[Closed] Virgin on flats - give me your wise words.

Get your bunnyhops dialled. Essential for picking and placing the bike plus general arsing around.

They haven't moved on being pinged in the shin now (Burgtec//DMRs) still hurts the same as Odyssey Sharkbites!!

I now use flats as much as Spuds and am waiting for that full shin contact thats well over due.

If you are more than an XC mincer (unlike me) then I would consider shin protection.

letmetalktomark - i hear your pains, but it ain't gonna happen (reserves right to change mind when shin bone is visible).

Ball of your foot over the innermost front pin on the pedal.

Heavy feet, light hands.

Drop heels, don't force them down. It should be as though a weight attached to your heel is pulling it down, as opposed to pushing down from above.

Drop your saddle a teeny bit (maybe start with 5mm).

I've been on flats for a week or so after riding clipless for years,in which time things have indeed changed alot-better suspension,tyres and the big one for me dropper posts-this frees up a more dynamic style of riding .

Brace yourself for a rapid expansion  of your skillset (hopefully).Stick with it it will feel very different at first,so far I've found only positives.I can still pedal strongly .I can now wheelie pretty darn good ,just about manual (not quite there yet ),I can bunny hop better/easier,lean bike into corners stronger and lower,jump better....just about everything better .Even climbing I find I can carry on adding power through the pedals whilst turning and  leaning bike.My lower quads were hurting  after first few rides-like they were getting engaged more-they are fine now.Foot position is different,I tend to be further forward than clips-I think it feels like it shortens your reach and lengthens your chainstay .

I did get shinned -I got bucked/kicked straight off pedals on a small kicky jump-yeouch,I was also not feeling good at all on other jumps-feet and body becoming unweighted .I was also not sticking to the pedals over rough flat rooty type ground whilst needing to pedal -felt like every bump was pushing me forward,wanting to rotate me off the pedals.I've always had a tendency to get bucked when I hit bigger jumps especially with steeper ramps especially at speed-although I've been OK with shallower ones.At speeds my low speed skills that are hard fought for got turned off.

Now none of this was bad technique-the clipless pedals were masking/compensating  for the fact that my bike didn't fit  me well at all specifically the lower stack of it and I was doing what I could on it being pitched forward all the time-the front end of my bike was too low for me - I've raised it by 20mm and everything so far  has become more fun,easier and better.

So a game changer and a half for me. I've only tried it on my  hardtail ........so far.

Good luck.Enjoy.

Drop your saddle a teeny bit (maybe start with 5mm).

all shoes/pedals are different. re-set your pedal height/top of dropper post using whatever method you use ( I use the heel on pedal, knee locked method)

about an inch difference for me between 5.10 freerides and thin flat pedals; and mavic xc shoes on shimano clips

COMMIT ... either do it or don't.

Grippy shoes and BIG pins means less chance of your feet coming off and less chance of shins.

I only ever cut my shins up now pushing the bike ... when I first changed from SPD's I used some half committed (Saint) pedals and crappy shoes... and was always scratching them.

When I got the new pedals they looked SCARY.... the second I tried them on with 5 tens I understood what people we going on about.

Have a look at the Ryan Leech Convert from SPD to Flats lessons, they are FoC and pretty helpful.

I’d say heavy feet, light hands is the best advice for flat pedal newbs. Once you’re used to getting a lot more weight through your feet, relax you calf muscles to drop your heels.  If I know I’m going to be thundering into some rough stuff on my hardtail or short travel bike, I’ll shift my foot a little bit further forward than normal (almost so the pedal is in the arch of my foot) - but that’s only on really rough stuff....oh, and when mucking around trying to do nose wheelie endo turns in the car park😉

Pumptracks are great for getting used to flats.  I always rode clipped in but I used to work with a portable pumptrack, took it to schools etc and always wore Etnies and the bikes had flat pedals.  I then twisted my knee playing football so couldn't ride clipped in.  Hundreds of hours on the pumptrack meant the transition was pretty seamless and certainly painfree.  The only injuries I've had have been from pushing the bike or getting it out of the shed.  If you havent got a pumptrack nearby then start on easy trails, move your feet around on the pedals and see what feels right for you. I'll position my feet back a bit when going uphill and move them forwards when going downhill.

Right foot on the right pedal, left foot on t'other one. No need to thank me.

I like to use the middle of my foot on descents for when I might need to jump.  I find it easier to pick up the bike.

I prefer SPDs for general riding though still.

Give it time.

Not wanting to sound like a self-confessed riding god, but I haven't had any bad shin smashing issues since moving to flats a couple of years ago and not all the shoes I've used have been grippy. Went through a bit of a phase six months ago with an ankle hitting cranks repeatedly due to wearing low cut shoes while smashing dank 1ft dropz.

Just ride - it'll work out fine. You may find your feet forward than with SPDs - go with it. 🙂

pedal axlebehind the ball of foot not under it. relax ankles and dont change foot position even for climbs

The weirdest thing for me was working out your feet don't need to be exactly placed ....

When I first went flats I'd keep putting my feet on 'wrong' and had a feeling I had to get it just so...years of clipped in had made me feel the last mm. was critical...

The more technical the thing I stopped for the more it bothered me.  Obviously the last thing I should have been worrying about in many ways so I'd be approaching a feature and messing with my foot position instead of thinking about the landing/feature.

Getting over that was a huge step....

Not wanting to sound like a self-confessed riding god, but I haven’t had any bad shin smashing issues since moving to flats a couple of years ago and not all the shoes I’ve used have been grippy.

I have relaxed as I got more used to flats... going from "not great" to "super-grip" really helped at one stage.

I guess a bit like clipped but less so in it helps mitigate some poor technique but at the same time allows you to develop technique unlike the clipped in.

Putting both of those together ... for me at least the feeling of "my feet are not quite where I'd want them but I'm confident they won't move" probably sums it up. I feel once you have that then it just becomes increasingly natural and not something you worry about.

I am a virgin on flats too, been riding them for years!

Still get the regularly mash my shins tho, the thing is im sure you become de-sensitised to it. Its usually someone else who points out that ive got blood gushing out of fresh leg wounds….

I originally swapped to flats to give me more confidence of the steep tech stuff, which is ultimately the reason I ride. Sure spd’s help the moorland slogs but I was happy to sacrifice that - it does make the dab too easy tho. my advice would be to concentrate keeping your feet on the pedal as much as possible early on. its also scary in the air at first when the bike isn’t stuck to your feet, so maybe try to address this early on too.

finally, a quality pedal / shoe combo makes all the difference and its very personal. for me, vaults + five ten is the dream, ive tried other shoes that people have raved about and they've been hideous!

They are just pedals, your weight keeps you on them, don't over think it.

 One Up Components aluminium pedals

Not wishing to start a "what flat pedals" thread as there are loads already but, those pedals have no concavity to them, which some people don't mind but others hate. Might be worth starting off on a more traditional looking pedal such as a DMR V12.

Yea, I read about the convex profile, my buying was based mainly on looks, then thinness. I'll have no benchmark, so we'll see what happens.

Thanks all, some sound advice.

Shoes arrive today, pedals not long after.

The OneUp pedals are fine, lack of concavity not a problem in my experience and yes I do have a pair.  I think they are nice pedals running on proper bearings with spare parts readily available should you need them.  The pins are vicious though, over the top really.

My top tip is take care when pushing your bike around, that's when the pedals will get you

always use a condom