Probably a subject that’s been done to death but here goes..
I’m a MTBer of about 5 spd years..
I’m toying with the idea of changing from spd’s to flats..
I’m wondering how many people have made this transformation and how long it took them,if at all,to adjust.
I’m sick of trying to clip in at the top of a tricky drop but I also like the feeling of security being attached to my pedals when I get any kind of air.
I also like the assistance of the pullup on the opposite leg when climbing but have noticed that some people who ride flats don’t seem any more handicapped..
Thoughts please

It kind of depends on where/what kind of trails you ride I think. For 15 years in the UK and a few in Australia I really appreciated being clipped in on the climbs. When I moved to Vancouver most of my climbing was non- technical and the descending was pretty techy and steep at times so I switched to flats and got used to the change within a ride or two, and really like being able to chuck the bike away in an instant if required. Personally I’d hate to be clipped in on North Shore or Whistler bikepark trails where any jumping or drops are involved. I do notice that spinning a circle on fireroad climbs seems a bit harder on flats though, but I feel I have more fun overall not being clipped in.

Pedal and shoe combo seems as important in SPD’s as on flats. Some days it’s effortless to clip other days a bit more of an effort. Hardly any issues on my mallets and 5-10 minaars for instance but the Spec BG Shoes and mallets not so much.

Why are you trying to clip at the top of a tricky drop? Give yourself a run in!

Also, is it just me or are the cleat positioning options on Shimano and Specialized shoes limited to too far forward under the foot? This used to always bug me as I’d always set them as far back as they would go, and they still felt a bit less than optimal…going off topic, I knows…

might be, I find them fine for 85% of what I do with candies but when I want to get loose the mallets and minaars come out

Try it, why wouldn’t you? You can get pedals for €20 and an old pair of trainers, or cheap skate shoes. It took me 1 ride to adjust, many years ago, although techy climbs took a bit longer. Other friends have just changed and its taken some no time at all and others a long time. It depends how many bad habits you have maybe.
Is it the way forward? No. Each system has its advantages. I think being able to use both puts you in a good place.

Tried flats. Never again off road.
I want my feet stuck to the pedals in exactly the same place all the time.

on spds for ten years, switched to flats made me feel much more comfortable.
spds for xc and effiency? and flats for bumpy, technical ride and steeper rides, drop offs etc?

I switched last year, I was riding with a new riding friend who had flats, I kept saying try spd’s they are great.
He said he loved the flats. So I tried them.
He was right, BUT make sure you get some good flats with long pins that grip well, I have super star, they are great. I had some other ones 50/50’s not so good.
Perhaps find a what flat pedal thread and have a read.

I made the switch a couple of years back just before my first visit to jedi. I went down, not knowing what to expect, with two bikes, two differnt sets of pedals and two different pairs of shoes. I was concerned that if I kept the flats on, I’d handicap myself for the rest of the day. Tony suggested that if I wanted to learn to ride flats, with a coach for the day was the perfect time.

He gave me two pointers at the start. Heels down so you’ve got some weight behind the pedals, not all on top of them. You’re momentum will then push the bike through an obstacle rather than slowing the bike and sliding your feet off the pedals. The other tip was to ride with the axle under the midfoot rather than the ball of the foot. The idea being that when your toes point down in the air (which they always will) you’ve not flicking the bike off your toes, just rolling the pedals around their own axis.

Must have worked because I went from a wheels down rider to a 6 ft gap jump in a single day. Never gave the shoes/pedals a second thought after those initial comments.

Not looked back since. Very occasionally pop the spds back on but more often than not, clipped in is just for the road bike.

Good luck.

On thing, if you’re going to try the midfoot position, make sure it’s a flat soled shoe. It doesn’t work if you use trainers with a raised arch.

I alternate. I still race in SPD’s but for general riding I prefer flats. Didn’t take me long to adjust at all.

Reasonable flat pedals like nanos can be had for £35 you don’t need special shoes just some trainers with a relatively flat sole. I normally just go into sports direct and see what is cheap.

You can’t pull up when climbing but given most power comes from the down part it is not a concern.

Pros and con’s to both. Try it and see. I like the simplicity of flats. I also like them when we head to places like the lakes when we will end up shouldering the bikes on some hills. At trailcentres where everything is rideable SPD’s can be better.

Is it the way forward? No. Each system has its advantages. I think being able to use both puts you in a good place.

+1

I’ll ride either, if I’m going out for a faster, longer ride I’ll go SPD & if I’m going for a shorter, play ride I’ll go with flats…

+1 for riding both

I swapped before the days of forum expertise or Jedi so had a painfull few months slipping off and mashing shins. I ride them with the pedals closer to an SPD position than Jedi suggests but do drop my heels for rough bits of trail.

tinaspoon, I´m with you, I ride with the pedal a lot further forward. I started with them in the arch though, and always tell people who are setting out to try that way too. Putting the pedal closer to the ball of your foot lets you use your ankle more for suspension and for loading and unloading I think. There is more chance of slipping though.

seems like only yesterday onzadog 🙂

I’ve tried flats on my turbo trainer bike as they were going spare.
Caused no end of knee problems.
I think what I feel is comfy probably isn’t.

