I did a couple of years on clips a while back so have some in teh garage and slapped them on the other day as its good to change (and i`ve just gone singlespeed on teh HT) however it felt like i was riding with platform soles. Very strange

having used slim flat pedals and freeriders exclusively since i guess i`m used to teh low stack height of a slim pedal and a thin sole.

with my mallets i need to raise teh saddle about an inch!! and i guess i should probably raise the bars too? an inch is alot for bars!

are there any clippy pedals that are fairly low stack height? i guess shoes are kinda fixed as you need teh stiff shank.

There is variation and I bought some xtr pedals largely for this reason (very low bb in this case, so every little helped), but they’re only 1mm less than XT in height over axle so I think you’re talking small amounts. That said, when I swapped them for flats, for messing about on holiday in flip flops, I only had to drop the saddle a little bit, like much less than 10mm I guess.

What clip shoes? I find xc ones to feel a lot taller than my AM9s or other flat-style shoes, although not compared back to back.

I guess the thinnest flat pedals will always be a long way off the thinnest SPDs because of the mechanism, but I think you can get your SPD setup within reach of the average flat.

I have to raise my saddle when I put my winter MW5 Shimano boots on, compared to my summer M089 Shimano shoes

Could longer cranks be an option?

People seem to rate Crank Bros Mallets and Shoes in combination. Chris Porter recently said on his IG that’s what he uses, with one shim under the clear and the pins wound right out.

Could longer cranks be an option?

Nope, that just makes the circle bigger.

Might actually struggle though, flats are very low profile compared to even the lowest profile cleats, plus you’ve probably moved from a mid foot ish position to ball of foot.
That’ll add a good chunk too…

yeah its just wierd. oddly i never noticed before when i swapped? ( i used to put the clips on for welsh gnar days)

maybe i`ll just put them on and persevere.

spec 2f0s and old mallets (2010 versions!!). love the spec shoes so comfey.