flatties fight back

Will going back to flat pedals from spd’s make me a lot slower?

Yes. But it will make you, like… TOTALLY rad to the power of sick…. erm…. dude.

Next question….

no, you’ll only be a little bit slower on the climbs.

It quite possibly won’t make any difference at all, I don’t think most people get the benefit from SPDs that they think they do. It’s possible to use them in a more effective way than flats IMO but that doesn’t mean you do it.

You’ll almost certainly go through a phase of being slower and less confident though, since you’ll need to relearn some basic technique, same as flats users swapping to SPDs. The question is just will it last.

~15% less power at the back wheel as a result of the squdgyness of the shoes (Vs some carbon fiber reinforced disco slippers).

But I barely notice the difference, I’m happy in either, although I’m fairly set in my ways in terms of which bikes have which, the road and XC bikes have SPD’s (well looks on the road bike) and the 456 and BMX have flats, although I’m toying with the idea of a cliped in BMX.

I’ve just switched to flats on my ‘big’ bike and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that there’s been no discernible loss of efficiency.

I have a thEory that using spd teaches you to pedal right. This translates to better flat pedalling.

I read it as fatties fight back and was expecting something completely different…..

buzz – I think there could be something in that…

Swings and roundabouts init?
I find it far quicker to get off and walk up the climbs with flats, easier to walk up and quicker to get back on at the start of the descents too.

No, a light flat pedal with am40s or 5 10s will feel super grippy, keep your heels down and I don’t think you’ll notice the difference. You might fall off less, but I doubt it.

I have recently come back to mountain biking after quite a few years and have always used spd’s on mtb and road. But after an off at gisburn a while back where I didn’t unclip fast enough I tried flats and love them. Not much less efficent and because I ride alone ( shift work not billy no mates )feel safer.

I’m with amphibian. Been using SPDs for years and decided to give flatties a go this summer after my Mountain Bike Leader course.

My riding (although far from excellent) is so much better because I’ve been forced to use the correct techniques. Jumping is a pleasure, not something I consistently screw up and my feet stay where I want them, not where the cleat sits.

There isn’t a huge loss at all in efficiency; in fact I’m highly unlikely to ever go back to SPDs again.

Slightly off topic, why are flats so much money when you can get a set of 520s for £20? You would think that the added complexity of an spd pedal would make them more expensive but even the cheapest decent flats are £40-50.I know the pins take some machining but does it cost that much?

decent loose bearing flats are what? a tenner, decent sealed bearing ones £20-35ish, granted the most expensive are £100+. I’ve no idea what SPDs cost these days but would have thought it was somewhere inline with that.
in terms of manufacturing and building (materials, labour and time) I wouldn’t have thought there was all that much in it either, flats often have 10 grubscrews per side needing screwed in to the body, are there more than 10 moving parts on each side of an SPD?

I used to ride years ago (90’s) and everyone used spd’s as did I. Stopped for a while (a long while), came back a year or so ago, with spd’s and suddenly everyones using flats.

What happened while I was away?

What happened while I was away?

I was discussing this the other day. The conclusion we came to was that five tens happened.

Err what’s five tens?

Five Tens, sticky soled shoes for flat pedals.

five tens are sticky rubber….. i have some 😉 infact my climbing/bouldering shoes are five ten rubber too….. not that i climb anymore-doh… got the cycling bug now.. 8)
actually im glad i started with flatties,,,nea had those spd things b4…lol so just make sure you have good grippy shoes if you choose flatties. vibram soles are great too (there was another thread t’other week about shoes/pedals somewhere in the forum…

its a fashion thing

I have always ridden flats as I just think its safer for me, but all the bike mags now are pushing the flat pedal thing all of a sudden, when for years they have made it out that you’re not a proper rider unless you have spd’s and flats are for beginners

ride what you feel comfortable with

Mates who ride with flats say they’re scared they can’t get their foot out the pedal – I’m more scared my food would slip off with flats…

spds for everything

but then I can`t do owt fancy on a bike excepting ride it

Having had a falling off at 0mph unable to unclip and denting my leg and top tube (well it was a coke can cove) I decided to go down the flatties route.

That was about 2 years ago. I like em.

As for 5.10’s I actually find them too grippy with Easton Flatboys…

Fine with shimano DX though.

SPD’s for XC and racing, flats for social rides and stupidness.

I went back to flats from spds after a comedy failure to unclip in time put me face down in some roots, rider error but decided i’d rather be able to dab than pedal a tiny bit more efficiently. Love my 5.10s

I think it’s been a gradual thing for a while. I’ve always ridden with flats all the way back to the last Malverns classic where I used them (struggled to find them to buy to be honest) I used to wear Vans waffle soled shoes which gripped well but were beyond bad in the mud!
If you really want to learn some flat pedal stuff get a bmx and try riding some ramps and trying hops etc. I never realised how bad I was until i rode a bmx for the first time. (then I started riding flatland and then I really sucked – the hardest form of cycling bar none).
I have tried SPD on an MTB and it just doesn’t seem natural.

