Ok, I started out on flats (V8s) and they were great but then moved to eggbeaters and they are briliant.

Had a really awkward fall and easily could have snapped my ankle yesterday. I proceed to shout “C*nt, I hate that f*cking stump!” and about a minute later a woman and her dog came by. I apologised for my outburst 😳

So I’m thinking about going back to flats. But I remember it being kind of slippy once my shoes were muddy, is this the same with 5-10s? Obviously lots of top riders have them, but they’d be good with sh*t pedals and flip flops!

Coming from clips I would say 5 tens are your best bet, but once used to them you can get away with most skate shoes. I’m running freeriders at the moment and wear them to the gym sometimes too.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! 😥

skate shoes…cheapos off ebay, mid ankle seem to work best.
you can probably get 3-4 pairs for the price of 5.10s. Never had any probs with slippiness in 10+ years of using them and most 5.10s make you look like one of the spice girls…

I’m about to get riding again after an ankle fracture, which I think was due to SPD’s!

I’m looking at getting some AM41’s to use with flats to begin with. I may eventually go back to Clipless but not till I’m fully mended.

I’ve just gone to flats on one of my bikes (the most used), after about 12yrs with various clipless systems. I went with Shimano AM41s as they were cheap (and fugly). The amount of grip is more than enough for me, even in proper sloppy conditions. The only problem I’m having is that they seem to take about a week to dry out after a good soaking.

Five Ten’s are the way to go. Some Impact Low’s are a good bet for when the weather is crap as they are pretty weather proof with a great sole. I’ve heard good things about the new Teva Links and Pinner too – some magic waterproof coating and good stiff sole.

Run five tens on V12s at the moment. Very grippy in the wet, however a muddy climb on foot yesterday saw me slip of the pedal for the first time in a while when I got back on. They are pretty good, up until a point. Not sure you will get more grip on the pedal without going clips again.

Five Tens with DMR Vaults. You have to ask them nicely to give your foot back afterwards.

Made the switch myself in the last month. I thought flats were flats until I had a go on a few different bikes one day and found big differences. So, anyway, got myself some dmr vaults (biggest platform I could find ) and my usual Vans and its been ace. Not too much grip so I can’t reposition my foot but grippy enough to give me confidence on rough and slippy downs.

swapping pedals because you had 1 crash where nothing actually happened to you? 😕 Sounds more like you need to apply a little MTFU

Legend, do you how long have I been using cleats for? Or where I ride and what I encounter?

I thought not.

Is it more manly for me to say “I fell over and broke my ankle, which flats should I get?” 🙄

Five Tens do offer good skills compensation, which could be very useful initially… Basically if you need that much grip, you’re doing it wrong- but then coming from SPDs, you almost certainly WILL be doing it wrong so it might pay off.

But I won’t buy another pair as long as there’s a good alternative, the build quality was poor and the wet weather manners were worse. An £80 outdoor shoe should be able to survive one winter. And though the grip’s unmatched, it doesn’t matter- with decent pedals and a little skill, there’s just no need for it.

Shimano got it closer to right with the AM40- good grip (more than enough), better weatherproofing, better build quality, nice options in the adjustable stiffness inserts. Then they discontinued it and launched the uglier, less good AM41 😛

Skate shoes can be great, but the trick is knowing which ones are good. My ancient Vans are great, but very flexy. My newer vans aren’t very good even though the sole looked convincing.

Is it more manly for me to say “I fell over and broke my ankle, which flats should I get?”

Nope! def. sounds like whining to me.