[Closed] FLAT PEDALS FOR ALL MOUNTAIN/ENDURO

Flats are defiantly the way forward for such riding.

It always makes me laugh when people ride with SPD's then panic unclip when things get risky! That's a recipe for disaster!

If you're not happy with SPDs, then either get flats, or get better with SPDs 😉 Both perfectly valid options. There's advantages and disadvantages to both but they're not big enough to override personal preferences. Regardless of what pedals you choose it's generally better to have your feet on them than not but yeah, sometimes it's nice to be able to more easily dab and carry on when pushing your limits.

I used to be a SPDs boy, I had to switch to flats when I started riding again as my leg'd drop off if I twisted it wrong and it took some getting used to, not sure what I'd choose now if I could. Good to try both.

Do you like having shins? Ah well, never mind.

lewymtb

My question is, does anyone have issues with flats for Enduro/all mountain/climbing/single trail riding?. And will you end up with pencil calves lol

If you've got decent pedals and decent shoes then I struggling to imagine what issues, if any, you might suffer.

Flat pedals for medals.

Flat pedals for medals.

True that. I got one on Strava tonight, running my new Vaults! Well, a cup. Not a crown.

Five-Tens plus Nukeproof electrons are super grippy - the pedal "spikes" do make some spectacular holes in your shins/calves if/when you crash, enough to make it worth consirdering wearing the knee/shin armour for that reason alone

I sometimes ride with flats, sometimes clipped in on Time pedals - neither is noticeably quicker. If I had to pick one it'd be clips, just prefer feeling of having my feet secured to the pedals when the going gets rough.

Clips ftw

Clips ftw - CB Mallets for the ultimate win

Went back to flats for a Dirt School course and haven't looked back. Would use SPDs if I were racing or long XC days in the saddle but for general arsing around on the trail (that's what AM/Enduro is really) then flats are best if you're not so comfortable in SPDs. Gives you the option of try new things and push it without having to unclip all the time. Plus it means you have to do skills/jumps properly 😉

I'd say ride whatever lets you have the most fun on your bike.
I personally wouldn't ride anything other than lift assisted DH bike park stuff on a big bike on flats and I'm just as happy getting a foot out of flats as I am my crankbros.
Steep learning curve and a long time to get to that point so its not for everyone.
Almost all of our ripper guides through the years ride XC/AM/En on flats and kill it and have a tremendous amount of fun doing so... choose what makes you happy!.

spds on the race hardtail, flats on the FS messing about in the woods bike

Rode Fort Bill WC DH clipped in - I'm not saying how well I rode it 😕 but don't think it was being clipped in that hindered me.

As has been said though - each to their own.

Ridden my HT for a few group rides recently whilst the FS was in dry dock - the HT has flats - I now have scabby shins!

Nanos and new moose mag flats with am41's...troy lee kg5450 for the shins...well the top of them!

I switched from SPDs to flats a couple of years ago (after about 15yrs on SPDs) and haven't looked back. Mostly for my knees' sake though. Had a brief 'relapse' with SPDs recently, but it only lasted 2wks before I went back again. It's a personal thing though: neither pedal has ever stopped me riding anything and maybe if it wasn't for my knees I'd never have tried flats and would be none the wiser.

On a side note: am I the only one who only ever gets pins/pedals in the inside or backs of the calves, never the shins? I've got a nice divot in the front of one leg, down to the bone, where an SPD caught me though.

Clipped in on an AM bike here. Far better on the climbs and pedally bits. Far better on the technical climbs where you have to negotiate big rocks and big steps, and I jump with them too. I don't see how you can pull up on your pedals while jumping. I tried when I first started jumping and had a few brown trouser moments and soon realised jumping is better and easier if you don't pull up against the pedals and 'jump proper'.

Whatever floats your boat, bit you can ride AM with clips.

@wobbilscott - divots evenly spread front and back

I only ride flats for everything but only because ice ridden them for years and feel more comfortable with them (I think that I first swapped to flats in about '98 when I started jumping more). I've dabbled with clips since then but have never felt comfortable with them on more technical stuff.

I've got a few scars on my shins but nowt too bad. It does tang a bit if you catch them but it wouldn't put me off from riding them. I use Nano's on both of my bikes with sone Five Ten canvas BMX shoes. The grip s pretty good but the soles of the shoes are getting pretty torn up now.

I find riding clipped in better for my knees as my feet can float on the pedals. If I ride flats for any length of time I get a painful left knee.

When i bought my bike it came with spd's. I tried to get used to them for a few days but after a coulle of embarassing tumbles swapped for flats. Flats do have there downsides, sometimes when coming down a rocky descent a foot might bounce off slightly and be sat wonky and theres not alot you can do about it until you come to a smoother patch, but i would still rather have that than be clipped in.

Ive trashed my skate shoes now though, ordered a set this week and they have turned up and they are too small 🙁

Ive been back on the spd's riding to work this week. Im certainly faster but im always slightly worried riding in town with them, ive already taken another tumble and had a few other close moments!

Got a ride in the peaks tomorrow with the spd's and for once im not really looking forward to it. They seem to take a bit of the fun out of riding imo.

22 years on SPDs here with never a worry. Just as long on look/spd sl on the road bike, never a worry.

I had a dabble with flats on my fs a year or so ago and it all felt a bit 'meh'. Then switched to Mallets and thought I had the holy grail.

For other reasons I thought I would try out my flats again the other day (fat spanner ones, just like CNC nano techs from superstar with five ten impact 2 lows). I remembered that I had a bag is DMR Terror Pins (long ones) so I thought I would switch out some of the short stock pins for them to see what happened.

Bloody marvellous is what happened! I can't say I will never go back to clipped in on the fs but words like "stuck like glue" and "planted" come to mind with the flats. Plus the knowledge of being able to dab easily.

Long term I will worry about float, because long pins and five ten rubber don't. Short term, loving it.

I ride flats on my AM bike, prefer to be able to get my feet off quickly when I'm going to crash.
Yes I have a nice collection of pedel rashon my calves, and shins, but its a small price to pay for the extra confidence that I get from using flat pedals.

Thanks for the comments guys. Much appreciated!