Thanks @seb84
I also learned that there’s a trick with Time pedals were you use them at min. float, then when worn, reverse them to 17º float and have extended lifetime

Hi again,

Any more experiences on the Look pedals or on the Time cleats durability?
Thanks

Contact area/support on clipless shoes/pedals is not a myth. With the right shoe-pedal combo, in the case of SPD type systems, one can easily feel the increased contact with the flat areas around the pedal clip mechanism. That makes for little effect while pedaling seated down, but you to feel it when landing drops or pumping and pushing the bike around

Nothing useful to say except that you got me with that thread title

Can’t really recommend Bird enough.
The frames might not be the most sexy looking around, but are really made to last and amazingly well thought. And don’t even get me started on their costumer service and warranty.

@MSP , would you agree that you’re generalising a bit about cycling shoe design? I’ve had Sidi XC shoes in the past that definitely could fit your description, but my latest Shimano GR7, AM7 and Five Ten Impacts couldn’t be further away from that

Not an expert, just two personal opinions:
– I think people overcomplicate some of these things. I can understand one wanting more natural feeling shoes for day to day, but considering how unnatural cycling is, how different it is from walking and how relative little time you spend standing on your pedals vs the rest of your day, I don’t know…
– I one wants a more “natural” experience, then I think SPD systems are the wrong place to look for, for starters. I’d look at Catalyst flat pedals and a pair of shoes of your choice

To my knowledge, the only really winter specific flat pedal shoes around are the Vaude Moab AM STX

How much time is “a lot of use?”
When I had the Aliums the cleats would start to go in less than an year

Thanks

@peteimpreza , I wouldn’t mind to try the Time Speziale 8, but not a fan of the soft bronze cleats. Had a pair of Atac Alliums many years ago, loved the feel of them but the cleats were made of cheese.

@lawman91 thanks for the feedback. Also curious about Look’s durability, even if in paper they seem well sealed with a good bearing system.

For reference, I’m currently on a set of M530s I got for free at Decathlon a couple of months ago. They’re good pedals, but are surprisingly rusting a lot and would prefer to have more platform contact with my AM7 shoes

Anyone?

Seat height isn’t a bad place to look up as well, but don’t discount pedal grip.
A similar thing happens to me when using Nukeproof Horizon pedals combined with Shimano GR7 shoes. The shoe-pedal interface tends to force my feet into a specific position. In long, constant pedaling this can be a little uncomfortable and I tend to readjust my feet periodically.

If knee comfort alone is your thing, I think Shimano SPDs still can’t be beaten

Modern flat pedals and shoes can be so sticky that you’re effectively pedaling on an absolutely zero flat system

Really interested, curious about more user experiences particularly comparing to more pricey options

Decathlon here

Shimano M530 pedals combined with AM7 shoes, can’t go wrong.
If you want more support then look at the Saint SPD ones, but those are one or two price brackets above

Vans (or Vans style shoes) are great for messing around with the bike but will really kill your feet at any distance and they lack toe protection. They are grippy tho, surprisingly.

I’d definitely recommend some flat pedal specific shoes, riding flat pedals with crappy shoes makes as much sense as doing the same with clips. There are plenty of good options around. Shimano, Ion and Afton shoes seem to pop up occasionally at great discounts. For instance, I don’t think one NEEDS all that Five Ten grip. Besides my Impacts, I have a pair of Shimano GR7s which happen to be great and grippy enough for anything except maybe chasing KOMs on DH tracks or winning enduro races.

Anyway, if you do try flats then please be stubborn enough to keep them for at least 5 rides, preferably 12 like some skills instructor I can’t recall the name uses to say. The first couple of rides are usually miserable, don’t let that scare you.

It’s your call, but I don’t get why you’re so adamant about not using the flats outside trail centres. Just out of curiosity, would you mind to explain why?
I can say that 10 years ago it would never cross my mind to to ride exclusively on flat pedals, but since then better pedals, better shoes and dropper posts happened

You’re absolutely correct, clips Vs flats is a personal preference thing. However, “preference” only shows up after extensive experience with both. I happen to know people who can ride both types of pedal great, but prefer clips.

