[Closed] Hardcore Hardtailers - Pedal preference

29er hardtail with Egg Beaters for commuting and racing.

I had to adopt the 'dropped heels' technique to avoid the occasional foot bounced of the pedal incident.

I ride flats - i've not ridden spuds for (10?) years offroad, and I find I don't have a problem with feet grip even on full on DH tracks.

Dialled PA (sufficient gnarr to comment?)

Spds with cages.

I have spds now but learnt how to drop my heels when I had flats.

Currently running M545 caged SPD's on my Ragley Blue Pig X. They were also used on my Dialled Prince Albert.

What's this 'hardcore hardtail' you speak of?

Flats obviously. SPD's dont sound "hardcore" at all, more "inappropriate LT XC mince hardtail"

flats.

trying spd`s but its making hte inside front of my right knee hurt.

Time Z Control on my DMR.

(Mr MC posting)

dialled alpine, flats- mahoosive gert easton flatboys (fatboy would be more accurate). If your feet come off youre doing it wrong (mine do occasionally, I'm still newish to flats after 18yrs of spds)

HX1 - nuke proof flats. Thinking of going back to spds though...

spds. And I've had my feet bounce out of them on really rough tracks once, so it's not just flats.

SPDs...really cheap shimano ones

always ride clipped in
my bike might be considered hardcore, but its rider is not

i would try flats, but i'd have to buy some new shoes

Flats on the 456, SPD's (well, candy's) on the Sanderson life, which is arguably less 'core.

SPD's on the P7, flats in the Jack Flash

flats on all bikes. Very rarely get bounced off, only because of my bad driving.

Kev

456SS
Caged shimano spds (PDM647).
I would really struggle without the cages.

flats. always flats.

half the point of the so called hardtail HT thing is razzing about in the woods.

you can't razz on clips (unless you are Dr Pete) you just can't...

[b]Anybody who's feet get bounced[/b] - Your technique is flawed, which is why it happens.

Flats for me all the way

sometimes your feet do shift around on flats. it's not the end of the world. anyone that claims they remain in the perfect position 100% of the time is cockwavey BSing.

but i'd MUCH rather occasionally pedal on a wangle, than have my feet glued to the pedals when i slip out on a corner, or have the HUGE irritation of being clipped out and sat on top of a pedal in stiff clippy shoes, bouncing all over the place with my feet slipping off everywhere.

Hateful.

flats. always flats.

half the point of the so called hardtail HT thing is razzing about in the woods.

you can't razz on clips (unless you are Dr Pete) you just can't...

I'd argue against that on all three points.

1st, Horses for courses, some days I'll do some riding that [s]requires [/s] favours flats, other days SPD's

2nd, As above, I buy/bought them as a jack of all trades, my "messing about in the woods" is actualy a full suss.

3rd, It's all in your head. I can ride as fast on either pedal over techy stuff. IMO the commitment required to ride fast is less than the commitment required to ride in SPDs, and going fast means your less likely to dab so it's less of a problem.

anyone that claims they remain in the perfect position 100% of the time is cockwavey BSing.

Or just owns some good shoes and burgtech pedals :p

flats and spd's for me. Quite enjoying spd's on my Ti hardcore HT at the moment.

Horses for courses. I ride flats, but I have a friend who will ride everything but massive dirt jumps clipped in.

The reason I like flats is they help to teach better technique when learning. If you can manual, bunnyhop and rail corners really well then it doesn't really matter what you ride.

i dont know if i made as many as 3 points.

it's not 'techy' stuff as such. im not scared of being clipped in. or worried that i wont get out. i rode clips on my dh bike for about 3 years including a whole season in the alps

its more about weight distribution in corners, particularly on HT... having an inside foot off and sliding. sprinting, wheeliying, lipping off stupid lips that dont really exist...just razzing around!

SO much fun.

flats. always flats.

half the point of the so called hardtail HT thing is razzing about in the woods.

you can't razz on clips (unless you are Dr Pete) you just can't...

Yeh thats it. If your riding xc then fine, use clips.

But surely the point of these bikes is for razzing about, riding jumps and doing downhill? Dunno why you'd even consider anything other than flat pedals.

YAY! that's exactly it!

DMR V12's now for about 10 years. Tried spd's a few times feeling I should wear them, but never felt comfortable.

Generally Time Z controls on my PA, but experimenting on the flat-side after 20 years of clipiness.

Learning the 'heel drop' technique very quickly too... But loving the foot-outiness of flats.

(altho if I'm honest the bike does get used more for XC at the mo apart from the odd venture to Aston Hill)

incidentally i have no idea what the 'heel drop' technique is. i dont get why you'd drop your heels unless you were going down a steep chute or something? or braking hard maybe.

how can you bunny hop if your heels are down?

Depends where I am. If there's not many corners (ie Peaks) but plenty of biggish climbs, then spds as they're simply faster.

Lots of corners? Flats. Funnerer.

tracknicko - More about the 'heel drop' from somebody who coaches stuff.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/10/be-a-better-rider-part-4-heels/

interesting. perhaps something that happens naturally as i dont think i have ever considered when riding what's going on with me heels.

xtr trail spds or wellgo mg1 flats,
quite happy to mix and match depending upon where I'm riding.

flats with all but 5 pedal pins removed each side and normal non sticky skate shoes and honestly don't need to my drop heels to keep my feet in place when it gets rough.

Both.

Was very happy to have opted for flats on the black at Ft Bill.

are you referring to the DH track? ^^ 😯

Flats (old skool 24Seven SLACKs) on both bikes. Going to get something lighter and thinner sometime. Maybe.

I ride all sorts inc , SS xc , downhill , cx all clipped in. Our xc rides usually involve some nice big gaps and jumps .
I feel more in control of the bike clipped in . Can lean it harder , pedal harder and generally feel more at one with it.

The only time i ride flats is when we are doing a dirt jump sesh ,bmx and when riding the big bike in the alps. Duno why i prefer the flats in the alps on the bouncy .

clipped in for everything.

Always flats, from long xc rides to messing about, cant see the point for me, i dont need my feet tied to the pedals any more than i need my hands tied to the bars..

I always used spd's but had an off at Gisburn when I couldn't get my foot out. As I ride alone (mid week due to shift work ) I felt flats would be safer. I use superstar nano's and shimano flat shoes (am 40 somthing ) and have never looked back.