Hi,

I have recently switched to riding flat pedals on my mtb, and am getting on well with them. I am thinking of switching over my commuter bike to flat pedals as I would like to get used to riding them as quickly as possible. Am I mad for thinking of doing a 13 mile commute on flats?

It is mainly country roads through hampshire/surrey border and a little bit lumpy. I have ridden clipless for years, but am thinking of a change!

Cheers

I am not sure commuting on flats is going to help you getting used to riding them on an mtb faster. Different sort of riding. If clips are better for the commute ride it that way. In my mknd the main reason for fkats all round would be to save on shoes,mie needing onky 1 pair but if younalready have the spd’s or whatever then keep riding them.

Why not, 13 miles isn’t that far, I did more than that on my MTB with flats on saturday. I think it might help to be honest, riding clipped in on my commute for the last 6 months has made me a bit lazy on my mtb (which to be fair I’ve ridden more in the last week than the rest of the year) and I can’t bunny hop as well as I could before.

Just watch the clearance in the corners.

I tried, cleats, spd’s and flats on my 13 mile commute. My fastest time was in flats. I much prefer them for the stop start traffic and dealing with lights. This is on a road bike, i only ride flats on my mtb.

I use flats on the road bike, I get plenty of comments about them, but I seem to do OK,.

Why not, it’s just a bike ride, you don’t need special shoes and pedals to ride one.

I do 90% of my commuting/utility riding on flats, including 30+ mile loops, only really use the SPDs for racing and longer road rides.

If you use your bike generally, ie: more than just riding from A-B each day then the flexibility of flats makes a lot of sense

I don’t think I could ride a mile on flats, I’m so used to cleats.

Also use flats on my road and touring bike here. Getting rid of all my clipless gear. Much more convenient and more comfortable, and no slower for me. Distances up to 80 miles.
I’m a high cadence spinner, rarely out the saddle. I suspect some suit flats better than others, and for road riding I don’t think there is much convincing evidence one is better than another for normal riders in terms of performance. Anecdotal and theoretical yes, evidence not so much, especially over the course of a ride (as opposed to just looking at a sprint section).

Spending time pedalling in flexy soles is a bigger difference for me then spd vs flats.

Ive got 2 sided (clip-flat) pedals on my old commuter/shopper and I often ride on the flat side, but for 10mile commute ill still wear stiffer spd trainers over normal trainers even if im not clipped in. Really need to find some stiffer soled trainers that are not too hot.

I do all my riding on flats, no problems with bigger distances either, just in normal trainers, no stiff soles or anything (can’t find any that fit).

Depends if you have steep hills then stick with clipless. If it is primarily flat then it’ll probably make minimal difference swapping to flats.

I ride flats on road and off. Done hilly 100 mile rides on both, it’s fine.

Might not be the best practice for keeping control over rough stuff, but it’ll certainly help you get used to a smooth pedalling motion, and you can always find some opportunities to throw in some bunny hops and side hops over roadkill, horse turds, white lines, curbs…

My fastest time was in flats

Those pro road/track cyclists really should take note of this !

I really want to give flats a go again, and then I remember how often the pins would sample my shins.. How do you guys avoid destroying your shins?

Give it a go.

Undecided here.

Tried flats on the road for a couple of months this year due to Sciatica.

I’m noticeably slower on flats, no matter what I try.
I seem to get tired quicker too.

Poor technique combined with lack of smoothness due to the injury I suppose.

I’ve gone back to SPD’s on the road for the moment, but intend to try flats again as the injury improves, as I find them much more pleasant to use.

Really need to find some stiffer soled trainers that are not too hot.

A quick hijack here, but my FiveTen Freeriders with the mesh on the front (i.e. not the Elements, which I use most of the rest of the year) are too cold for anything but summer riding – maybe have a look at those.

How do you guys avoid destroying your shins?

510 shoes so my feet don’t slip off plus of course superior technique 😉

cokie – Member
I really want to give flats a go again, and then I remember how often the pins would sample my shins.. How do you guys avoid destroying your shins?

Decent pedals, grippy shoes and good technique.

Those pro road/track cyclists really should take note of this !

To the limits of accuracy of Strava (yeah, uh-huh, that accurate)… for my commute I’ve swapped and changed between flats and clips, between a 20 year old junker training frame with downtube shifters and “relaxed” bearings and a modern day carbon Di2 loveliness.

Conclusion… the difference, if any, is a small number of seconds, usually not relevant compared to how the engine is operating on the day. It is not about the bike. Surprisingly, it isn’t about the pedals either.

Humble brag… scope of research includes top 10 placings on heavily contended segments between 19s and ~4 minutes.

