• This topic has 63 replies, 41 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by gonzy.
Viewing 24 posts - 41 through 64 (of 64 total)
  • Switching to flats, is it worth it + what gear to get?
  • Euro
    Free Member

    I know people who ride both XC and DH on flats who have never owned a ‘proper’ pair of mtb-specific shoes.

    Raises hand 😀

    From the OP…

    I don’t want to chuck too much money at it so would love to hear your thoughts. Cheers

    From STW…

    buy some £60 pedals and some £80 shoes

    Some Wellgo B185s or similar (under £30 from CRC) and then pop into TK Maxx and get yourself a pair of skate shoes for around £20 (do try and get a pair with a stiff sole though).

    If you enjoy riding flats then you can splash out on the special shoes

    thursdayshirts
    Free Member

    I’d been riding clips for about 15 years and now i run flats i’d never go back. It does change your riding style a good bit but i’d say it also makes it a bit more fun.

    I run saints and am41s. I’ve had no bother with the pedals – yes the cup n cone style bearings go shoogly as they wear but you just tighten them up. They have a nice largish platform with a nice concave shape and arnt too thick. If you remove the pin spacers the grip is as much as you could want. I’ve also had v12’s/funn soljams/burgtec penthouse flats mk3 and superstar nanos – the saints have been the best for me.

    I’ve got the saints on two of my bikes and will be buying another pair for my other bike.

    I like the am41s as you get a good feel of where your foot is on the pedal. tried teva’s but couldnt work out where my foot was on the pedal, they were too stiff for me. Big bonus for the shimanos is the lace covers!! they stop water getting in to some extent and they also deal with keeping the laces out the way.

    I think a lot of its personal preference though, but hope that helps.

    mtbguiding
    Free Member

    As a cheap way of ‘trying’ flats, I’d still say you don’t have to go to the expense of new shoes. It’s not ideal, but it might provide enough initial information for the OP to make his mind up.

    Think this absolutely wrong. If you try it with crap kit, you’ll hate it and never really give it a chance. I really think you do need to invest a little. But upon saying that, agree that going for Hope pedals and Five Tens may be a little too much. AM41s and a good pair of Superstar/Nukeproof/Shimano will be enough to get a feel for it and if you want to upgrade later on, there’s always the odd auction site.

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    richmtb
    Full Member

    Also, if you like the Nukeproof / Superstar pedals buy them from Carboncycle instead. They are the same pedal for about a tenner less.

    moshimonster
    Free Member

    I know people who ride both XC and DH on flats who have never owned a ‘proper’ pair of mtb-specific shoes.

    So does that mean they must be the same then?

    Well whenever I ride my bike with ordinary trainers (just pissing about fettling gears etc in the garden) it feels like there is little support for your foot. There’s no way I’d prefer that squishy feeling to a clipless mtb shoe, but something like a proper five ten flat shoe feels good as it provides a nice stiff platform to pedal with. Totally different feeling to a normal shoe.

    But if you’ve never experienced the difference then I guess it doesn’t matter. You can pedal in pretty much any shoes if you really have to.

    nickc
    Full Member

    personally I don’t think the type of pedal or shoes affect your ability to learn to jump properly.

    gavstorie
    Free Member

    before you go splashing out money on shoes and pedals…..

    and assuming you are running shimano spd’s..

    Get yourself a set of Shimoan SH-56 cleats (£5ish on ebay)

    These are multi-release and are easier to get disengaged than the standard SH-51’s.
    If you have the tension set right, you can get your foot off the pedal just as fast as you can coming off flats.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’m a total fan of doing both, they’ve both got drawbacks to ride round and lessons to teach and you know, you might just prefer it. But I’m not convinced it’s the fix here. If you’re doing something with your feet while jumping that’s causing issues, it could end up worse on flats- instead of pulling the bike around, you’ll just come off it. Though maybe not

    Re shoes… You don’t need to spend a fortune. But, it’s quite easy to not spend a fortune, and end up with shoes that don’t really work. My old vans were brilliant cycling shoes. I got another pair specifically for riding, they were absolutely crap. I’ve got some trainers that work well and some that you’d have to be mad to ride a bike in. Bike specific shoes take away most of that risk basically.