Similar to you – I was doing a bit of sessioning of jumps and drops with a big bike, and found myself messing up run ins trying to get clipped in. Did my head in, so decided to get the flats. Back on the same trail, started on a really rough, technical rocky section, was trying to lift the bike with my feet in that cheating way you can with SPDs, and was obviously coming away form the bike. Had to stop and have a word with myself, ‘cos I was going to crash. Concentrated for a bit, kept weight on the pedals, and pretty much cracked it same day, and not long after was on flats for all my riding.

IMO it basically depends how well you ride on your SPDs. The techniques that you need for flats to keep engaged also benefit you on SPDs so the better the rider, usually the easier they can swap whereas if you’re relying on the SPDs to deal with less good riding technique, flats will show that up. I had a mare learning flats incidentally but then I learned on toeclips 😉

But the good thing is, it’s all transferable, so if it does turn out that you have trouble riding on flats, and you work all that stuff out, it’s much easier to take that back to SPDs and retain it than it is to learn it all on SPDs when you’ve got the safety net. Same as SPDs can help learn other things that work on flats.

Jedi, it does only feel like yesterday but I must be going fast, because I feel like I’ve come a hell of a long way in 24 hrs. 😉

I’ve ridden for 4 years, 3 3/4 years of that on SPDs,

I’ve purchased some cheap V8’s on eBay, Some cheap skate shoes from charity shop, the sole was really bendy,
3 miles in my feet were killing,
just got some five ten freerides which I’m going to use as soon as I’m not at work which happens to be Sunday and looking to very wet….again
🙁

SPDs all day long for me. I’ve tried flats, and just not seen the benefit. I prefer being stuck to the bike, and on tricky sections it allows me to move the bike better (without thinking about it) and forces me to commit to stuff, which invariably means I get over it.

Switched back to flats a few years ago now on the trail bike. Took a few rides to get completely comfortable with it again. Feet a bit further forwards and heels dropped are the way to go. May be worth dropping your saddle a few mm as I found this helped keep my feet on when pedalling.

Still use SPDs for XC racing and long pedally rides and find switching between flats and SPDs pretty easy now. If it’s a fun ride though I much prefer to be on flats.

Edit: don’t feel any less “stuck” to the bike on flats. If you do then it may be a bad technique/setup thing.

I also like the feeling of security being attached to my pedals when I get any kind of air.

Sounds like you need a day with Jedi

FWIW, I can switch between flats/SPDs (DX pedals, large platform) with zero issues (on road, BMX, MTB). The SPDs to make me “commit” more to lines, especially when it gets a bit slippy.

Oh I don’t doubt for a second that it’s bad technique on my part, but I really don’t see what the fuss is about flats. I’ve been riding with SPDs for nearly 20 years, so I guess I’m just pretty stuck in my ways

I’ll ride either, if I’m going out for a faster, longer ride I’ll go SPD & if I’m going for a shorter, play ride I’ll go with flats…

+1

I’ve been riding with SPD’s for over 10 years. Just tried flats for a course with Pro Ride Guides at Stainburn. Felt really insecure for the first couple of runs, then Joe corrected my riding stance (was hanging off the back too much/early and not weighting the feet properly) and it all stayed in place after that. I’ve had a couple of loose feet moments over bumps but that was me getting it wrong not the pedals/shoes.
SPD’s are still my preference for XC stuff, but for trails and techy descents, I’d choose flats now. Don’t find climbing in them much, if any, more difficult.
I ride flats with the pedal just behind the ball of the foot. Can’t get to feel comfy with it mid foot.

I did my first year mtb on flats, switched to spd’s for 9 months then have been back on flats over the winter. All on a hard tail. Overall I prefer flats, I’m definately as fast or faster downhill and rarely have trouble keeping my feet on the bike. Technical climbing does suffer especially without a rear shock. It’s at those moments when u are slightly off balance and you can pull up to keep your momentum that I miss the spd’s but overall I prefer flats.

My 2p’s worth..,,.. The Jedi tips above are key. Having decent shoes and pedals is really important. I have v8’s and am41’s which work well. I just rented an orange 5 at afan with worn pinned cheap pedals and really noticed a difference in how well my foot stuck down over the rough stuff even with the benefit of rear suspension

Sorry phone related double post!

Great thread OP. I was just thinking the same,

I’ve been on SPDs for about 15 years but bought a Whyte G-150 as my first big bike last year and SPDs just don’t seem right when getting fast and loose.