Pins to the shin is still a risk, but a very small one. I only got hit once, but it wasn’t because of a slipped pedal, it was a proper crash.

On the jumping thing, look, on a bicycle (no idea with a snowboard) you have absolutely no need to be clipped in to jump. You just need to learn to do your job (preload, extend, feet pointing down) and the thing will go up from your kicker or natural jump. Even if in the end you end up preferring clips, you’ll certainly improve you’re technique from your flats experience.

Regarding why people tend to corner better on flats, I thinks it’s a combination of:
– less stressed about crashing
– no mechanism float makes it easier to steer with hips/knees
– I think the mid foot pedal position people tend to use with flats moves your CoG forward and better loads the front wheel

It wasn’t my intention to turn this thread into a “clips Vs flats” things, so, sorry about that.

Without going into what could be a hour long rant about it, I’ll just report what I personally like about flats, which happen to be the same things that made several of my mates to convert full time:
– modern pedals/shoes are so sticky that you feel nearly no loss going uphill. In fact there are several trails I prefer to climb on flats
– no matter how safe you feel with clips, on flats there’s always an extra safety net that generally makes you corner faster and try different things
– way easier to control bike with hips as there’s no float in the mechanism
– it gives you instant feedback on your body position
– it forces you to preload the bike bike more
– more predictable interface with the bike, if you do your job your feet will stay on regardless of conditions. With clips you shoe may or may not clip in, may or may not unclip in certain situations
– crashing is way safer
– this one’s very personal, but I find it more comfortable on my feet, ankles and knees on long distances

Seeing that the OP was 10 years absent from the sport, I can’t help but to suggest to try flat pedals.
While you were off, flat pedals and shoes had a massive evolution and I would go as far as to say they’re the de facto option for the vast majority of riders who aren’t racing

Regarding the Super Gravity weight, one needs to consider that the de rigueur tyre for a very big slice of enduro racers is a DH casing Maxxis, which run around 1300g. That seems to be kind of the weight a tyre needs to be to reach an acceptable toughness level for enduro racing.

If Schwalbe markets the Super Gravity as “this is for enduro racing, it will perform well in that format and an insert is not critical”, then I think the tyre weights what it needs to weight and they’re doing a good job.

Who’s not doing a good are brands like:
– Michelin selling the WE as their enduro tyre (which kind of protects the rim but is not that tough on cuts) and no pro athlete races with
– Maxxis selling the DD casing as the enduro racer casing (which is kind of tough for cuts but beats up the rims) and few pro athletes race with

I’d buy cheap enough not to feel like you’re married to your new gear but expensive enough to get some proper piece of kit should you end up using flats full time (trust me, this might happen, happened to every of my mates who tried flats). Modern flats and shoes are amazing.

Lower friction and better impact absorption?

Bike24

I´m also curious about them.

Regarding the weight, particularly it’s increase vs the older versions, I think they did the right move in reinforcing the casings. When you look around, you’ll notice a good deal of people are using tyres a “tier” above they’re designated use. Like trail riders on DD casings and WEs, enduro racers on DHs, etc, and many with inserts. This tells us that most of the market offerings are underbuilt for their target audience.
It seems Schwalbe made the new casings with more realistic strengths for each purpose, and weights increase as a consequence. I think this is the right move.

They also mentioned on the press release at the time that the new range was developed to forego inserts. This would mean that typical insert weight needs to be discounted from your system. However, I’m yet to see any specifics on what they did to achieve this claim.

Don’t doubt it, but I mean compared to a DHR2 or WE Reae

Is the MM really THAT draggy on the rear?

@binman I will never argue that the method I mentioned fully replaces a full pedal stripdown. But it’s way quicker, and does a proper job. Most industrial equipment have periodic full rebuilds but frequent greasing injection through grease nipples.

@Onzadog , that’s interesting

@ajantom that would be true in case of true sealed cartridge bearings. However, almost every pedal in the market uses shielded, not sealed, bearings. With shielded bearings this process is fine.

