I've had spds for years and have no issues with them - but with all these sticky shoes on the market and more jump trails available i wonder if i should invest.
is it just fashion or is it the future?
will they annoy?
Are they aimed at those who don't like to commit?
will I hop of bike as I'm used to hauling it around with my feet?
Its a lot of cash, so it'd be interesting to know how others dealt with transition.
I was always an spd man. Then changed to the obligatory 5-10/Nano combo and havent looked back since. I think if I was racing then I'd stick spds back on but for casual rides, long and short, flats are great. Flat shoes are more comfortable too.
Have also just moved to flats and love them rides when there is the occasional techy bit where I might dab eg stainburn Will be tempted to but the crank bros back on it for longer rides for more efficiency and when the trails are easier. We go mg1s are nice and free flow bikes in Scotland have a healthy discount on five tens at the moment
Flats and stickys - even for long rides. Also found feet keep warmer in winter as I'm not loosing heat through the spds....
I had to move to flats after a dodgy knee left me needing to move my feet around. I love them. As mentioned above, Wellgo MG1's and five ten's. Maybe borrow a mates and see how they feel to you before buying some. Don't just go out in trainers and flat pedals though as the fiveten shoes are a mile away in terms of sole stickyness.
spd's for me... trying flats and 5:10's just put me off riding...let alone raking my shins.
Size 42 5:10 shoes and DMR V12 pedals for sale. Used 4 times... contact via forum...
ah yes good point rick re. shins - a nice pair of 661 shin veggies are a good investement depedning on your pedal pin length and your ability to keep you feet planted!
Indeed, Mrs Rickmeister wears shin pads all the time for just this reason... she is doing really well on flats... I do equally well on spd's... and as such we both enjoy our biking.
Going to flats saw the biggest regression in my ability to the point where I didnt want to bike at all. I have been on spd's for 12 years now. Had I been on flats for that long I may have a different POV ..looking at dh riders, quite a lot of them are clipped in and that doesnt seem to slow them down.....
Sticky 5:10's, are they really? I reckon its just the pins going between the bobbles on the sole and nowt to do with "sticky" at all... grippy maybe, sticky, not so sure... but that may be just semantics.
SPD's if im doing XC/ all day trails. Basically because i find flat pedals useless for going up hills. Really hard work.
I use flat pedals for dirt jumps/ downhill/ street rides.
Flats for buggering about, SPD's for proper rides.
Moved over to mg1's and shimano am40's a couple of years ago after 10 years on spd's. Very surprised at the amount of grip whilst pedalling. Started doing more technical trails and found flats much easier to get going again after a stall when climbing. Still use spd's on my road bike though.
spuds for road, flats for fun riding.
off road - flats for me all day long.
its about foot positioning not stickyness
spds for me - just sent too long attached to the bike - I can and have ridden on flats but its so much more efficient riding with spds
No one right answer - mainly its to do with what and how you ride I guess
I was an SPD fan until a few weeks ago, when a day of sustained clipping and unclipping kicked off knee trouble. Just about riding short distances again, going cautiously with some DMR V8s and walking boots, must say I am impressed. Never managed to find a wide enough pair of SPD boots either, so might well stick with the flats for comfort as well.
I always use flat pedals and Shimano AM shoes (non-SPD/black and white things). Used for commute, mountain biking and touring on road (100mile ish days). They're great, loads of grip, plenty of power transfer through minimal cushioning and no clicking noise/comfy when off the bike.
Tried spds for a while on the road bike, but didn't notice any major difference to decent flat shoes and I kept falling over at road junctions when I forgot I was attached to the bike...
Spd's but have five tens and flats for the depths of winter but not a real fan of them - probably too long as a roadie. Mrs kilo however moved to flats from spd's last year, Shimano shoes and wellgo pedals, and loves them
Always had SPDs and feel far more confident with them, been trying flats for the last 10 months, but I just can't go as fast or high on them without bricking it! Just put SPDs back on my bike today........I will be sticking the flats back on though in winter, as having to move my feet around kept them warmer last winter.
Flats - DMR v8's, never tried spd's and not likely to anytime soon.
+1 for jedi, your feet don't need to be stuck to the bike, any old pair of gutties will do.
I've mainly used SPD's, but started using flats when I bought a full sus bike in'98. Although full suspension made me a lot faster, it also made riding well, a bit boring, because I could just bludgeon my way through rough sections, make bad line choices & get away with it. Using flat pedals forced me to put some effort in again & develop some new skills. Now that I'm back on a hardtail though I'm using SPD's again for trail riding & flats for practicing skills & tricks.
I reckon that flats are better suited to full sus than hardtail for trail riding though, as the frequency of hits to your feet is greatly reduced making it harder to keep your feet on the pedals, especially on rocky sections. Any regular Peaks or Lakes riders out there using and hardtail & flats disagree with me though?
I took a lesson from the girls at the hub @ glentress - they said that switching to flats would show up any bad techniques when going over jumps. Flats certainly stop you trying to yank the bike up by the peddles - the thought of a no-footed landing brings tears to the eyes. I was also worried about what would happen on drop-offs - thought the bike might fall away from under me leading to disaster, but I've been OK so far, touch wood.
Not about to get rid of my SPDs, but have had a real revelation getting some proper pinned pedals and skate shoes for the uni - having only ever used old-fashioned cage pedals I hadn't realised flat pedals worked so well. Will probably try them on the MTB at some point (assuming I ever get round to riding that again!) Just need to get some shin protection now - the scars from the plastic pins aren't so bad, but my new uni came with metal pinned pedals.
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