What are you riding with - Flats vs Clips?

[Chubba]

Interested to hear who is riding with what and why?

I've been on clips since i started riding MTB's but as I try more technical stuff with jumps, I'm wondering if I need to switch.

 

[Funkeydunk]

I tried to go back to flats, but I literally kept jumping off the bike. I got into several scrapes due to flats, smacked shins for one. Also slipping around made me nervous on the bike. So I went back to clipless. just my preference.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Moved to clips about a month ago. Feel I have more control.

 

[Doomanic]

Moved to clips about a month ago. Feel I have more control.

That's good, it'll make it easier to steal your Kenevo next time we meet up...

 

[Donnie797]

Flats all the way. If i jump, get better on the wheelies or ride weird blocked stuff i want to be able to jump off the bike at any time without the funky-foot-movements. Seen multiple friends staying clipped in when falling... looks funny

 

[StevenM]

4 rides into clips.

 

[Duelsy]

Ridden flats my whole life, too many years of BMX to ever change.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

Both, flats on ebike and SPD on normal

 

[RichKenevo]

Clips on hardtail and full sus, tried flats on the Kenevo yesterday and didn't like it, pedal change tonight!

 

[JCB]

Riding flats on the ebike and clips on the xc bike.
When trying technical climbs that i will bail off, flats give me less worries that I will stay clipped in.
I still crashed and stayed clipped in on my xc bike too many times, elbows hurt.

 

[Swan]

Clips on everything.. Including the Dirt jump and BMX bikes. Once you get used to unclipping, it becomes second nature and there is no issues. I have done a few dozen backflips in my dirt jump days, and all of them were clipped in, and I was able to throw flips and 360s away comfortably and still be able to get away from the bike while running clipless setups..



One of my favorite moves on the DH bike is doing nac nacs while running clips. You unclip as you leave the jump, drape the leg over the rear wheel and then bring everything back and you will clip back in right as you land! Good fun! Also suicide no handers are so much easier with clips.. You can push the bike away from you and then pull it back using your feet instead of having to pinch with the knees.. Kinda cheating, but makes it easy to throw huge no handers.


The one bike I actually would consider tossing flats on is the Levo.. I use it so much for running to around town to the store or post office that the SPDs do get annoying when I can't be bothered to put my real shoes on.. And all the platforms that clip into SPDs to make them a "regular" pedal suck..

 

[bissona]

Clips on everything, but set loose on the eMTB. I just can't get on with separating from the bike over jumps, was going to end in tears if I carried on with flats!

ETA: all my pedals are actually dual-sided, but I use SPD shoes for everything except work/pub rides so spend 95% of my time clipped in.

 

[steve_sordy]

I started riding on those cheap plastic pedals that bikes came with, then moved to metal "skeleton" pedals (also cheap). Only then did I give SPDs a try. I told myself to give it a minimum 3 months, no matter how many comedy falls I had. 18 months later I packed them in and bought some proper flats. I had a comedy fall with them when I tried to unclip by twisting my foot, with 510's!!
If I am just out for a pootle around the village and local roads, I might wear SPDs just to keep my eye in, but for trails, it has to be flats.

 

[Mikerb]

5 10s with DMRv12 pedals. More secure in my opinion than 2 bolt clipless. I tried clipless and the only time I felt any benefit was on fireroad pedaling sections between trails and that is a very small percentage of my time on the bike.

 

[Gary]

Haven't voted as I've ridden both for almost 30 years.

Clips give greater accuracy when placing wheels and allow (slightly) greater power transfer when sprinting.
Flats are simply much more fun to ride.
That's it basically (assuming you're a decent rider in the first place).
It's just personal preference (unless you *need* clips because of injury/disability etc.)
I'm not sure why folk even care what anyone else rides.

 

[Chubba]

Haven't voted as I've ridden both for almost 30 years.
I'm not sure why folk even care what anyone else rides.

Why you so grumpy ?

