Off roading with shoes attached to pedals

[RedBike]

I can't ride without spds, they compensate for so many bad habits. Without spds my feet bounce off the pedals and I can't bunnyhop the bike.

 

[MikeO]

Hi Steve, I fitted some SPD's to my bike, managed to last a week without a tumble. Didn't do any off-road with them, just a short ride into work. I got a false sense of security with them, and thought yep, i've got these things sussed...How wrong I was lol !

The problem that I had is that I work as a postie, and that from about 9.50am till about 2pm each day, i'm riding my Royal Mail 'Boneshaker'...fine...until the ride home on my new Specialized Rockhopper with my nice shiny chrome Shimano SPD's

I stopped at a set of lights, rode across to the bit of road just before the island...and totally forgot I had my feet locked into my SPD's...what a horrible feeling that was...and a bus had only just passed me, I was quite lucky to say the least...a couple of people looked over in horror, but to tell the truth I was so embarrassed I couldn't get to my feet quick enough !!

My wife said...I knew you'd have an accident with them pedals, she was right though. I then ordered some DMR V12 Flat pedals, and I must say they stick like glue, I love them. I loved riding with my SPD's, I will go back to them, but probably when I get a little more experience, and only off-road.

 

[fossyant]

Clipless is the only way......XT SPD's on my MTB and Fixed.... and if they can resist 'fixed' riding then they are the danglies.....

Look on a road bike.....nuf said...........

 

[maurice]

Just to go against the flow... I ride clipless all the time, mtb and road, but that was after getting used to mtb'ing with normal flat pedals. I've seen lots of people start using spd's before they've picked up basic mtb skills and the results are painful to watch.

In my opinion, go back to flats for a little while. Also never ride one foot clipped out - if you don't commit fully you're a lot more likely to fail.

 

[AndyM78]

I keep a set of flats and a set of cleats i the shed, if i'm riding down the pub or going for a hack i use the flats so you can dab a toe when you need to but if i'm out for the day its spd's all the way. After you've got used to them its hard work without em!!

 

[ultraviolet]

i think it matters what kind of trails your riding; classic XC and SPD's are great, but, you start doing very technical trails and having both feet fixed to the bike and it can be a big problem

 

[hotmetal]

I've got a pair of casual non-bike-looking grey suede Shimano shoes and a pair of race shoes, both with cleats, so all my bikes have Crank Bros Candys or similar. If I'm going to the shops/work/pub the grey shoes do fine on my hack. When hitting the mountainbike area of Bracknell (Swinley) Forest, or on my road bike, the race shoes come out. However, the lads I ride with are getting into ever more gnarly trails and have converted to flats, so I'm considering some platform pedals with clips in the middle (Mallets) for my Jekyll when we're going more tech or gravity than old school xc.

Years ago all my xc was done with XT platform pedals and the old style of clips/straps. I've not ridden off-road without some sort of clip or clipless system since 1990, I think I can remember slipping off the pedals and clouting my family jewels on the top tube too many times. If you want an idea of 'Pavlovian conditioning', "a couple of achers" is deterrent enough from riding with flat pedals IMO. But like I say, the DH and jump brigade are all on flats now, so I reckon platforms with clips is the way forward.

 

[Steve H]

Well - you'll be pleased to know that I stuck with the clip-less pedals. We went out again today and did some off-roading over on Baildon Moor near Bradford. The terrain was a little bit easier than last week, but still quite challenging for me. I just tried to attack the tougher bits a bit more. The extra momentum just helps to ride out the bumps a bit more and makes it a bit easier to balance.

There were a couple of bits where I got off and walked, because either it was too steep (uphill) or just too bouldery, but overall an excellent session. 2 hours well spent!

 

[Cubist]

Always worth persevering. I lost a bit of confidence since I broke my vertebrae last year, but it's coming back now, and now I can ride in daylight and actually see where I'm going.....!!!!

Steve

There's a couple of MTB clubs near you , one meets in Brighouse, (sorry, don't have details, but I seem to remember they meet at the Boy and Barrel) or there's Pedalsport that meet at Elland Cricket Club on a Thursday at 7pm. Rides out for a couple of hours ranging from Serious to Seriously Sociable (ie ride at the pace of the slowest, aim to have fun not be a hero!)

 

[frank9755]

I use SPDs with platforms. As a relative beginner at mountain biking, I always unclip either one or both feet and flip the pedals over before a difficult bit.

I was out in Wales with some friends last weekend. Two of the guys were very experienced but one was similar to me. He stayed clipped in all the time and had perhaps five painful falls over the weekend! None ended in a real injury but they could have done.

If clipped in all the time I would certainly have had a couple of falls too. Until my skills and experience improve I'm going to carry on unclipping for the more hazardous bits.

 

[speshy]

I ride the purbecks in dorset.. plenty of big hills...
clipped in is the only way to go ..... imho

 

[marzjennings]

i think it matters what kind of trails your riding; classic XC and SPD's are great, but, you start doing very technical trails and having both feet fixed to the bike and it can be a big problem

I find it's the opposite, the rockier the trail the more I like to know my feet aren't going to be thrown off the pedals. Even for downhill I prefer to be clipped in. The only time I ride flats is for hitting the jumps where I may want to bail mid flight.

 

[Steve Austin]

I rode bmx and then MTB for a good ten years without anything more than a good set of grippy pedals and some trainers. I always swore that clipped pedals was a silly idea.
After finally relenting and buying some clip pedals, i can't imagine ever riding unclipped again.
jumps, black runs, wet dry, its always in clips

 

[lukesdad]

Don t think he s quite ready for black runs yet Steve BTW I use time atac love em.

 

[Scrawf]

Its quite scary.....