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Peddle Pain Be Gone....


RidingAgain

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35 minutes ago, RidingAgain said:

Already have two sets of nice flat pedals... One set of Chesters, and the other I can remember the brand.

Just waiting for the price to drop on shoes.

so why post an article on something you have no intention of buying? Its also pedal, not peddle.

Edited by ATXZJ
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I started MTBing on flats and have been the most comfortable on them. I do switch back and forth to clips, but no matter how much time I have with clips, I just can't get used to not being able to put a foot down quick enough. I can't get the muscle memory down fast enough to twist out when I need to. I've given it up to two months with clips. I just can't get comfy on them.

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I ride with SPDs with my heels down already.  It may be as a result of having 30in inseam but riding with 175mm cranks and having sensitive knees.  A fitter once told me to ride with my feet level and it took right away and have always done it.  I don't even think about unclipping now.  I rarely put myself in situations where OTB is a concern and where flats vs. clipless would make a difference, but I have done rear ejection to instant walking the bike.  I wish someone had caught in on video (yeah, it would never look as cool as it looks in my head!).  My first experience on non-clipless in a long time was at a Livestrong charity ride, where some of us volunteers took pedicabs and rode the sicker kids and their families around the 5k track.  I do lift with my back leg and Spinscan data proves it.  

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38 minutes ago, Albert said:

I know, that's making me twitch.  Also, it's it's, not its.  😄

touche' ...that's what i get for being lazy

 

I ride/rode both. It's just something you get used to as there's a benefit  to each of them. I had to use SPDs on my cross bike as it spent most of it's time trying to kill me, and being clipped in was the only way to keep my feet on the pedals on a full rigid bike at speed. I can totally see why professional DH racers are clipped in, and its certainly not for pedal efficiency.

Edited by ATXZJ
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4 hours ago, Albert said:

I'm not sure what you mean by this?

It's exactly what it sounds like. You ride with your heels no higher than your toes so that when you hit a number, your foot is driven into the platform, thus increasing your connection to the bike. It's a natural and powerful connection to the bike. Do a quick internet search for "mountain bike heel drop" and you'll find a bazillion articles on the technique.

When I complained about not feeling secure on flats for the first few rides, it's because I was riding with poor technique to begin with but was hiding it with cleats. Once I got used to riding with a technique that does not suck, I can ride with much more confidence knowing that I can make my feet stick when I want them to an come off when I want. No more wondering when I will have that lucky moment when my cleats don't release and I go tumbling down a hill full of rattlesnakes and poison ivy with the bike attached to me. Not I get all the sneks and poison as I run gracefully down the hill on my two feet.

Edited by mack_turtle
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22 minutes ago, Albert said:

Thanks @mack_turtle for the explanation!  I'd never heard of the technique before. 

 ..Al

Once I became aware of how frequently I rode with my toes pointed down, and how much better and safer everything feels with the heel down, I had to ask myself, How the hell did I not die a million times riding like that?

If nothing else, riding flats part-time is a good way to build skills by exposing your weaknesses. I suggest trying them until you get confident on them, then switch back to clipping in if you get an bit extra control and confidence from them. In and under the impression that several skills instructors insist that you use flats for their classes, probably for the same reason.

Edited by mack_turtle
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It would be interesting to put flat pedals on my mountain bike and try riding something relatively innocent like Walnut Creek and see how much I stumble.  😄 I do have a decent pair of flats already, but I've never used them.  I'd have to use a regular pair of sneakers with them, though. 

 ..Al

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12 minutes ago, Albert said:

It would be interesting to put flat pedals on my mountain bike and try riding something relatively innocent like Walnut Creek and see how much I stumble.  😄 I do have a decent pair of flats already, but I've never used them.  I'd have to use a regular pair of sneakers with them, though. 

 ..Al

Flats with pins ridden without grippy-soled shoes could be dangerous at worse and disappointing at best. Much like clipless pedals and cleated shoes work together to make a functional system the shoes and pedals for flats together are what make it work.