 

[Mikerb]

Seems to me clipless is not ideal if you spend most of your ride standing on the pedals and not pedaling, whereas clipless is possibly better for seated pedaling. In general I found the clipless shoe/pedal combo I tried put my foot too far forward on the pedal even with the cleats as far back as possible and I got much less feedback from the pedal......and I hated the shoes for anything off the bike.

 

[MinusPrevious]

Been on clips for 20 years but just recently moved to flats (1 month ago). The downside to the flats is the inconsistent foot placement as i was riding too much on my toes & got the dreaded hot foot (numb feeling)

A few shin strikes, as well, but that has been reduced due to some gained experience
So far, do not plan on switching back to clips

 

[miPbiP]

20 years on clips. Bought flats when I bought my e-bike as I knew the tiny %ge performance difference would be irrelevant.

Really like being able to choose foot position depending on what I'm riding. Game changer, especially having weight centred on the pedal downhill.

I no longer buy that clips are more efficient either.

Doubt I'll ride clips again off road.

Riding XC and trail, nothing lairy.

It takes a little while to adjust and (re)gain confidence. As you'd expect really.

 

[Swissrider]

Clips for more than 20 years. I have them pretty loose and unclipping is so natural that if I need to dab a foot or fall off my feet come straight off the pedals. I bought some flats so I could ride with warm boots for winter. It’s OK but I get far more pedal strikes, I guess because of the width. I’ve found that I can get bounced off my pedals going fast over rough ground which doesn’t happen with the clips. Although I’ve never had much problem clipping in (it’s amazing how muscle memory seems to be able to find the precise place to clip in) it’s obviously easier to get back on flats. I really don’t think one is superior to the other, there’s just different advantages and disadvantages but I would recommend everyone try both for a couple of months to decide whether you’re a flats or clips type of rider.

 

[steve_sordy]

.............. I’ve found that I can get bounced off my pedals going fast over rough ground which doesn’t happen with the clips. .........

Angle your feet, heels down. This digs the pins into the soles at an angle to the vertical and almost completely stops your feet being bounced off the pedals. It also greatly reduces the chances of going OTB if you hit something.

 

[HikerDave]

I prefer clip-ins but 2/3 of my riding is a short 4-mile commute each way and bike shoes would be an inconvenience so I keep flats on the bike; I don’t want to change shoes just to avoid clickity-clacking through my office building and damaging the floors or change pedals twice every weekend. I have double-sided pedals on my road bike but they get destroyed on the trail and are kind of inconvenient to get into starting out on a hill.

 

[Gary]

Why you so grumpy ?

I'm not.
Your percieved view of my mood is incorrect.

There have been tons of clips vs flats threads on here... Despite me not actually caring what others choose to ride I do care why you might make that choice. (hence opening your thread)
Do you ride clipped in pedals on your Emtb? - EMTB Forums
might be of interest. dunno
*shrug*

 

[Northumbrian]

Riding MTBs for 35 yrs, use both flats and clips....( should have went with flats on the pic below.... looped it whilst being clipped.. Doh!)

 

[kafkastan]

Riding MTBs for 35 yrs, use both flats and clips....( should have went with flats on the pic below.... looped it whilst being clipped.. Doh!)

I was considering trying clips again. Changed my mind now.

 

[outerlimits]

I ride both at the same time. left foot is clipped in, right is on flat pedal. ?

Just jokes ?

Seriously tho, I just ride flats on the trails because I am very prone to dislocating my right knee. I think flats have benefits for road bikes and XC. But for the average Joe trail riding ect then flats can be safer. Can get the required grip on flats by dropping your heals and weighting the legs, driving through the bottom bracket.
I find it amusing watching videos of clipped in riders crashing, as the bike stays with them as they flip and tumble along the ground ?

 

[HORSPWR]

Why you so grumpy ?

That's just his way, he has a low tolerance to anything. Pretty sure he was an only child, he should've had his toys taken off him more often to teach him how to play nice!

 

[Gary]

I only had coal for toys mate. Stop whining

 

[njn]

pretty sure they are called clipless. no one uses toe clips these days.

 

[Gary]

did you find that useful gem of information in your pedantasaurus?