How long before I regain my confidence? I was a happy trail rider who didn’t give a toss about slippy roots and rocks but now im like a scared 5yr old having fallen like a chimney for those first few times.

Can fully see the benefits of using them and want to give them a chance but into my third ride and still not a happy chappy.

get some platform type till you are happy clipped in on the downs ?

It just take some time ,like i know not used flats since I BMX and that was along time ago

Why exactly did you change? Took me a fair while to get used to them but once I did, I felt like I attacked every loose and rocky climb as hard as I could and I managed to clear a fair few climbs I used to stop mid way on flats.

A while, but can’t imagine not being clipped in now. Trail-style SPDs helped me a little.

Dandax1990… was getting sick of my feet moving about on my pedals, getting my foot position right etc. Still got my pair of neutrons just in case I want.to go back to them.

teamhurtmore & junkyard, that’s what I have.

Find myself unclipping on some sections and when going downhill :/

Going to give them another month I think.
Also, never knew new leg muscles would be aching.

Practice on the easy stuff, get used to getting in and out when it doesn’t matter then hit the harder stuff.

There was an article somewhere that was along the lines that in Flats you want to get your foot out for corrections etc. on SPD’s you lear to commit harder – not need the foot out.

Other things to check is the clip tension (assuming shimanos) loosen it off a little. For personal preference CB Mallets are some of the easiest pedals to clip in and out of (the out is always at the same point) and the platform means you can get away with a moment of misclip.

I dont want to state the obvious but you are probably over complicating it by thinking about it too much ?
You will get used to it in the end as something else will take your concentration and then riding clipped in will become second nature !

As sugested get some platform style SPD’s and back the tension right off, you will come to rely on the fact that you are attached to the bike more, and trust me when you go down you will seperate from the bike seamlessly ! i’ve had a few offs these past few weeks i had a decent one yesterday but i managed to leapfrog the front end as it washed out……..

Remember when you were a kid and used to do circles on the lawn/playing field?
Do that! Tighter and tighter, slower and slower, then throw in some figure of eights. You’ll soon find you don’t need to pre-empt clipping out and that will give you confidence on the trail. And if you fall over, only your pride will be dented. Do track stands too, playing SPD chicken with yourself.
I made a point of riding a load of fiddly local woods for some skills sessions back in the summer, riding up all kinds of silly stuff with the aim of catching myself out as all my fitness training rides involve no more than one unclip a week. Amazing what you can ride up when you’re trying to make yourself stop 🙂

Also, if you do find yourself toppling over, yank the bars round towards the downhill side, the counter steering action will help make you fall the ‘right’ way.

Just takes time to adapt, might be worth spending some time on easier trails to get the reflexes sorted. (I kept falling off on climbs when I switched back to SPDs earlier this year!)

Thanks for the tips chaps. Yes got them on lowest tension and got platform type. Will practice on less technical trails I think.

I found it easier to practice on technical/steep/slow climbs. Loose and rocky. That’s where I’ve felt the benefits of SPDs mostly. If you fall, which you will, in pure comedy style, you’re not traveling at enough speed to do any damage.

You need to accept the fact that you WILL fall, and if anyone see’s you, it WILL be a funny off.

And you need to commit yourself 100%, Don’t give in too easy.

Also, remember you’ll never be as unfortunate as my brother. Forgot to clip out at traffic lights at a roundabout. Ended up falling into a lampost right beside a car full of very good looking lasses. Gold.

Thanks dandax1990 and everone for tbe.lengthy replies.

Best fall yet was in front of a women jogging with her 6ish yr old daughter. The kid said something before I fell then they both laughed out loud as I toppled over.
When they passed me the mum said her daughter had just commented how good a rider I must be to be riding in the woods.

Hi Mekon.. hope this will help as I thought about this going the other way to flats..

Aching legs, I think that riders on flats have their feet on a bigger pedal and possibly their contact point is further back on their foot, if you follow. Even using their instep are a sometimes on steep stuff. Leg muscles will adapt… My feet were really aching with soft shoes on flats in the beginning too.

I did a day with Andy Weir coaching on a topic and he noted that a fair few of clipped riders spend more time with their heels up, even when descending.. I now make a deliberate effort to keep heels down. Have a think about how you rode flats and get your feet in the same position.

When you have cracked it, you qualify to argue on flats vs clips threads ! It makes me laugh sometimes when flats riders are looking for sticky shoes that feel like they are stuck to the pedal…. like clips then !

It takes a while to re-program your feet to get used to SPD’s. best advice I have is practice on a flat sports field, practice going slow and unclipping suddenly, practice clipping in quickly (without looking down). I suspect you may fall over a few times doing this. Once you have that cracked start sprinting in circles progressively tighter until things start to drift/get interesting, practice clipping out for a dab and then getting back in quick, when you have that sussed also try skids/cutties in a loose gravel carpark. you should then have some confidence about getting out and putting a dab down when you need to.

Don’t just try and rail a load of tech trails without getting used to it….(horse, gate, bolt,etc).

Also, remember you’ll never be as unfortunate as my brother. Forgot to clip out at traffic lights at a roundabout. Ended up falling into a lampost right beside a car full of very good looking lasses. Gold

I was stopped at some lights and had my left foot unclipped, my saddle felt loose so I was trying to look under it and fiddle with it to see what was wrong. I ended up falling to the right and couldn’t get my foot unclipped in time and fell into the carriageway next to a car being driven by a proper hottie!! 😳

Off road though I’ve always managed to get my feet unclipped when needed. It’s surprising how quick you can unclip when you need to!

about 3-6 months for me. after 10 years of flats only. at 3 rides you are just playing at it!

and i still dont feel right when its pissing wet and i`m riding wet roots/logs and this is 1.5 years on.

I found that once i forgot i was on them all was well with the world. and its only wet off camber/roots i have an issue with. i’ve ridden some really nasty tech stuff clipped in that was outside my comfort zone so i think i’m converted.

I find i definitely benefit from being clipped in. my aim this winter is to get more confident in the wet.

the only issue i have is you do lose that ability to try and ride some stupid stuff, skinnys, walls, or log rides that you know you will almost certainly need to bail.

I rode SPDs on the trail/road bikes for years, but was too scared on the DH/BMX.

One day I just took the plunge and switched over…. on race day!

Baptism of fire, but I couldn’t imagine riding without being clipped in now. Even when riding flats, I still “twist” my heals without thinking….

the only issue i have is you do lose that ability to try and ride some stupid stuff, skinnys, walls, or log rides that you know you will almost certainly need to bail.

That’s where platform clips come in – all bikes (apart from the road) have PD-M647 (Shimano DX) – nice big platform for ‘dabbing’

rickmeister – Member

I did a day with Andy Weir coaching on a topic and he noted that a fair few of clipped riders spend more time with their heels up, even when descending.

Aye, I’ve had exactly the same- got some coaching while on holiday with AQR, every other rider on SPDs, we’d ride through sections in a row and Ian would go “heels down! heels down! Yeah that’s alright. Heels down!” Every bloomin time.

So for the OP, it feels like a wee bit of a hardware fix? If your feet are moving on flats, it’s generally technique that’s needed to fix it, if you switch to SPDs your feet can’t move but all of the forces that used to move your feet go instead straight into the bike. Better to fix the way you interact with the bike, whichever pedals you’re on.