to all on here who reccommended flat pedals…..thanks for **** all.
my **** thighs, calfs and SHINS are killing me.
wot a load of pooh they are. imho

who wants to buy a set of 1 ride old 5-10s size 12 😆

Which ones Tony…???

and quite possibly, yes..

You’re giving up after ONE ride? 😕

Bloody hell, whatever happened to giving it time to get used to new kit?

Dont give up on them so easy!
Try them again on a fairly gnarly, technical descent, this will far outway any negatives when climbing 8) IMO

frilly knickers!! 😆

perseverance is a blessing!! quit girling out and stick with them!

seriously, how hard is it to climb hills on flats.
descending seemed fine tho.

i shall try again…

They are not all that great for trail riding, I agree. I stick em on for messing about.

Horses for courses – one’s not better than the other all round.

I had the opposite experience recently. I’ve always used flats but decided to try a ride with SPD’s.

It was awful, my legs were killing me, felt unstable and i had no confidence on the descents.

Flats may not be quite as efficient on the climbs but it just requires time to get the right method.

Ton I don’t know how old you are but I bet you didn’t learn to ride clipped in. I bet you used to shoot up the hills and down the Dales without any problems at all. I found that when you’re clipped in you become lazy when it comes to things like drop offs jumps etc. for sure it is a more efficient way of riding and power transfer but riding with flats you become a more skilled rider IMO and you understand what the bike is doing. Tough it out its worth it in the long run. I’m clipped on my SS and road bike where power is king and ride flats on my other bikes.

real men use flats 😀

What he said.
On technical stuff I’d much prefer my feet stayed in one place.
Jumps & drops, call me lazy but it’s much easier clipped in.

since i’ve used mine i’ve taken chunks out of my leg once – don’t know what you’re doing wrong tbh! 😆

Try them again, I’ve always used flats and find them great, uphill isn’t an issue as I keep up with people who use spuds. As for jumps and drops etc, flats are good for jumping off in crash or a quick dab here an there on techy climbs.

I never understood the need to be clipped to the bike.

Never had a problem clipping out for a dab, so what’s the point of flats. Goes for bailing out as well.

are these the flats that me and nick bought for you ton?

i thinjk the same as ton but about spds there a pice of sh1t you cant just jump off the bike when you see death flash before you

I’m a bit with ton here. Just bought a pair of flatties. Thought they’d be good in the snow & ice, but I just can’t get the technique. Clipping in and out isn’t a real problem, and I like the ability to lift the trailing leg with SPDs.

We’ll have a love in on Sunday, ton.

ton, just push your legs down and round a bit alternating between each leg, at the same time give the leg which just pushed down a rest until it gets its turn again. 😆

tim, you cheeky barsteward… 😉

frank, i will be spudded up.

Tony – learn to ride with them, it takes more than one attempt…..like sex.

Drop your heels on the descents. Drop leading foot heel and rear foot toes to grip over nadgedy stuff and when in the air – this is called “the claw”

You have to really ride the bike with flats, not just perch on it. Use bend in your knees and ankles to weight and unweight the bike and to stick yourself to the pedals. Come for a skills day with me and I’ll show you how.

Shame Ton, I’m loving mine. What pedals did you get?

My 5-10’s and Wellgo Mag1’s are splendid

boys, it is the climbing i had trouble with.
Ed, i am due a calderdale foray so i might take you up on that mate.

I tried spd’s once and my god never again! climbing was awesome as I could actually pull the pedal with my leg, but descending feeeeeck me! I was looking down at times and concentrating so much on the pedals that I came off sideways but couldn’t bail out as my feet were glued in! damn scary them spd’s if you ask me!
I’ll stick with my V12 mags thankyou very much 🙂

I always use flats, never use spd’s.

Real women use flats 8)

(And I changed from years of using SPD’s but that’s another story).

“I’ve always used flats but decided to try a ride with SPD’s.

It was awful, my legs were killing me, felt unstable and i had no confidence on the descents.

Flats may not be quite as efficient on the climbs but it just requires time to get the right method.
“

I’ve always used SPDs but decided to try a ride with flats.

It was awful, my legs were killing me, felt unstable and i had no confidence on the descents.

SPDs may not be quite as good for messing about but it just requires time to get the right method.

ONE WHOLE RIDE with SPDs?! Why would you think you’d be able to master them straight away?

