am so used to flats, but wondering about the advantages of that extra power in pulling up as well as pushing down

is it worth spending the cash??

M520 pedals, £18 or less. Agu Torquay shoes from on one. £19.99.

Not that expensive.

If you need convincing then no…you’ll find fault as they aren’t flats. I find them better for pedalling/’power’ and climbing plus I’m so crap on the bike they keep my feet on the pedals. Took 2 rides to be utterly convinced and also not fall over rather than unclip.

Go on,give them a go.
What’s the worst that could happen?

🙂

Once you’ve fallen off (in slow motion) a few times you’ll love them!

Dont pull up on spds.. they are more to keep you planted on the pedal in the right position..

You need to start pushing your foot forward at the top of the pedal stroke from the 10 o’clock to 1 o’clock position. Then push to the floor.

This ensures the power is maximised at the correct phase of the stroke. If you’re pulling up with your pedals all you’re doing is delaying the delivery of power. Evidence now shows that maximising the power at the 3 o’clock position, when the cranks are both parallel to the ground, is the most beneficial for forward movement….

the advantages of that extra power in pulling up as well as pushing down

The only time you’ll pull up at all is on really steep climbs, and even then the difference, imo, is marginal.

Depending on what shoe your using at the moment, the biggest thing you’ll probably notice is better power transfer because of the stiffer sole.

You will turn into a jumping god. The ability to ‘pull up’ on the pedals all of a sudden will make you teh awesumz..

(although there is apparently some ‘rule’ somewhere against ‘pulling up’ on SPDs while jumping, meaning that the MTB fun-police will come and take you away if you ever do that on a trail).

Get some decent SPD shoes. The ‘pedals’ are just brackets the actual platform is in the shoes

I’ve been riding SPD’s for over 20 years but wouldn’t attempt to try and convince you they are right, they just work for me. As other have siad, the only convincing will come form you trying them. But you will need to ride, and fall off, a few times before you really get a feel for them.

convice me to go SPD

Go on, you know you want to! all the cool kids are doing it and girlz love boyz with spuds……….

Has that done it?

Convince you? No, but I’ve been cycling for far too long and every bike I own bar the cargo bike has various version of them on. I’ve tried flats off road and just didn’t really like it, even for DH I struggled. The cost isn’t even that huge either, if you get a good pair of shoes of here 2nd hand you may even get to try without costing you any money.

Try it, you may like it.

Don’t do it. I spent 20 years on differing forms of SPDs, with unsuccessful spells of time on flats. I’ve now mastered flats and the only downside is that my shoes take longer to dry. I haven’t disappeared backwards in my group, due to a lack of efficiency, I haven’t missed those times that your pedals are so full of crud/mud/snow/ice that you can’t clip in, I haven’t missed being accidentally trapped in your pedal due to a badly worn or damaged cleat and I haven’t missed those unco-ordinated days when you just can’t get your foot clipped in, especially in slow speed techy stuff.
So, don’t do it.

I haven’t missed those unco-ordinated days when you just can’t get your foot clipped in

😯 Do you have trouble tying your shoelaces too 😉

With SPDs you have more control over your bike, are faster, they’re more efficient, you are much less likely to dab and your feet aren’t rattled off.

Why wouldn’t you want to use them?

Why wouldn’t you want to use them?

Not as fun, harder to ride (proper) tech, not faster (for me), more control in some situations, less in others, marginally more efficient on climbs but hardly noticable, etc etc.

Always ridden flats, tried SPD’s for a solid 12 months, now back on flats.

I recently went from 18 years of SPD’s to flats and have gone straight back. Tried them for a while but didn’t get on with them at all. Perfect for the commute to work, pants on the trail.

Guess it’s what you get used to, but I do like to be attached to the bike.

Flats on my FS, SPD on my HT, SPD on my CX

Didn’t enjoy being clipped in when on my FS bike.
My 2c

Start off with the spring tension set quite loose so it’s easy to get your feet out. Then tighten with the increase in confidence after a few months.
Also, be careful to get the cleat aligned properly. Not so much of an issue on mtb as opposed to road due to the float but you can get knee problems if your foot is held in an unnatural position.

I went the other way 4 or 5 years ago. After years of using spuds I thought I’d give flats a try and now that’s all I use.

In terms of performance, at my level anyway (and I reckon that of most), it makes not a bit of difference. Unless you’re chasing podium places it’s all about preference innit.

After being in severe back pain for almost 2 weeks (even morphine didn’t touch it) after a crash and scorpion’ing I now leave the clips for the road bike.

The pain as so severe I didn’t even notice I’d ripped the plate out of my collarbone and it had re-broken.

OP I don’t think you will notice a massive amount of extra performance. If you are racing or struggling to keep up with your mates it could make the difference you need otherwise it’s probably not worth thinking about. As has been said above the cost of giving them a try isn’t massive so why not do just that.

Don’t get flats at all, apart from the odd DH track where I’m not good enough to not need to be able to get my foot down on steep ground very quickly.

I keep seeing threads about various flat pedals and shoes, usually people are looking for the grippiest pedals and the grippiest shoes, SPDs have more grip than all of them.

Flats are just wrong.

I haven’t missed those times that your pedals are so full of crud/mud/snow/ice that you can’t clip in, I haven’t missed being accidentally trapped in your pedal due to a badly worn or damaged cleat and I haven’t missed those unco-ordinated days when you just can’t get your foot clipped in, especially in slow speed techy stuff.

bears no resemblance to my experience of modern spds. Using CB pedals so no issue in mud or snow, never been trapped by the cleat and easy to get out of. Committing to stuff is the biggest difference mentally with flats you can ride to fail, clipped in encourages riding to get it.

nothing I say will convince you . I have used them for 20 years I think they give me greater stability security and control I do perceive a benefit from pulling up with them in certain circumstances. I got some cheapish ones to try out fell over a couple of times then never looked back I feel odd when I ride on flats now.

Try them you have nothing to lose except dignity and a little skin.

M520 pedals, £18 or less. Agu Torquay shoes from on one. £19.99.

Not that expensive.

But Crap. If you’re going to do it, do it good…

Try them ,you have nothing to lose except dignity and a little skin.

Steals quote 🙂

Thing is people tend to either fall into the “flat” camp or the “clip” camp.

In fact, you need to be able to ride in both! That way you can simply fit the best pedals for what ever ride you find yourself doing! 😀

Spending 5 hrs, smashing out a 100km XC ride, yup, get those spd’s fitted, slip into some nice stiff light shoes and off you go.

Spend 5 hrs tripod-ing down sketchy wet technical trails, or sesioning jumps, then fit your flats, stick your 5tens on, and again, off you go.

Simples eh………

Even simpler maxtorque don’t bother taking the clips off.

you will only know if they are for you if you try them.

some people (like me), no matter what, just don’t get on with them. tried them for 9 months, never felt fully comfortable and went back to flats and started riding better / faster again. however, thats me, give them a whirl and see what you think, lots of people love them

should of said…..most of my riding is practical riding on roads to work. i live in dorset so its a pretty hilly (but beautiful) 45 min ride.

i reckon i wouldnt use them for off road anyway. too worried about coming off!

if it’s on the road, definitely give them a go. even i use them on the road and wouldn’t dream of going back to them off road

Don’t think of SPD’s as something that will make you a better rider.

Maybe for efficiency.