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Looking for advice from the STW Massive regarding flat pedals. Have been riding clips for 15 years now and have decided to try to improve my skills, so have bought some Superstar flats and a pair of 510's. So far have only lost pedals when going up a technical climb but the real issue is FOOOT PAAAIN after riding for more than an hour. Is this common, do I need to MTFU, will it improve with time?
510 what?
I had sam hill impacts for about 2months before selling as they crippled my feet on long rides.
Currently using Adidas terrestrial with no problems.
Terrex ^
Have you moved your feet further forward on the pedal than you are used to with SPDs that can make a difference to comfort and certainly to control on the bike . I find Freerider Pro's are much more comfortable than ordinary Freeriders as they have a stiffer sole but the same rubber compound as Freeriders . Good luck , I changed after 25+ years on SPD pedals and won't be going back .
Haha, i've been dealing with foot pain ever since i've switched to clips. 😀 Let's trade feet, you in?
Have tried Impact Highs and Freeriders both with same results, feels like the sole is too soft, like I'm barefoot on the pedals.
Do you mean the bottom of your feet are getting tired / sore? I found that when I had not supportive enough skate shoes but with 5-10 free riders that massively improved it. If your pedals are quite small I’ve found you can get the same thing.
Over time it’ll stop happening in my experience.
Funnily enough though I’ve found this year I’m getting sore ankles when I go anywhere particularly rocky riding flats. Swapped to clips (Nukeproof horizons with shimano am7s) and the ankle thing has gone away.
So now short rides on the hardtail tend to be on flats and I use clips on the bigger fs bike on more challenging terrain. I can quite happily swap between clips and flats with no adverse issues and I figure it keeps my core skills on flats going so I don’t get lazy just pulling up on clips.
Have tried Impact Highs and Freeriders both with same results, feels like the sole is too soft, like I’m barefoot on the pedals.
You obviously haven't tried riding your bike in skate shoes - that feels like being barefoot. Five Tens feel like there's a fair bit of material between your feet and the pedals - you must have extremely sensitive feet to feel otherwise.
JP
Make sure your feet are further forward - middle of the pedal more in the middle of the foot - ball of the feet over the leading edge of the pedal I reckon...
I ride Nukeproof Horizon Sam Hills with Shimano GR7 shoes (actually not the stiffest shoes around) and never ever feel any discomfort. I'd try different pedals.
Used to have pressure spots with various combos of clipless pedals and shoes over the years, by the way
Make sure your feet are further forward – middle of the pedal more in the middle of the foot – ball of the feet over the leading edge of the pedal I reckon…
Why's that then?
I did exactly the same thing a while back, I switched to flats and use the same pedals as you.I have suffered with numbing feet after a while on the bike,but this was with five ten impacts though and I've occasionally had a bit of foot strain through the arch /centre of the foot.
I recently via a good PSA on here bought some GR7's first couple of rides and they were very comfortable and I didn't notice/or need to think about my feet at all.
I found riding on flats mean't I naturally feel better pedalling more towards the middle foot,which mean't I also had to lower my saddle a bit-I also find my feet are naturally taking up a wider stance on these pedals too.
It could just be early day and your feet need to begin to adapt/strengthen a wee bit.
I love riding on flats now.
Tried 5 10 Freeriders when I first used flat pedals, didn't last long as the sole soon got torn by the pins and they also felt too flexy/unsupported. Bought Sombrios when CRC was clearing them cheap, stiffer sole but plenty of grip with Nukeproof/Superstar plastic pedals, walking boots also work ok.
I think it's a very personal thing. I had more foot issues with clips than flats and I switched to flats permanently about 5 years ago.
There are so many combinations of shoes and pedals and even more variety of feet! FiveTen Freerider pros and CB stamp 7s work well for me today. The Pros are way more comfortable than any clipped shoes I had previously. For a while I ran the halfway house combination of clipped FiveTen Falcons with Mallet DH pedals. Then I took the cleats off and found they still worked pretty well as flats and hence later moved to a dedicated flat setup. I'm not going back from here.
What impact did you feel it had on your ride? I have always been clips (well for last 20 years) but next weekend I have a weekend in the Peaks with some mates for a long walk and I am going to take the bike with me to do a couple of rides before and after. As I am travelling by train I don’t want to take two pairs of shoes so thinking flats...but I have a long-ish road section to do as well. Will I notice it much?
I've just done this exact thing after riding SPD's for as long as I can remember. Whilst I was similar times downhill (faster on some too), I think it's a great thing to do. Turns out I'd got really lazy with bunnyhop technique etc which meant I was clattering through some of the rooty/rocky stuff where I was usually much smoother on spd. I think it's a great way of keeping your skills sharp!