I’m toying with the idea of trying out spds. I ride mostly trails but do also do about 10 mile on the road an canals a week to local trails is it worth trying. What pros and cons are there. Or should I stick with what I know.

you’ve got nothing to lose by trying them. I’ve flitted back and forth between clips and flats for years. 10 miles a week isn’t enough of a reason to try them, but if you want increased control and efficiency then go for it

I have always ridden clipped in or with clips and straps .I find it more efficient .SPDS are easy to get out of as well it doesnt take long to get used to them

more efficient pedalling. very quick to get used to. feet won’t slip off pedals.

can be tricky setting off on very steep climbs, especially if grip conditions are poor.

my 2p

I’m more worried about flinging my legs around to try an stay on the bike on descents to be honest. Or is that something you shouldn’t be doing anyway

Yes… you wont look back

I’m not even sure what you mean by flinging your legs around

After you get used to them, unclipping becomes utterly instinctive. It’s not even a seperate motion – you just relax your foot as you pull it away, and it turns and you come out. It’s as automatic as moving your fingers over the brake levers.

As in using my legs to as a balancing aid when slightly out of control. Worried that being clipped in will restrict this a have me off or do the opposite an tidy my riding up

I too am about to clip in for the 1st time.
but can anybody explain how/why clipping in improves efficiency?

As an taking them off the pedals for balance? You could still do that with clips, but then you get the joy of trying to get back in at an (inevitably) awkward moment. As you say though, you should really be keeping your feet onboard, so the clips may actually help.

Also, a few times on here I’ve seen folk recommending unclipping as soon as you get to technical sections. This is a terrible idea, you’ve basically thrown in the towel in the mental battle whilst also throwing away the extra control you get from clips

I can imagine in clipping at technical sections must be hard. Not hard to unclip but to try to ride unclipped or is it easy to ride not clipped in

I’m guessing there more efficient as u can pull as well as push on your peddle stroke

Jimalmighty – Member
Yes… you wont look back

This.

Best bet is to borrow some.

is it easy to ride not clipped in

nope it’s horrendous, even with a cage around the pedal. I think of it as trying to ride with footballs under each foot instead of pedals.

iirc there’s lots of arguments about the efficiency increase, especially the pulling aspect. For me the difference feels like it comes from never having to work to keep my foot connected to the crank

Given that some people prefer to be clipped in and some people prefer flats I think it’s fair to assume that there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So, all you can do is try it and see which you prefer. Personally I prefer to be clipped in on the road and on easier XC trails but prefer flats for more technical trails; mainly due to the difficulty of getting clipped back in if I have to put a foot down in the middle of a tricky section (climb, rock garden etc).

That’s it then ill try to borrow some an give it a whirl. I can see me having some awkward moments outside pub and forgetting but I don’t mind being laughed at

Yes I had never even considered rock gardens or anything like that. That may cause issues when a quick dab is needed

Given that pulling up on the up-stroke is BS anyway I’m not convinced about the pedalling efficiency argument, there probably is some but it will be very minor. That said I’ve ridden clipless for donkey’s years, mostly as I’m lazy and don’t want to be worrying about my feet coming off the pedals on rough or jumpy stuff (yes I should learn better technique :p ).

UEA / CCN sports scientists did a comparison recently, (I was talking to someone involved in the carrying out the research at the Summer Enduro last weekend)
different riders, different types of pedaling, different power out puts, but all measured.
Riders rode on Flats and SPDs....... End result - negligable difference between flats or SPDs you lose the “pull up” but that doesnt actually seem to translate to a loss of power to the wheel

Once you get used to them, unclipping for a dab is no problem, as already said by a previous poster it all becomes 2nd nature you dont even think about it.

My only tip is stick to Shimano stuff, I dont have lots of experience of other systems but I did try Xpedo ones for a bit & though essentially the same as Shimano they were a mare to clip in & out of in comparison.

Given that pulling up on the up-stroke is BS anyway

No its not .Its one of the main reasons to clip in I couldnt timetrial properly on flats, or sprint or pull up on hills

I did a few back to back comparisons on the road (on my 29er HT) and couldn’t detect a difference between flats and SPDs in terms of speed. Not saying there wasn’t one, but it was so much smaller than the normal variations due to weather, condition etc that I couldn’t measure it.

I never had any problem dabbing with SPDs. As has been mentioned un-clipping becomes second nature after a while. It’s getting clipped back in again quickly enough in the middle of a tricky section that I’ve never mastered.

I even clip in to go to the pub in jeans !

No its not .Its one of the main reasons to clip in I couldnt timetrial properly on flats, or sprint or pull up on hills

Actualy it is 99% of the time. Even the most efficient pedalers are still pushing down on the upstroke, i.e they don’t actualy even lift the dead weight of their leg. The added efficiency comes from not having a squidgy sole of the shoe absorbing the power, the solid sole and pedal mean none of that power is wasted. You only pull up, (and even then, by a lot less than you percieve*) when that power drops below what your bodyweight would generate falling the 3rd of a meter per revolution, give or take 300W at 60rpm for a 90kg rider + kit (or 600W at 120rpm).

*the pull up muscles in your leg are the hip flexors and pretty tiny compared to the quads doing the pushing down.

Back on topic – don’t ride too close to the edge of the canal the first time you try spds…

Ha ha thanks for the canal advice stealthcat

don’t ride too close to the edge of the canal the first time you try spds…

or try your record breaking track stand at busy traffic lights 🙂

Back on topic – don’t ride too close to the edge of the canal the first time you try spds…

Or if you do, make sure you are with a mate. Who has a camera.

but can anybody explain how/why clipping in improves efficiency?

It encourages you to pedal better circles. I use them on road and would use them on pure XC trails. You can do cheat bunnyhops too (I can’t do proper ones)

I only ride flats/5.10s because I ride a lot of technical trails, stopping and starting cos I’m crap, where getting started again is tricky trying to clip-in and not get thrown from the bike.

I’ve been clipped in for a while on my DH, Trail and SS MTBs as well as the road.

Prior to that I was very much a flat pedal Fan-Boi, TBH it’s just a security thing rather than an efficiency thing now, if you’re clipped in then your feet are always n the “Right place” while roots and rocks seem to have less ability to bounce your feet off, although a good pair of flats and grippy shoes are agruably about on par… the old heels down technique applies for both still.

I’ve increased the release force to the highest setting on all my SPDs as I’ve gotten more and more comfortable using them and found I’m really just not wanting any accidental releaseses.

what they did stop me doing, when I started using them, was the leg waving & dabbing as that actually didn’t really help my riding at all, I found they made me ride with a bit more commitment through corners and tricky sections and not Dab my inside foot as getting clipped back in while exiting a corner off balance is a faff and definatly slower.

Intentional release isn’t an issue now, and 90% of the time getting clipped back in isn’t really a problem either, that’s down to having practised with them, but I prefer to ride feet on and clipped inanyway now.

Give them a go, you might like them, you might not, but you’re not going to know unless you try them out…

An interesting article that appeared last year on PB

The end of Flat Pedals

I prefer flats to clips mainly cos I have a better understanding of what I’m doing wrong

That’s it then ill try to borrow some an give it a whirl. I can see me having some awkward moments outside pub and forgetting but I don’t mind being laughed at

Keep the tension super-loose til un-clipping becomes natural.