I think the general theme here is that i should keep the SPDs for longer epics on the hard tail and run flats with the enduro for maximum fun.

having said that unclipping from SPDs is so much second nature that I don’t think it is a factor in crashes, but i’d like to dab a little more and get my foot down in berms more.

having said that unclipping from SPDs is so much second nature that I don’t think it is a factor in crashes, but i’d like to dab a little more and get my foot down in berms more.

There was a pink bike article that eluded that in SPD’s you commit in a way that means you don’t need to unclip to dab as you have to get the corner right.

I’d be tempted to try flats is there was something that I felt SPD’s were holding me back on. No issue dabbing, clipping or unclipping really.

I started riding with toe clips and then moved to SPD’s but as my riding moved away from pure XC type stuff to more jumps / DH / mucking about I swapped to a pair of V8’s and Airwalks. It took my about a day to get used to them and be able to bunny hop again and I’ve not looked back really (and it was a very long time ago!).

I prefer the feeling of not being stuck to my bike even though I never had any issues not clipping out when crashing. To me it just feels better. I’ve dabbled with SPD’s for longer rides since but didn’t like them so have stuck with flats (aside from the road bike). I didn’t dabble for that long though because I’m too lazy to swap pedals for different rides.

I do agree with those who say shoes make a difference though – for years I used old skate shoes and they were OK but the soles are often a bit too flexible. I bought some cheap 5 10 Freeriders laste year and they’re much better – more grip and a slightly stiffer sole.

Give them a shot and if you don’t like them go back to SPD’s.

If your not an MTB ‘natural’ (ie me!) and have low skills on the bike (again, me!) and have always riden (~10years) in SPD’s doing lots of XC and no AM/DH/Enduro (or whatever it’s called this week), it might take you a while longer to feel properly happy on flats (like me……) as spds certainly help to mask poor foot technique. However, stick with them, and the boost in confidence and skills is worth having, even if you eventually find you can swap back to SPD’s for the vast majority of your riding 😉

I think the other thing is that sometimes people say flats won’t do anything for them, but it’s kind of hard to tell until you try- if you’re dependant on your clips, you tend not to feel like it. So people focus on dabbing etc but that’s only a part of it.

I’m a normal/average sort of a rider but it’s always interesting if there’s coaching happening, I remember Ian Potter at AQR watching our group ride through a section- “heels down! knees bent! Relax! Soften up!” for absolutely everyone except me on my flats, even riders that were a lot better than me.

What’s the consensus of flats without shin guards? The pins on the pedals look like they would smart!

I also like the feeling of security being attached to my pedals when I get any kind of air.

Danger Will Robinson!

After years of riding everything clipped in I trained myself to use flats in < 3 weeks. Now it’s clipped in for XC and flats for play-time. I apply technique much better on jumps & drops on flats, but am tempted to go back to clips for DH – there are hardly any corners you *need* to stick your foot out for*, even if it is fun to do 🙂

*Unless it’s muddy with twistiness.

get my foot down in berms more.

They’re berms, you don’t need to do this at all.

flats without shin guards

Not been a problem for me

+1 again for riding both. I rode spd for about 15 years before deciding to try flats. Make sure you get decent pedals and shoes though or it will put you off (nanos and 5-10s for me – very grippy). It took about 2-3 months to get used to riding them properly but it certainly helps technique. As above, forces you to get your heels down more, push forward and move with the bike rather than lift with the feet. It takes some getting used to but I became a quicker/smoother rider as a result.

I’ve switched back to spd recently as we tend to do mostly xc stuff over the winter and pedal position can be trickier in the slop. Switching back isn’t too difficult – just move your cleats right back and use the same heel down technique. Climbing is much easier with spd and I found they can make you more committed to a tricky section rather than thinking of dabbing.

I’ll probably go back to flats again after the winter.

scruff9252 – Member

What’s the consensus of flats without shin guards?

Once your legs are made entirely out of scar tissue, it stops hurting (tbh, I never scratch myself while riding but mid-crash you do sometimes get reminded that you’ve bolted 2 morningstars to your bike. And the bloody things still get me sometimes when moving bikes around or in the garage)

scruff9252 – Member
What’s the consensus of flats without shin guards? The pins on the pedals look like they would smart!

It does, but I’ve not done it for a long time and time is a great healer so I just wear lightweight knees these days. To be honest with decent pedals and a sticky sole it’s more a problem of a foot slightly stuck out of a nice position on the pedal than slipping off I have to worry about.

I guess it’s a case of how you want to balance the risk of pain and scarring with comfort/aesthetics.

What’s the consensus of flats without shin guards? The pins on the pedals look like they would smart!

It depends how grippy your shoes are really. The only time I’ve gouged my shins to pieces was at les arcs where it was seriously steep and rocky and I fell off a few times. Otherwise no real issues.

My shins bled a lot to begin with, but not so much anymore once yous top falling off the pedals (heels down, knees bent etc).