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8 minutes ago, Ridenfool said:

Flats with pins ridden without grippy-soled shoes could be dangerous at worse and disappointing at best.

Yeah, the pedals do have pins, I think.  I'll have to go take a look at them.  I don't think I really want to invest in a pair of "grippy-soled shoes" just to try them out, though. 

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3 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

so why post an article on something you have no intention of buying? Its also pedal, not peddle.

Fuck off ATXZJ... I don't (edited out) answer to you, (edited out).

And "peddle" is what you do when you are trying to sell something.

But hey... I understand... Bit over your head.

Edited by RidingAgain
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1 minute ago, Albert said:

I don't see why this should be a prerequisite for posting something? 

Beyond me too... Except it seems to be a carryover from Mojo... I started a thread on a bike an independent bike designer came up with and all hell broke loose — a couple people in particular seemed upset by it and wanted to know if I was... Here it comes... Peddling the bike because I had shares in the company. I think there was somethng else too, regarding another thread I started. Or maybe it was all the threads I started. Shoot, I lost count of how many times these particulr folk seemed to have a seatpost up their butt over what I posted.

It's pretty amusing... And I can only hope they are trying to be funny.

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Back to the topic... Which BTW, in my opinion, seems to have generated some interesting participation...

I started riding back in '94/'95 with those spikey metal pedals, then quickly switched to Shimano SPDs (the old 747 version... great pedals) on the advice of one of the fellas that worked for the local bike shop that later sponsored me for a season. Clipless was what all better riders were using so I didn't think twice about learning to use them. There were other types in the market, like Frogs, Time Atacs, Eggbeaters... But I just stuck with the Shimano SPDs.

I had a couple of falls that may have been less painful had I not been clipped in, but I know that I may have had a couple of falls had I not been able to use the fact that I was clipped in to avoid them. One of these happened just last year up at Brushy Creek trail, at a section out west where the trail goes under a bridge I think. There's a dip before that you come into after going up and around a tree. Being the first time riding the trail I was looking at a rider I was trying to follow (not the trail) and took the turn around the tree too close. Soemhow I managed to kind of jump the whole bike to my right to avoid hooking my handlebars. Just one of those things I know can be done with clipless, but watching videos of riders on flats, I see them doing similar things (sometimes though, I'm not sure if they are wearing flats, or if they are shoes that look like flats but have cleats).

When I started riding again back in '09 I found Shimano M647s and they have been my pedal of choice ever since... Kind of the best of both worlds deal — platform and clipless.

But riding here in Central Texas, and pretty much most of what I see harder trails around the country have, one needs to learn to ride rock gardens, and I'm thinking that being able to quickly dab would be helpful. It's a bit of a want to, don't want to thing though, as I think I should be able to ride it without dabbing. When you're a big fella though, speed is your friend, slow not so much, and I'm not so speedy anymore. Or at least kind of choose not to be. Healing takes a bit longer these days.

I bought the flat pedals though, so I'm going to give it a try.

I do know that when my wife and I started riding again last year we rode with flat pedals (the spikey type) until I found some M647s on eBay. Neither of us were enjoying riding with sneakers though, and I got spiked a couple of times when I lost my footing on the pedal. So we'll see.

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1 hour ago, RidingAgain said:



But riding here in Central Texas, and pretty much most of what I see harder trails around the country have, one needs to learn to ride rock gardens, and I'm thinking that being able to quickly dab would be helpful. 

 

This is almost the entire reason as to why I ride flats. Both are valid and have their strengths and weaknesses. And it's also a huge reason as to why I haven't put more effort into riding SPDs.

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13 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

Will likely look at Ride Concepts next, if I ever wear them out.

I was checking those out as well. They look really nice, especially in charcoal / orange. Looks like they won't be out until Nov. Hopefully the rubber soles are as durable as 5-10s. 

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