Curious question about shoe choice Flat or not?

Post whether you ride FLATS, CLIPLESS (SPD or other), or MIXED?

  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .
AKAKTM

AKAKTM

Well-Known Member
For no particular reason, I'd love to know what type of shoes everyone is riding with. For me, I started riding with SPD clipless (ouch). Over time, I saw more and more trainers recommending riding flats from time to time for fitness and for technique. As a result, I've ridden a mix of SPD and flats for years with about 80% of my riding being SPD. In the past three of four years, that trend has almost reversed where about 60% of my riding is flats. All of my gravel riding is SPD and most of my MTB is flats. How about you?
 
Like many when I first tried clip in pedals I tipped over when coming to a stop, having not actually un clipped from them. Embarrassing..hehe...Part of this was due to me using the Shimano pedals that I found out were lovingly and accurately called Bear Traps. After ditching those I got some XTs and been riding them ever since.

I do think it may have caused some bad habits as the couple times I did try flats recently my feet didn't stay planted. Kept coming up of the pedals, pretty sure because I pull up as well as push down.
 
Started riding early 90s. One of my first upgrades was Shimano SPDs. Guess I went through the learning curve to some small level, but never found myself stuck in the pedals very often. Seemed pretty intuitive and easy under normal conditions. Those early Shimano pedals definitely did not clear mud well at all, so that's when things took a turn for the worse in their performance. Switched to Time ATACs and rode them for decades with no issues. Somewhere around the earlyish 2000s, quality of Time pedals took a nosedive. The spring axles (press fit pins) would get worn out quickly and start backing out of the pedals. Their cleats wear out quickly, as well, but that was always the case and something you accepted for their superior performance in the muck as compared to any other clipless pedals. I guess Crank Brothers are very similar, but I never tried them since many of my friends ran them and were always having bearing issues. Anyway, I experimented with other brands without any luck. Finally, I switched back to Shimano SPDs back around 2016 or so. The new design clears mud just fine, as good as Time pedals as far as I'm concerned. The bearings last longer than any other brand I've used. And, the cleats last seemingly forever. Last pair I bought was about two years ago when I got a new bike and wanted to keep the old bike rideable without needing to swap out pedals. Quality and performance hasn't changed. Pretty sure I'll continue sticking with Shimano SPDs going forward.

I don't have any reason to consider switching to flats. Guess I'm hard-headed old school. Always run my cleats slammed full forward. Never have experimented with other cleat positions, even though the science seems to indicate that most people should run their cleats farther back on the shoe for better bike control. They feel comfortable to me. I'm certain that I use the clipless setup to lift the rear of my bike for certain technical moves, which I know is a bad habit, but I don't see myself changing at this point. On more than one occasion, I've experienced myself jumping off the flat pedals on my urban townie bike while trying to smoothly lift up and over a curb in the city. That's a bad move! Guess if I was experiencing pain that I could attribute to clipless pedals, then I would make the effort to transition to flats, but that is not the case even after several serious injuries and a full hip replacement.
 
It was 1991/92 for me and started with toe clips.
Ditched those and went to Shimano SPD’s, the early version that weighed as much as my bike. Many Laugh-in moments later in parking lots. I got sponsored by Onza for bar ends, tires, and pedals. SUPER LIGHT pedals… but very unpredictable releases as temperature would change the durometer of the tensioning system. Ditched those pedals and got sponsored by SpeedPlay. Used the frogs for years. I REALLY liked them. But they break often. Doesn’t matter how many they replace for free if they break in a crunch.

After racing I used SpeedPlay even riding with a bunch of you hooligans. Finally gave in to Shimano XT SPD as I discovered they had enough float for my knees and they are super reliable.

Mrs. imtbtrails went to flats, but I never have. I’m not sure I’m even interested. Tons of tech in Arkansas though, and I may want an even faster release in a pinch… we will see.
 
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Mikie said:
It was 1991/92 for me and started with toe clips.
Ditched those and went to Shimano SPD’s, the early version that weighed as much as my bike. Many Laugh-in moments later in parking lots. I got sponsored by Onza clip-ins. SUPER LIGHT, but unpredictable releases and the durometers changed with the temperature so even more unpredictable releases. Ditched those pedals and got sponsored by SpeedPlay. Used the frogs for years. I REALLY liked them. But they break often. Doesn’t matter how many they replace for free if they break in a crunch.

