To Cleat or not to Cleat

[cwisking]

yo yo, whats ur guys take on cleats for mtb races... i had cleats, gone back to normal takkies.

 

i cant make up my mind what i prefer.

 

i prefer the cleats for the flats, hills. But when it comes to the technical stuff i like being able to pop a foot out when i feel the urge.

 

what do u guys race in??

[Mojoman]

I rode for years with takkies and toe clips, went over to cleats last year and quite enjoy it, I think you need to feel confident in yourself before you get the full advantage?

[Benjamin]

Not even a debate. Your control and pedal efficiency worlds apart with cleats. Most nb piece of clothing after lid for me.

[Tjokkits]

Shouldn't even be a question, do the cleats, get used to them and make sure they are not too tight which will enable you to uncleat and stick a foot out like with takkies

[Vetseun]

Clipless pedals. You have much more control in the technical stuff with fixed feet. A quality pedal clips out easily. Takkies have flexible soles and you lose plenty of power. Use the proper equipment it is worth it.

[nickelass]

I use trail pedals,have the same outlook as you,nice to have cleats,but I ride mostly not clipped in.Only clip in on long tame uphills for the little extra power.When I first started riding 5 years ago I was told cleats are the "must have" and you cannot ride the rough stuff without them.

I had not mastered the basic skills,and now I was trying to ride clipped in.The falls I had because of this were made worse,or in most cases could have been advoided.

I do smaller jumps clipped out with trail shoes,and am now learning to "stay with" the bike also to position my weight in the correct place to achieve this,my riding has improved ,as well as my confidence,in my abilities as a result.

Many newbies to this sport are so focused on being clipped in,and the extra power,and are told "ride clipped in,like most xc riders" they fall harder and more often,and hurt themselves ,as a direct result.

[Squier]

You have to get used to it. In time unclipping will come as natural as just putting your foot down. But it takes time, and unfortunately some tumbles.

 

You'll have more control in the technical stuff when you are clipped in. You just need the confidence to know that you can unclip immediately when you need to.

[sias]

Cleats. That is all.

[Lamber]

Not even a debate. Your control and pedal efficiency worlds apart with cleats. Most nb piece of clothing after lid for me.

 

Ditto! No debate.

[patches]

It really depends on the type of riding you want to do.

 

I'm guessing it's mostly XC, so then yes... cleats.

 

But if you want to start pushing the envelope and try some light freeride/downhill or dirt jumping... then flat pedals with long pins, and good shoes are your best bet.

 

For me I find...

 

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/fi/five-ten-baron-flat-bmx-mtb-shoes.jpg

Five Tens with Stealth Rubber

 

http://sumner.rittby.net/page33/files/plus-sign.png

 

http://www.sicklines.com/news-images/nukeproof_pedal1.jpg

A good set of alu flat bedals with long pins

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Equals_sign_in_mathematics.jpg/120px-Equals_sign_in_mathematics.jpg

 

Ultimate balance between control, comfort and being able to get a foot off when things get hairy

[Sarge]

Hi,

Def no debate here. In the rough stuff the bike wants to chuck you off if you are not cleted in. The cleats keep you part of the bike,and thus more control.

Regards

Sarge

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I'm actually going back to flat pedals after so many years of cleats. Why? Well, its not so much the ability to uncleat and put a foot down when it gets gnarly. I can so that just as fast in cleats as I can with flats. My main concern is getting back ON the pedal after I've put my foot down, or if I'm starting a gnarly session after scoping out a line.

 

With cleats, no matter how good you are, there is a 1 to 5 second section where you ride un-cleated, searching for the cleat seating and, at the same time, being extremely unstable.

 

With flats, yoga put your foot down, put it back on the pedal and BOOM! Your foot is in position.

 

As for being chucked off if you're on flats - nonsense. It's your technique that's at fault if that's happening.