I know a lot of people who try SPDs once or a few times and assume that they’re rubbish for anything techy, and then never use them again. Ride them, and keep riding them on techy stuff. Its the only way to get them to become (almost) second nature

Used SPD’s for years and can unclip in fraction of a scond, never had a crash which was worse due to being clipped in, as by the time of impact i wasn’t

Flat pedals are for communting only for me

This argument will go on forever. I’ve found times when I’ve crashed too fast to unclip, but its rare and usually very funny, usually ending up upside down with legs at impossible angles or the bike completely above me. Climbing with flats is obviously harder and uses different muscle groups, doesnt mean its wrong – just means you dont use them on long treks if you’re not used to them.

I don’t like being clipped in because don’t like the idea of crashing while still clipped in. I know that people say that you can easily unclip but that means you have to make the decision to bail out early- I like to stay on the bike until the last second if i’m about to crash because I can often just manage to keep enough control not to crash. Watch any downhiller that rides clipped in crash and they rarely get unclipped in time.

Simple answer to that – don’t crash! 😆

I use both, don’t think I’ve ever had to consciously think about unclipping in an emergency, it just ‘happens’.

These days i do like to ride flats most of the time though, I don’t really have any good reason for it and It certainly doesn’t seem to hold me back on the climbs, on my rather heavy singlespeed with 24″ back wheel, compared to my mates either 🙂

I know that people say that you can easily unclip but that means you have to make the decision to bail out early-

I can’t remember when I last had to think about pressing the clutch pedal when changing gear in the car – its essentially the same thing. I’ve had a good number of over the bars crashes in clipless pedals where I have literally run off the front of the bike.. emergency release becomes a natural thing… its amazing how well the bodies self preservation system works 😉

That said, when I first started riding spd’s it was frustrating.. sideways stalled falls etc.. when I switched clipless systems, I had sideways stalled falls again until I adapted.

That said, I definately appreciate that proper pedal technique riding on flats is quite a talent and probably harder to master than it is to get used to clipless. I certainly respect people who have flat technique nailed (sadly I dont)

If i’m pedalling i’m clipless.. if I’m on my big bike i’m flat.

I’m all for whatever works for you, but both require time to adapt to

I’ve ridden with clipless for years, and also with flats. Clipless pedals are more efficient undoubtedly, and they certainly are less knackering over a long ride. But riding with flats does teach you a lot more about “proper” riding skills.

I ride with clipless pedals pretty much exclusively for XC riding, and I would agree that 8/10 times in a crash you can clip out before it’s too late, but the other 2 times out of 10 you can’t get unclipped, the crash hurts like buggery! I rode Afan on my new bike last weekend, and was riding flats as I wanted to have more fun (and it’s a long travel full susser) on the way down. I had a crash on a not too technical section, but my front wheel just wiped out on a bit of wet root and I got spat off the bike without warning. Landed on my knees and my elbow, hurt like hell, but I got flung clear of the bike. I know I would definitely have still been clipped to the bike in that crash had I been using my clipless pedals, and it would have hurt a LOT more again!

My suggestion to ton is give them more of a go, if anything they’ll teach you to pedal better circles rather than just stomping, as they’re less forgiving of your energy input especially when it comes to climbing!

How much do you want for them ton?

Spesh – I’ve never thought about unclipping since about the first week of having SPDs – it becomes second nature, automatic. the only time you get stuck in them is when you fall in an odd way and it jams them (rare) and even then being stuck to the bike makes sod all difference to the outcome.

Buy a cheap BMX, some shin pads, and some waffle sole Vans, then learn how to ride properly!
It teaches you a whole new way to contol a bike. I started riding with clips and straps in about 1990, on a MTB, and learned to bunnyhop etc with them, then moved between SPD and flats before a few years on BMX. I found the style most people use on BMX is to sort of manual into a bunnyhop – Front wheel up – pause – back wheel up….. Like that.
I know loads of (decent) riders who I can see have really no control at all when they leave the floor because all they’ve ever known is being clipped in. Their technique is all wrong and it looks awkward, disjointed. They just yank the bike off the floor with their feet.
I mostly use SPDs because most of my riding involves normal trails and they work better. Yes, climbing is harder in flats but that’s to be expected. The pay off comes on the downhills, for me anyway!
😀

Who gives a toss about good technique, I ride to enjoy myself, if that is done with no skill or imense skill, the end result is the same, I can still get down the mountain as quick as the next man….

cliping outs fairly easy, its the getting back in after a dab i struggle with.

Who gives a toss about good technique

When you see someone unclip, midair, because they’ve just yanked the bike off the floor with their cleats, then not have the slightest clue what to do about it, before crashing and burning, THEN you’ll know what I mean!

😉

Horses for courses people. Ride both, learn both, understand both and you will grow, both as a rider and as a person 🙂

Horses for courses people. Ride both, learn both, understand both and you will grow, both as a rider and as a person

Indeed. Amen to that.
🙂