    Pedals do a pretty easy job really, inexpensive pedals tend to be heavier, thicker or less servicable but you can spend under a tenner and get a pedal that’ll work perfectly well.

    VanHalen
    Full Member

    You definatly don’t need specific shoes to piss about on a few jumps.

    The type of shoe won’t make it stick to a pedal in the air.

    The Type of pedal won’t make it stick to a shoe in the air.

    Unless its clipped in of course!

    Northwind
    Full Member

    CRC has some Sombrio shoes back in stock, starting from about £30- they’re not as grippy as a five ten but they’re excellent riding shoes. Tempted to get another set of Shazams…

    HermanShake
    Free Member

    I’ve been back on flats for a while now having been clipped in for a few years. Skate shoes and V8s sufficed, 5tens and Vaults are in another league and I’d say it’s worth the investment.

    As mentioned the new V12 looks like the wise buy at the moment as it’s got a very similar shape to the Vault but half the price. Nanos/WahWahs etc are great as they’re thin but the bite is more of a nibble compared. I may even say that Vans waffle sole on a Vault feel more grippy than 5ten rubber on a Nano.

    Going back to flats set my riding back for a while as I had to learn to weight the bike correctly, I think it encourages you to ride less passively as you have to make use of the chances to weight the the bike for traction/preloading/cornering/unweighting/pumping etc. There are a number of variables involved but I’m more capable now on a steel HT with flats than I was on FS clipped in. I put this down in part to the weighting issue which changing pedals forced me to learn. I also find it easier to commit as consequences are a bit more manageable should it go wrong!

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    I rode some of the rockiest trails in my life on a hire bike with flats which didn’t have screw in pins, just tiny rounded ones which were part of the pedal casting, wearing Converse trainers. Feet never came off the pedals but one aspect of my technique which is actually good is my feet:pedal thing.

    The Converse would have been plenty grippy with proper pedal pins. What I missed most was the stiffness of proper MTB flat shoes, it was hard on the feet! I’ve also had enough foot:tree/rock interfaces to appreciate a somewhat armoured shoe – I think I’d have broken a toe earlier this year if I’d been in skate shoes.

    chris_db
    Free Member

    I’ve ridden spds since they came out (yes, that old) and recently did a course where the tutor used flats and I was in my clips. I could see where my technique would have been better had I learnt to ride off road on flats so I bought some.

    It’s a bot like learning to ski and then someone telling you to try snowboarding because it’s so much more fun… the switch can be painful as you spend the first few (very expensive) weeks on the pistes with a bruised ar$e.

    I still have the flats, they are in a box where they belong. My technique was improved by the course but I still use spds.

    I don’t think any form of pedal specifically makes you a bad or better rider; it’s how you ride the bike – the pedals don’t do that.

    moshimonster
    Free Member

    I absolutely hate SPDs but love CB Mallets. Best of both worlds for me.

    Stevet1
    Free Member

    I have no idea why anyone rides MTB with clipless pedals.

    Painey
    Free Member

    Just wanted to say thanks for all the input on here so far. Think I’m going to get some of the Planet X El Guapo pedals which are half price on their deal of the day, look very reasonable for £20.

    Will they help with my riding? I guess the proof is in the pudding and it’ll be fun trying some new things out. I’ll be taking the flats and SPD’s on my next trip to Wales anyway.

    Going to see if some mates fancy a skills day with Jedi at some stage too. You can never know too much or be without room for improvement.

    Keep up the comments about technique on riding with flats too, all very interesting.