SPD way faster, pedal on the up cycle of stroke. Fall off alot

SPDs for commuting and flats for everything else now, fallen off too many times after grinding to a halt and not unclipping quick enough on steepish rocky ascents with my spds on. 😳

the **** who told my mate in the lakes on a trail leader course that flats are wrong because you cant effectively bunny hop on flats is a wonker.
liam you should be ashamed!
ride the pedals you want to use but do it right!

buzz-lightyear: “I have a thEory that using spd teaches you to pedal right. This translates to better flat pedalling.”

Hmm… I think this is half right but I bet a lot of SPDs users just mash the downstroke much the same as a lot of flats users do, it’s easier to get a better pedaling action going with SPDs but not inevitable I reckon.

kenneththecurtain – Member

“I was discussing this the other day. The conclusion we came to was that five tens happened.”

Another HMM… Five Tens and AM40s can be nice but there’s no shortage of other suitable shoes, pedals have got better for sure but Vans or similiar flat sole skate shoes haven’t really changed much.

After posting I though I better try it out. So on went some flat pedals and I set of for a quick local loop on the Anthem.

Firstly the bike seemed more accessible with flat pedals theres no need to get changed to ride the bike just jump on and go. When riding though I did feel a bit disconnected which was slightly un nerving (we are talking minor difference here).
On the up side there is a couple of tricky stepped sections on the loop and I was more confident on them having a few milliseconds of extra bailout time especially when going uphill.
Efficiency wise I didn’t feel I was getting the most from the bike but it was more fun to ride and I would be more likely to just go for a quick spin from the front door.

Lastly I am sure people were pointing and staring at me because I couldnt be a proper cyclist without spd pedals.

SPD’s are back on for this mornings ride, getting left behind on the Sunday morning XC ride is not an option. Flats may go back on for mid week solo stuff and arsing around.

Just another reason to by more bikes, one with spd’s one with flats.

I think the flat pedal Renaissance has something to do with the xc/trail side of mountain biking increasingly looking at the freeride and dh world rather than the road. We’re seeing roadie stuff like QRs disappearing. We’re seeing seattubes and headtubes getting fatter, angles slackening and more emphasis on going down than up. Maybe it’s just fashion, I don’t know, but it’s definitely happening.

SPD way faster, pedal on the up cycle of stroke. Fall off alot

It’s been shown that even TDF riders (let alone mear mortals like us) even when conciously “pedaling in circles” barely lift the weight of their foot/leg off the upward pedal.

The only time there was a power gain from SPD’s over and above the losses in the flat pedal riders sole (15% was quoted for running shoes, so I guess Vans and th elike will be better) was in sprints where the riders were stood up and the SPD rider can mash the pedals whereas the flat rider has to be 2-3 gears lower in the correct gear rather than being able to stand up and mash in a big gear.

Did actually leave the flat pedal on for the xc ride, not good. Problem is when you out of the saddle pedaling especially on twisty bumpy singletrack your feet move around on the pedals. Just not a strong enough connection for that type of riding.

SPDs are back on and staying on.

If I ever buy a slack angled, wide barred bike for riding DH it may be different story.

(if anyone wants to make a quid there must be a market for tool free swapable pedals)

twisty bumpy singletrack

Oddly, thats pretty much where I find they help most, being able to corner as fast as I like without worying about beign thrown into the bushes when the grip runs out.

The only sections i miss them on is on singletrack where the corners are tight enough to inhibit building speed up but the straights are long enough to put in a few pedal turns, on flats it’s just harder to sprint out of the corners as you have to be in the perfect (and usualy lower) gear.

IanW – Member

“Did actually leave the flat pedal on for the xc ride, not good. Problem is when you out of the saddle pedaling especially on twisty bumpy singletrack your feet move around on the pedals. Just not a strong enough connection for that type of riding. “

This is purely technique, not a failure of the pedals- you’re expecting to get perfect results instantly from something that’s totally unfamiliar to you. If you really don’t want to do that then fair enough but you’re not making the effort and you’re blaming the hardware for your software failure.

IMO the techniques that would keep you planted on the bike with flats are also tecnhiques SPD users could benefit from- if you’re coming adrift so easily, you may be “on” the bike rather than moving with it. Flats don’t allow that so flats pedallers will usually not develop these bad habits but just because SPDs can let you get away with it doesn’t mean it’s not worth sorting out if the issue’s there.

Obviously never seen you ride but if you go to most skills coaches in a group, you’ll hear “drop your heels” constantly- it’s a basic technique and it’s one that experienced flats users very rarely need to be told to do, because if they didn’t they’d crash all the time But some very good SPDs riders will be hearing it a lot because they’ve never had to learn it.

Problem is when you out of the saddle pedaling especially on twisty bumpy singletrack your feet move around on the pedals. Just not a strong enough connection for that type of riding.

You must have pretty terrible technique TBH

on flats it’s just harder to sprint out of the corners as you have to be in the perfect (and usualy lower) gear.

utter Bollox

when you crash with spds and they dont unclip, it turns out the weakest link in the chain is your tibia.

I ride flats now.

dude.. it wasn’t the pedals fault.. FWIW my foot was smashed to little pieces by a flat pedal.