@thegeneralist , I’ve done several 1500m gain days with it, between 40 and 65km. Most weeks have a 800/1000 day at least.
It will likely get even heavier, as I’m considering DH casing tyres when the current ones die

Edit: next Sunday have a +1950m, 65km ride on the books. Not too worried about it

I find it quite obvious why bikes got heavier on the last few years:
– the trails are the same, but are being riden faster. This raises the stress on equipment
– frames are more reliable today, one used to see way more cracked frames a few years ago
– burlier, heavier forks
– bikes are being specced with more realistic, generally heavier tyres
– bigger brake rotors

My current bike weights 17kg with a spare tube. It’s the best climbing FS I’ve ever had, it’s totally reliable and capable of doing anything from long climbing days to DH laps. Geometry and suspension kinematics are more important than weight for climbing, but people are still very attached to that

A mid 90s wishbone Giant ATX frame I built up as a pub bike /grocery getter / cruiser with a rack, Brooks saddle, riser bars, mudguards, Schwalbe tan balloon tyres, etc. Surprisingly so it was superbly comfortable and fun. Ended up riding it almost exclusively for a couple of months, even off-road, before giving it to my father

Bird AM9 all day long.

Wouldn’t mind to try DHR2 front and rear in DD or DH casing. I have this weird kink about running the same tyre on both wheels, God knows why.

Anyway, for people looking for thread durability, I’d look into the Continental Kaisers in Blackchilly compound. Never tried them but most reviews and users reckon that their thread life is remarkable.

I’ve been on WE front (Gum-X) and rear since late July or early August, on 30mm rims. This after years of several Maxxis combos, from Exo to DD.

I ride 2/3 times per week and tend to kill tyres quickly.

First of all, they do have a weird wear rate. On the first couple of weeks they suddenly look knackered but then wear stabilizes and they stay that way for a long time. Mine are wearing fine, front is great, rear is ok missing a couple of knobs.

In terms of casing resistance, they are way tougher than Exos. Vs DD, WEs seem to be stiffer and protect the rim better, but, in my experience, not as slash resistance. Zero punctures so far, but a couple of superficial slashes on the rear.

Performance wise:
Front – coming from a series of DHFs, the front we feels very different at first. At least with 30mm rims, you need to learn to lean the bike differently. Once one gets used to it, IMO, the only situation the DHF is better is on very dry hardpack. Otherwise, I feel better and more confident on the WE, particularly on looser ground.

Rear – it rolls slightly better than a DHR2, not as good as an Aggressor or DHF. It seems to climb and corner as good as a DHR2, but it’s more sensitive to breaking mid corner. Still brakes nicely on steep natural trails, but not as good as the DHR2.

All in all, I’m happy with mine and don’t feel compelled to go back to Maxxis. The only thing I’d like would be an even tougher casing, but it seems Michelin is about to release a stronger WE version, maybe with DH casing

When the topic is about Minnaar, I don’t there’s a need for the “positive things to say content”

So today spent the morning doing DH runs on steep and rough tracks, was a nice opportunity to clear things up.

First run felt awful, stiff and numb.

Then came a realization – I was riding that way due to fear of unclipping. The mechanism tension was somewhat mid range and I have the habit of twisting my feet a lot on technical sections and corners, and sometimes was feeling the mechanism starting to release (actually a a few accidental releases). I upped tension a good 4 or 5 clicks and felt world’s better.

I think I got this sorted, but need to ride more this way

@scaredypants
That’s a pretty interesting question. On clips I’m using the current gen Shimano AM7 shoes, which allow for the cleat to go quite far back, although not exactly replicating the position I assume on flats. But since I feel great on the first few rides, I’m not sure that’s the root cause

@speedstar
While what you mention is true, in my particular case it’s not really a matter of feeling confident on my ability to unclip. Don’t know why, but that comes quite instintively

@molgrips , we’ll have to agree to disagree here, because I consider that a proper bunny hop or jump or corner technique is exactly the same regardless of clips or flats. And flats just make way better learning tools for that

Yes, indeed is very possible that I just had a couple of bad days, one of the reasons why I wish to insist on this setup.

For me the thing about flats is that there’s a constant “dialogue” between you and the bike – “drop your heels! Be smooth! Preload the bike! Weight back! Weight on the handlebar!”. Not sure if I won’t need that to stay sharp and keep progressing