I only use SPDs for off-roading and longer rides these days. Much of my riding is done in town so I need to be able to walk about quite a bit for shopping, galleries, etc, plus most SPD shoes look a bit odd when off the bike, so flats and normal footwear for day to day use. I never really feel the need to be clipped in, in fact being ‘free’ is preferable in heavy traffic and for stop-start type riding. I’ve yet to find an SPD shoe that will actually enable walking any distance without that annoying clip-clop noise and wearing out the cleats.

It’ll make a change. Go for it. Worst case you don’t like it and you have some spare flat pedals. I switch on and off for my commute. I find it useful to have flats for the commuter if there has been a lot of snow or ice in winter. It’s just riding a bike to work so no need to think about it too much – I doubt you are pushing the boundaries of your ability so you probably won’t be much slower in practical terms.

Conclusion… the difference, if any, is a small number of seconds, usually not relevant compared to how the engine is operating on the day. It is not about the bike

Those pro road/track cyclist really should take note of this

PFFT to marginal gains eh give them a BSO

Those pro road/track cyclist really should take note of this

Oh wow. You are hellbent … on a thread about whether it is ok to use flat pedals on a 13 mile commute.

tl;dr: it is

It is not about the bike

Well it can be, I can take 5 minutes off my commute by simply swapping from my heavy commuter to a light CF road bike. However, the rate determining step of my commute is how fast I can get over the hills on a country road; if the commute was through the city that would change to traffic lights being rate determining and then any old bike would be just as quick.

Cheers all,

I’ll be putting them on tonight and give it a go!

tl;dr: it is

You have to do that before you comment on my ELEVEN words

I am simply pointing out that the pros wont be wrong whatever STW thinks.

Flats wont be faster than clips.
The bike will make a difference to time.

I am not sure how either of these is actually controversial , STW arguing aside.

There will be very little difference running flats vs SPDs to be honest, speaking as an almost exclusive SPD user (who’s thinking of putting flat pedals on one of his MTBs and used to ride a short commute in office clothing with flat pedals).

You only ever really pull up moving off from traffic lights, or when totally grinding/sprinting, and you won’t if you’re not clipped in. People who imagine it makes a massive difference to pedalling efficiency are kidding themselves (though stiffer shoes and the ability to pull up will help occasionally).

From the OP:

Am I mad for thinking of doing a 13 mile commute on flats?

What the pros do for marginal gains has very little to do with this.

Flats wont be faster than clips.
The bike will make a difference to time.

Pretty much convinced that a “pro” on flat pedals and a [gasp] non-aero fandango will still be faster than you, mechanical doping notwithstanding.

I am not sure how that is actually controversial , STW arguing aside.

the point is not whether they are faster than me- was that deliberate?- the point is which is faster, for each rider, the good bike or the crap bike.

If you think you are faster on a crap heavy bike then don’t let me dissuade you and can I recommend panniers full of bricks for the ride home 😉

What the pros do for marginal gains has very little to do with this

Agreed but it was in response to a claim of being quicker on flats but yeah for the op its irrelevant.

One thing I can’t stand about flats on road bikes, is it ruins the ability to lean and pedal through corners. Or does no one attack corners anymore?

Plenty of reasons why a rider would be faster overall on flats vs clips. And plenty vice versa. The blanket claim that flats cannot be faster is based on what?
“It is faster for pros” means it is faster for pros. Doesn’t necessarily apply in real life to normal riders on normal rides. (By that I mean people who are not coached in pedal technique/lab trained etc).
I seem to be about the same speed on flats as the years I was clipped in. But I feel much less fatigued and am enjoying doing longer rides. That is entirely anecdotal and there may be lots of reasons, but no less valid than someone telling me the pros find the opposite to be true.

How can a flat be faster, there is no mechanism for it to be faster, at best it will be equal to being clipped in.

If it is more comfortable then less fatigue over a ride may make the ride faster overall. If you can adjust your foot position slightly you may spend more time in a more aero position. But that harks back to the theory. There are plenty of theoretical reasons pushed for clips being faster which sound way more plausible than those I have mentioned above in support of flats. And a theoretical debate is interesting. But to state flats cannot be faster or that clips must be faster seems quite a leap.

How can they not be the same? Where does the wasted energy go?

How can a flat be faster, there is no mechanism for it to be faster

3 mile trip, 15 sets of lights?

I think if I was serious about marginal gains I might need to shave my legs and not wear baggy shorts!

Many thanks for all the advice, I am sorry if I phrased my post badly, it wasn’t so much which was better (I am now aware that is a can of worms) just if other peeps rode flats for that sort of distance and if they did how it was!

Am I mad for thinking of doing a 13 mile commute on flats?

No, but I think you are for asking a bunch of argumentative weirdos on the internet.
Why don’t you just try it and see how it works out ?

Nothing wrong with your first post! 🙂