After racing I used SpeedPlay even riding with a bunch of you hooligans. Finally gave in to Shimano XT SPD as I discovered they had enough float for my knees.

Mrs. imtbtrails went to flats, but I never have. I’m not sure I’m even interested. Tons of tech in Arkansas and I may want an even faster release in a pinch… we will see.
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Oh, the Onzas! Never ran them, but they were notorious back in those days for all the reasons you mentioned. Happy to hear that you've landed back on XT SPDs, as I have. Really nothing to complain about them. They just work well in varying conditions.

Other than a few fumbles getting used to clipless pedals way back in the early days, I can't say that I can attribute any crash or injury to being unable to release from a clipless pedal. Getting out of the pedals just seems to happen naturally when you're flailing to some unknown seriousness of ground impact. I get the mental concern, though.

I have a good riding friend that ran Speedplays for decades, mainly for the float. He now rides on flats. Speedplays seemed like a great concept if you're never doing any hike-a-bike, which just isn't very realistic.
 
JimN said:
Oh, the Onzas! Never ran them, but they were notorious back in those days for all the reasons you mentioned. Happy to hear that you've landed back on XT SPDs, as I have. Really nothing to complain about them. They just work well in varying conditions.

Other than a few fumbles getting used to clipless pedals way back in the early days, I can't say that I can attribute any crash or injury to being unable to release from a clipless pedal. Getting out of the pedals just seems to happen naturally when you're flailing to some unknown seriousness of ground impact. I get the mental concern, though.

I have a good riding friend that ran Speedplays for decades, mainly for the float. He now rides on flats. Speedplays seemed like a great concept if you're never doing any hike-a-bike, which just isn't very realistic.
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Words of wisdom there! :thumbsup:
 
Team Onza, checking in! Got them at a SuperGo sale and they were pretty good for me. I never really ride too hot or too cold. Eventually moved over to SPuDs pretty much universally on all bikes and rode that for a good ten years. Maybe around 15 years or so ago I moved over to flats, and haven't looked back! I just like being able to hop on and off with no drama. Seems sooo much more casual and fun. Grip is fine. Bunny hop game has suffered, nowhere near as good as with cilpless. But guess that means my technique wasn't really good.

Only downside IMO is that the flats can tear the Sh!t out of your lower legs. My calfs and shins have been shredded.
 
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My left foot is clipped in and my right pedal is a flat.


OK - that's not true.

I started in '89 with toe clips. Went to SPDs in 1991.

Did DH and Park with flats mostly (5.10 impact low), but sometimes Shimano DX or CB Mallets (clips) This was 2007-2012 ish. I clipped into XT Trails on my trail bike - Sidi Dominators.

Tried flats on my trail bike for a while in 2019-2020 so I could be like @SnakeCharmer @Tom the Bomb @sir crashalot @buggravy and others - however, I kept flipping pedals in uphill chunk. No thanks. Besides, the lateral rotational float allowed with clips is easier on the knees. Flats don't float unless your shoe flexes sideways.

Now I ride clipped in almost exclusively - Shimano XT Trail (Yeti) or Saints (Revel) 5.10 Kestrel Lace.

My flats are DMR Vaults with Ride Concepts Hellions. They don't get much use.
 
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Posted this recently in a different thread.

Never tried flats , only a recent demo ride. So I compromised and put on some CrankBrothers Double shot pedals. I like em! Egg beater on 1 side ,flat on the other. Composite body for less weight !
 
scan said:
Posted this recently in a different thread.

Never tried flats , only a recent demo ride. So I compromised and put on some CrankBrothers Double shot pedals. I like em! Egg beater on 1 side ,flat on the other. Composite body for less weight !
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The two-sided pedal has been around quite a while. My wife had a set, but she had hard-soled shoes with a cleat, so the non-clip side was impossible to ride confidently. I am sure the modern CB version is much better, and the shoe choices are also more appropriate.

