’t referring to pedalling, I was referring to loading/unloading the bike – i.e. pumping, jumping, hopping etc.

Yeah I think for the Op it’s not that SPDs are bad, far from it, it’s just that if he’s finding them distracting change to flats. Not only will it be one less thing to worry about it will probably help improve his skills. In the future try them again.

Also, if you’re coming from a road back ground your fitness is going to be pretty good so the slight penalty in climbing / spinning of using flats will be less of an issue.

To clarify:

It makes sense if you look at the physics of it. When you push against the pedals TOGETHER you’re pushing against the ground, therefore you can apply high force for long duration. When you pull against the pedals TOGETHER what are you pulling against? Essentially nothing! All you’re doing is pulling against your own inertia – your body wants to fall (gravity!) and you can’t pull against the sky. You can take advantage of the clipped pull to ride lighter over roots where you haven’t had a chance to preload and lighten with standard technique, so there are benefits, but in most situations everything should be done through pushing, not pulling.

chiefgrooveguru – Member

Didn’t you know flat-pedal riders are superior to spd-users…

Superior riders are better than inferior riders – doesn’t matter what pedals they’re using at that moment!

Agreed – don’t get what your point is tho’.

Agreed – don’t get what your point is tho’.

Exactly the same point I’d make for hardtail vs full-sus, dropper posts vs not, 26 vs 29, and all the other stupid cliquey clichés which get trotted out on a regular basis…

Another clips vs flats thread, and the same b..ox spoken.

I should have realised I’d split opinion with this one…I wasn’t looking at it from an efficiency angle, just interested to hear thoughts on how people found it to build skill with either option.

There’s definitely something in the setup differences as has been said – I quickly realised I needed to lower my seat etc. I also think tomd is right about spd’s possibly being a distraction, i.e unclipping when I think there’s a chance of coming off.

I also think tomd is right about spd’s possibly being a distraction, i.e unclipping when I think there’s a chance of coming off.

There is no doubt you need to have a bit of self belief to commit to some technical trails on SPD until you get used to them, even after a couple of years on them I still have my “moments”

There are lots of opinions on this thread (not much science).

Read them all with an open mind.

Then….put your foot on a flat pedal, wiggle it a bit, lift it up.
Then….put your foot on an SPD, wiggle it a bit, lift it up.

The result will enable you to decide what sort to use for the riding you want to do.

just interested to hear thoughts on how people found it to build skill with either option.

You dont need to build skill anymore. Just got on a mtb course, its all you need, and it gives you a license to spout rubbish on a cycling forum.

Id say tough it out. Try not to unclip so often. Maybe loosen em of a bit. Flats will just make you dab more often. If you are after improving your skills like hopping and jumpin I’d say put some flats on in a car park and hop some bricks or bottles. Even better get a bmx or cruiser.

Started from the same point as the OP. But I installed the Shimano flat/spd combo pedals, M324. Flat when it looks tetchy and spd for the climbs. I’ve now graduated to full double sided as I feel my skills have improved. In fact I now feel nervous not clipped in. And the kids use the combo pedals for commuting on their road bikes in their school shoes.

Try them, a great confidence builder.

I’d man up and keep spd’s , takes far more balls to ride sketchy, techy stuff clipped in, plus more confidence.

I ride both by the way 🙂 In winter when it’s claggy and slippery, and the millions of roots in my local woods have a thin coating of ice, I’ll be in flats , but then I’m a wuss 🙂

– well,

I took the spd box down from the shelf, and got as far as taking the pedals out of the box and looking for the pedal spanner..

But then as usual, I thought ‘hang on, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it..’
so I put them back on the shelf in the box to gather dust for another decade or two..
During this evenings ride however, a bit of play developed in the left of my trusty wellgo mg1s.. and by the time I got home at dusk, there was an audible creak and a crackle..

it must be a sign..

So I’m going to put the funny little roadie pedals on and I’m going to learn to cheat

Brake-neck – Member

Not sure I understand why this is a bad habit, its just another way of doing something. Surely the fact you can do that indicates being clipped gives you greater control over bike positioning, a good thing I would have thought.

It just comes down to whether you’re working with the bike, or not. If you ride through a rough section and you’re just being held onto the bike by the SPDs (ie, you’d bounce off without them) then the side effect is that you’re putting extra loads into the bike- pulling it around with you, and making it work harder. If you let yourself get kicked, you effectively kick the bike.

Whereas if you’re not relying on your pedals to attach you- ie you’re on flats, or you’re on SPDs and riding dare I say it a bit better- then you’ll flow along with the bike rather than against it, and give everything an easier time, staying more in control. If you let yourself get kicked, well, good chance you crash- so you learn not to get kicked.

This isn’t a “flats skill” or anything like that, but it’s a skill you pretty much have to learn if you ride flats, whereas with SPDs you can get away with it a bit more. Just like good smooth spinning isn’t an SPD skill but people are probably more likely to end up as pedal mashers if they only ever ride flats.

Course, if it works for you then that’s fine but there might be better ways to do it.

Anyway- in conclusion- ride what you like, riding bikes is good. But if you’re into analysing your riding or looking for ways to improve, then trying the other pedal type can be interesting. And for the OP, if you feel SPDs are holding you back then yes maybe try flats, or maybe work through it on SPDs, they’re both good.

One of each,best of both worlds.Or double sided sticky tape on the bottom of your Dunlop green flash.
I miss TJ.