Is it to hard to adjust between bikes if you have clipless spd’s on say a cross-country bike but then have flats on a 150mm travel full suspension ?
I’m currently running spd’s on both bikes but would like to put flats on my full sus for a bit of a confidence boost. As I ride both bikes about the same I’m worried I simply wont be able to adjust. I put some flats on the other day just when i was working on the bike and as I went to jump off the curb out the front of my house I just about jumped off the bike.

So who does it and does it become easier ?

Cheers Shaun

I do, clips on the hardtail and flats on the suspension. Its fine and I don’t seem to have any issues adjusting but I came from riding flats on both bikes which is perhaps the easier way to approach it. That all said I have a set of Mallet DHs on my desk ready to fit to the suspension bike tonight!

Yup,
Flats on my T-130 until I get used to it, but SPD/SPDSL on every other bike..

as for adjustment?- not really found there to be an issue if I’m honest.

YMMV..

I do, it’s fine, biggest issue is remembering to put the right shoes on

Tend to swap between clips and flats on the susser. Having knee issues at mo, so considering going flats for a while. Definitely a good thing to do from a riding technique PoV.

Clips on the HT, FTR.

Yes, me.

Is it to hard to adjust between bikes if you have clipless spd’s on say a cross-country bike but then have flats on a 150mm travel full suspension ?

No it isn’t. I guess if hopped off one bike straight onto the other it might be a bit odd for a few mins, but I don’t, so it isn’t.

Edit… I’ll add that I rode SPD only for years, then stopped and rode flats only for a few years, and now ride a mix. I guess being very comfortable on both types of pedals probably helps switching between them frequently. So if you’ve not really ridden flats I’d probably recommend just riding flats for a while and learning to ride them properly.

I’m still persevering with my hate/hate relationship with flats on one bike in a fruitless attempt to learn to bunny hop properly.

On the way to/from the trails, back pedalling at traffic lights to get pedal in the best place for a quick get away… you so adjust to the fact that pulling up won’t do much 😉

Still do the unclipping foot twist when taking foot off flat pedals.

Otherwise it’s much the same. I use both SPD and flats on both MTBs, depending on where I go, what the terrain is like etc.

Yep, flats on the Rocket, usually flats on my more XC bike but might put SPDs on it depending on the ride I’m doing, always SPDs on the singlespeed and on the road bike. I was an SPD-only rider for decades, but once I’d spent a few months on flats and properly got the hang of it I found it was very easy to use either.

I still twist my feet off the pedals even on flats, though, it’s ingrained muscle memory now. It might be harder to get the hang of if you’re coming from a flats-only background, I dunno.

Well Looks like there are defiantly plenty doing it then.
So there must be some good benefits of flats then. Just hope it doesn’t slow me down to much on the not so techy sections

Tend to swap between clips and flats on the susser.[/I]

Yep, me too – last night on SPD’s while Monday day-time, flats.

Ten bikes. 6 on flats and four clipped. I guess it depends on your pedalling technique as I’m not a pulley upper.

Flats on MTBs and SS, clips on CX, no issues at all. Once you are on the bike you realise what’s going on with your feet. I always do a few practice clip in and outs on the street just to make sure my pedals are OK on the CX in any case.

For some reason i always ride SPD’s on “normal” bike, but flats on fat bike, i think it is because it gets mostly ridden on sand, so can find i come a very sudden stop on sand and also because i quite often ride through hub deep water, again i have visions of not being able to unclip and falling straight in!

Flat – offroad
Clips – onroad

It’s worse the other way round. I’ve ridden flats off road for 30 years, just bought a CX and put SPD’s on it. I’m pretty much permanently terrified off road, give me the right willies I can tell you. I might get it eventually but I doubt it, old dog new trick syndrome.

My 2 mtb’s have a pair of flats and a pair of doc’s between then and get changed all the time, depending on how I’m feeling. Road/cx bikeb has spd’s all the time.

I’ve chopped and changed for years and don’t really have a preference off road. Apart from the fact that I don’t have any decent flat pedal shoes at the moment!!

Flats on the DH bike, clips for everything else.

flats on all my outside bikes and spd’s on my turbo trainer

Flats on bouncy bike and old lady commuting bike and clips on fat bike, hardtail and road bike. Don’t really think about it, just have to remember the right shoes when riding…

Used to have flats on the FS and spds on the HT, the logic being that I used the hard tail for longer less technical rides . However I became such a convert to flats that I put them on the HT too. All the spds migrated to my road bikes because I can’t stand 3 bolt single sided pedals. The plus for that was my feet are warmer on the road bike because I get to use my Shimano MW80s in winter.

Offroad and Brompton – flats
onroad – Double sided SPD. So local things are on flats, longer rides on SPDs

Yep, flats on my Enduro, clips on superfly and road bike. No problems bar packing the wrong shoes for the bike before driving to the start of the ride. Only done that once, I was a very sweary Ming when I discovered that!

Flats on my LV301 and Alpitude, spd’s on my Hummingbird singlespeed.

Flats on all MTBs, except the 29er hardtail.
SPDs on road bike.
Toe clips on the Dawes hybrid

SPDs on the singlespeed, road bike & hybrid
Flats on the hardtail and full suspension.

Pretty much a seamless transition between the two I reckon

Town/pub bike flats. Big Enduro flats
Everything thing else clipless both road and mtb

I did for a long while. FS was flats HT usually SPD’s.
Swapping was dead easy.
Only reason I stopped mix and match was fanily riding when I tend to ride the hardtail. I was changing pedals practically every time I rode it and it just seemed easier to be always on flats.

Yeah, I ride a mix, generally flats on MTBs, SPD on CX & road. What was said below mirrors my experience, and I’d suggest doing this –

I’ll add that I rode SPD only for years, then stopped and rode flats only for a few years, and now ride a mix. I guess being very comfortable on both types of pedals probably helps switching between them frequently. So if you’ve not really ridden flats I’d probably recommend just riding flats for a while and learning to ride them properly.

As a bit of very general advice, when you’re on flats, remember to drop your heels on both feet when you’re stood up coasting (this stops your feet getting bounced off in rough terrain) I still practice my flat pedal technique (which may or may not be correct!!) by practicing to get the back wheel of the bike off the ground using a combination of weight shift and a bit of a push & scoop with my feet. Once you can consistently do this you’ll be on your way to being able to bunny hop on flats

on and on – Member
Ten bikes. 6 on flats and four clipped. I guess it depends on your pedalling technique as I’m not a pulley upper.

In your awe with n=10

Has anyone caused controversy by riding a bike with one clipless (probably on drivetrain side) and one flat (on non-drivetrain side) pedal, for semi-efficient cycling uphill? 😆

Happy to swap between either on HT and FS. I do like to have a dropper when I’m using flats though.