How to…. (Hardtail content)

I don’t recognise this as a thing tbh, and I’m a dyed-in-the-wool clipless rider for 23 years.

Can you elaborate on what you mean?

Every other bike has always felt absolutely fine to me clipped in, the latest hardtail just feels completely unbalanced when clipped in.

My hypothesis is that because the foot position is slightly different, it alters your body position/COG. Imagine standing on the pedals not holding the bars, your COG has to be over the BB spindle (compare to, standing on a ball and ballancing). Shuffle your feet forwards ~1cm as you might with flat pedals and you’ve got to move your torso back to correct the COG to be over the BB. Translate that to the real world where your body’s position is determined by other things (pedaling, pumping, generally riding the bike) and if you kept the same body position then flat pedals put more weight on your hands because your weight is further forward relative to the BB (compare that to sanding on that ball, shuffling 1cm forwards, starting to fall but putting your hands on a wall to push back and balance).

Also perhaps, like most bike-fit things, there’s a threshold of how wrong things can be before people notice. Maybe I’ve just found the combination of body and front-center length that tips it out of the comfortable range I can compensate for by consciously trying to weight the front wheel.

The net results the same though, jumps like a sack of spuds and the front tyre does not want to go round corners. It was fine for just riding around, wheels on the ground stuff, just fell apart when things got a bit more involving (or just lacked grip).

Every other bike has always felt absolutely fine to me clipped in, the latest hardtail just feels completely unbalanced when clipped in.

Is it a trail HT or more of a xc HT? (You mentioned those earlier.)

My trail HT has a steep seat angle but short stem and felt great from first ride, but gave me sore thighs for a few rides from being in a new, slightly forward position. It didn’t affect my balance or anything else when clipped in, though. Like the reply above, I’ve used SPDs for 25 years+.

My trail HT has a steep seat angle but short stem and felt great from first ride, but gave me sore thighs for a few rides from being in a new, slightly forward position. It didn’t affect my balance or anything else when clipped in, though. Like the reply above, I’ve used SPDs for 25 years+.

Definitely a trail bike, XC bikes (with the de-facto 450mm reach, 100mm stem, 69deg HA) I’ve zero issues with. The seat angle makes seated pedaling a bit different, but whatever nuance is making it not work applies out of the saddle.

And also 20+ years on SPD’s as we’re willy waving our gray hairs around.

I’ve got a 70mm stem to try to see if that solves it.

And also 20+ years on SPD’s as we’re willy waving our gray hairs around.

I didn’t mean it that way – just that the amount of time on SPDs isn’t relevant because we’re used to those. 😀

You’re putting a 70mm stem on – is that longer than the original?

So its effectively a more precarious position because your centre of gravity is now rearward of your stability?

Kind of: if the bars weren’t there you would fall forwards instead of being able to balance on the pedals?

That’s my guess yea, that flat pedals might affect handling in a similar way to a slightly longer stem by both changing the neutral position on the bike to be slightly more weight onto the front wheel.

It’s that or n+1 and get an actual XC bike for fast riding clipped in and winter single speeding, but if it works it’ll save a space in the shed.