Do many tend to swap between the two?
I've been riding SPuDs for years but will be going back to a trusty pair of DMRs from the late 90s.
Guessing it will feel odd for super radcore XC mincing.
spds on the ht and flats on the full sus. Works for me.
I recently went back to flats and don't really life them, SPuDs back on for me soon!
I rode clipped in for years, then I tried flats and liked it for some riding but I swapped and changed between the two for a while and got the point where I didn't feel comfortable on either :-/
Been on flats exclusively for a year now and it feels good. It's turning cold though so I might put my Times back on so I can use my winter clipless boots.
Makes no odds to me.Unless I mix up shoes.
What chvck said
Often run flats in summer and spds in winter. Simply because you seem to be able to get better winter footwear in spd versions.
I would like to ride flats full time but footwear is a bit of a challenge. In the cold and wet spds and over shoes do seem to offer more warmth and not sure how well flat shoes work if you have to push up something muddy.
spds on the xc hardtail and flats on the hardcore hardtail and the full sus. take it for granted that I just swap between them..no probs.
I wear whichever I feel like wearing... or whichever is on the bike from the last time I was out 🙄
If I want fast times its the SPD's for sure, but for playing with technique and skills building I like flatties. Learn it on flatties, race it on SPD's 😈
Swap between them both at the drop of a hat. The only time i make sure I have flats is when I am likely to be out of my comfort zone.
Mince core lite down a full downhill run had me walking a few times not to mention dabbing and soiling myself.
Bottom line is that when the chips are down I still feel the need to be able to not have to think about it. I think that the BMX as a kid is the default setting and the instinct to kick the bike away when it goes really wrong is too ingrained at my age.
I used toe clips and straps followed by spd's for 25 years off road and then gave flats a go a couple of years ago as a friend had given me a pair of shoes and a bike I'd bought came with flats. I realised I much preferred them for my own "super radcore XC mincing." I only use the spd's on the road/cx bike now and can't see myself going back.
After one ride I'd stopped worrying about my feet slipping and it's never been an issue since.
Yep, flats on full sus, spd's on the hardtail, no problems going between the 2
Flat on the drive side, spd on the non drive side.
Best of both worlds 😀
yep i ride both too - flats for dh/full sus/jump bike and spds for everthing else. i always used to ride flats and only started with spds for DH for a while then changed back to flats for that as preferred the spds for xc
clips on the road bike(s), flats on the mtb(s).
SPD on everything. Since going clipped in I will never go back. Made me more confident in the long run as you can't half commit to stuff like you can on flats.
I went SPD about 15 years ago, and didn't think I'd ever look back.... but about 2 years back, I decided that I wanted to be on flats for dirt jumping and more all mountainey (i don't really do DH) stuff, so I re-learnt my flattie skills.
It took a while for me to be confident on them, and a long time before I stopped slipping pedals in rocky stuff, but I'm glad I did it.
I can now switch between the two without thinking about it - I means I have to be more careful when packing though, as getting the wrong shoe/pedal combination can really ruin a ride or trip!
Dave
I used to switch but prefer flats, especially on steep technical stuff. The only problem I have is striking roots or stumps when it's much more likely I'll come off on flats.
I don't do any super radcore XC mincing so despite using spds on road bikes and hybrids I'm sticking to flats on MTB for now. I get scared enough to want to put a foot down.