Edited November 17, 2011 by cptmayhem

[patches]

I'm actually going back to flat pedals after so many years of cleats. Why? Well, its not so much the ability to uncleat and put a foot down when it gets gnarly. I can so that just as fast in cleats as I can with flats. My main concern is getting back ON the pedal after I've put my foot down, or if I'm starting a gnarly session after scoping out a line.

 

With cleats, no matter how good you are, there is a 1 to 5 second section where you ride un-cleated, searching for the cleat seating and, at the same time, being extremely unstable.

 

With flats, yoga put your foot down, put it back on the pedal and BOOM! Your foot is in position.

 

As for being chucked off if you're on flats - nonsense. It's your technique that's at fault if that's happening.

 

 

Admit it Mayhem...

 

you're really going back to flats cos you wanna do this...

 

http://dirt.mpora.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/26TRIX_2010_paul-basagoitiA_By-Ale-Di-Lullo-4640-2.jpg

 

and this...

 

http://www.anthillfilms.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/SLorencePhoto_008-600x400.jpg

 

..and you can't do that with cleats hahaha!

 

EDIT: and yes, being chucked off "cos you're on flats" is nonsense... decent pedals. decent shoes. proper technique and then the only thing flats won't offer that clats do is the energy saving on the pedally stuff.

 

It's technique... like when cleated people "bunny hop"... but all they do is move their body upwards and pull the bike with. They often can't understand how it can be done with flat pedals... simple. Technique! Chris Akrigg and Danny Megaskills can bunny hop higher on flats, than pretty much any cleated setup could achieve.. Ok, I'm done!

Edited November 17, 2011 by patches

[RiderX]

I think cleats are rather advanced equipment and should only be used if you want to improve your pedaling efficiency a bit. For everything else flat pedals are better.

 

Its much easier to do technical sections on flats due to you being able to get your feet of the pedals quickly and bail when necessary. Often I see people in Tokai crashing as a direct result of riding with cleats. Usually the bike gets out of control, the guy tries to get into a proper position to either get off the bike or absorb the crash but cannot do so due to still being attached to the bike. Result is a much more painful crash than was necessary.

 

Grip issues with flats are not so much an issue when using a proper shoe & pedal combination. Both the shoes and pedals are equally important! Tekkies wont cut it since the soles are hard and do not provide sufficient grip. Get 510s as posted above or go for some soft sneaker shoes. The pedals should have long pins that grips into the sole. When descending tilt your heels down so that your feet presses down into the pins, further increasing your grip.

 

When comparing hard cleat shoes and cleats with tekkies and toe clips the cleat shoes will win for sure, but remember there are actually proper equipment for riding with flat pedals as well and these are by far the best for most riders imho. This coming from someone that rode with cleats for 2 years then switched to flat pedals and will never switch back

[Tumbleweed]

I'm actually going back to flat pedals after so many years of cleats. Why? Well, its not so much the ability to uncleat and put a foot down when it gets gnarly. I can so that just as fast in cleats as I can with flats. My main concern is getting back ON the pedal after I've put my foot down, or if I'm starting a gnarly session after scoping out a line.

 

With cleats, no matter how good you are, there is a 1 to 5 second section where you ride un-cleated, searching for the cleat seating and, at the same time, being extremely unstable.

 

With flats, yoga put your foot down, put it back on the pedal and BOOM! Your foot is in position.

 

As for being chucked off if you're on flats - nonsense. It's your technique that's at fault if that's happening.

 

That's why I like pedals like the M424s. Even if you can't clip in straight away, there is a platform for your foot. Not ideal with stiff-soled MTB shoes, but still reassuring.

 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yeah, for sure, Tumbled. But I still think you'll be searching for the cleat with those. And even though they offer a bigger platform, you'll only really get the benefit of the bigger platform with your flat soled super-tacky shoes - not the uber mega hard and inflexible xc mtb shoes, which grip to nothing at all. The teflon of the mtb world.