    Cheers

    RamseyNeil
    Free Member

    I’m another person who is old enough to have been riding SPDs since they first came out . I ahve recently given flats a try and have to say I’m liking them a lot , using V12s with Spesh 2FO shoes . I am amazed by how much grip you get on the pedal , I thought if I put my foot in the wrong position I could just shuffle it about but you cant move it at all unless you lift off the pedal and put your foot down again . The biggest difficulty I have is that in ruts they are so much wider and are easy to catch .

    deviant
    Free Member

    I’ve always ridden on flats and I have Nukeproof flats on the FS as I never have a problem with feet slipping from the pedals on that bike, the suspension seems to take care of that, I ride in Adidas Originals retro style trainers with the flat, natural/beige rubber sole which is really grippy.

    However, on the hardtail I’ve gone the other way.

    Recently took delivery of some Shimano SPD pedals and 661 Filter SPD shoes because over very rough ground and DH tracks i’d started to lose my footing…before anyone says it I know this is a technique issue but i’m nearly 40 and not as supple at absorbing impacts through the legs as I once was….so the easiest option is to attach my feet to the pedals instead!

    It works really well and switching between flats and SPDs has improved my technique I think, I definitely concentrate a bit more when riding on both…with flats i’m thinking about technique and trying to have them stuck to my foot as well as the SPDs do…and when clipped in i’m trying to concentrate a bit more on line choice in case I need to unclip quickly!

    Andy-R
    Full Member

    Ramsey Neil – Member 
    I’m another person who is old enough to have been riding SPDs since they first came out . I ahve recently given flats a try and have to say I’m liking them a lot

    What was it that prompted you to try flats Neil? I did more out of curiousity than anything and an optimistic idea that it might somehow force me to improve my technique on the sort of stuff I was going to be riding.
    Actually, I think it did – I found that I was thinking far more about body and foot positioning and keeping my feet “heavy” , certainly I was cleaning stuff that last year I didn’t think was possible with my meagre skill set. So old dog/ new tricks maybe can work…..although some credit must go to what I was riding I suppose.

    mtbguiding
    Free Member

    What was it that prompted you to try flats Neil? I did more out of curiousity than anything and an optimistic idea that it might somehow force me to improve my technique on the sort of stuff I was going to be riding.
    Actually, I think it did – I found that I was thinking far more about body and foot positioning and keeping my feet “heavy” , certainly I was cleaning stuff that last year I didn’t think was possible with my meagre skill set. So old dog/ new tricks maybe can work…..although some credit must go to what I was riding I suppose.

    Exactly the same for me…

    VanHalen
    Full Member

    I have no idea why anyone rides MTB with clipless pedals

    I was the same for 10 years or so. Then I started commuting a lot and the benefits of being clipped were attractive. Then I used em off road and while it was initially scary it soon became fine and I could see how I became lazy on flats in terms of technique. Sticking a foot out, poor body position etc. A switch to clips made me realise commitment and its benefits also tyre grip levels, drifting feet up, and also that you can move the bike about in a different way.

    Neither are better, I think, but I do think there is a benefit in having used both sort of pedals.

    I now don’t mind what pedals I use in the dry. I prefer flats when its really gopping just because I spend a lot of time sideways and clipping in is harder.

    kayla1
    Free Member

    DMR V8s (or similar, the old Shimano DX parallelogram type I mean) and a pair skate shoes with a stiffish sole will do. You can get sorted for under £40 for both easily 😀

    Macavity
    Free Member

    gonzy
    Free Member

    i like using both spd’s and flats. my commuter has the 540 spd’s on and the full sus currently has the flats on at the moment. depending on where i’m riding and the conditions etc i’ll usually make a decision as to swap the flats for my DX-646 spd’s.
    both have their plus points and drawbacks.
    my flat shoes are my trusty shimano DX shoes and they are light, stiff and grippy enough for what i want.
    but like jedi said foot position on flats is key to getting the best out of the pedal grip for control

Viewing 24 posts - 41 through 64 (of 64 total)

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