I will be curious what you think of the compromise pedals after using them for a while. I would think that it would be annoying and maybe even a little dangerous to have to look down and make sure you are on the proper side of the pedal as you put a foot back on. You don't want to think you are clipped in when you are not, or vice versa.
 
I use XT on all my bikes
Trails on the Mach 6
Std XC on everything else.

They are adjusted so I won't come out of them while climbing hard, but are easy to get out of with just a slight "heel out" move.
Been on SPD since the mid to late 90's.
Funny, last year I finally chucked out my Answer Accelerator shoes.....red and yellow.
 
Thanks @blixet and @SnakeCharmer !! I googled the question and on another MTB forum someone mentioned 5.10 Freerider Pro shoes came wide. But everytime I click on a vendor, wides aren't mentioned. I tried calling Adidas but was on hold for 20 minutes and gave up. Crankbrothers didn't have wides listed on their website. I emailed them and I'm waiting for a response.
 
herzalot said:
Besides, the lateral rotational float allowed with clips is easier on the knees. Flats don't float unless your shoe flexes sideways.
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That's a very interesting point! Make a lot of sense to me, although I've never tried flats for trail riding, nor do I have any desire to. Point being that there's some assumption that flat pedals allow for maximum movement of your foot on the pedal. I know that I use the rotational float that clips allow, based on the fact that the Shimano shoes I'm currently using have a stupid bulky ankle cuff that has, on occasion, gotten binded up between my chainstay and spokes and/or crank arm. Not exactly sure what is making contact and jamming up, but I won't be buying those shoes again. I wish that Sidi would come out with a Dominator shoe with some sort of grippy sole. The hard plastic that they currently use makes the shoe more or less a road shoe that is useless for hike-a-bike, particularly on slick rock.
 
-ROCKY- said:
Thanks @blixet and @SnakeCharmer !! I googled the question and on another MTB forum someone mentioned 5.10 Freerider Pro shoes came wide. But everytime I click on a vendor, wides aren't mentioned. I tried calling Adidas but was on hold for 20 minutes and gave up. Crankbrothers didn't have wides listed on their website. I emailed them and I'm waiting for a response.
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My advice is to find a place that sells them and try your size on. IIFC, they are naturally wide. I wear a wide cross training shoe for work and days off and 5-10 Freeriders fit my wide feet well.
 
JimN said:
That's a very interesting point! Make a lot of sense to me, although I've never tried flats for trail riding, nor do I have any desire to. Point being that there's some assumption that flat pedals allow for maximum movement of your foot on the pedal. I know that I use the rotational float that clips allow, based on the fact that the Shimano shoes I'm currently using have a stupid bulky ankle cuff that has, on occasion, gotten binded up between my chainstay and spokes and/or crank arm. Not exactly sure what is making contact and jamming up, but I won't be buying those shoes again. I wish that Sidi would come out with a Dominator shoe with some sort of grippy sole. The hard plastic that they currently use makes the shoe more or less a road shoe that is useless for hike-a-bike, particularly on slick rock.
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This is another thing about flats shoes that shines. You can wear them all day for anything if you wanted to.
 
sir crashalot said:
Shoes? Ride concepts Powerline. The Hellion and Tallac are longer and narrower, but arent too bad.
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Thank you Sir! Yes shoes. I shoulda made that more clear. I've been reading around and found some shoes I'm going to try. I think they are on sale and are in the price range I want to be in. I've been spending money on miscellaneous bike stuff and really can't spend much.
 
JimN said:
That's a very interesting point! Make a lot of sense to me, although I've never tried flats for trail riding, nor do I have any desire to. Point being that there's some assumption that flat pedals allow for maximum movement of your foot on the pedal. I know that I use the rotational float that clips allow, based on the fact that the Shimano shoes I'm currently using have a stupid bulky ankle cuff that has, on occasion, gotten binded up between my chainstay and spokes and/or crank arm. Not exactly sure what is making contact and jamming up, but I won't be buying those shoes again. I wish that Sidi would come out with a Dominator shoe with some sort of grippy sole. The hard plastic that they currently use makes the shoe more or less a road shoe that is useless for hike-a-bike, particularly on slick rock.
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I like the Sidi Turbo, has a good grippy sole.

IMG_1381.jpeg
 
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