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I started MTB a month ago and it got pretty addicted. The trails I have being going are not extremely hard but has its ups and downs…and some cool jumps, rocks and what not. As right now I have used normal shoes with normal pedals, which from what I know has pros and cons.
My question is should I get clippers for this kind of trails? Or I should just leave normal pedals?
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I have a hard tail MTB and mostly have been commuting with clip-in pedals. I just recently have been riding XC trails and love it. That being said, even though I’m used to be clipped in, I’ve eatin’ it a few times on the trail because I’d hit a rock wrong and get stopped, then fall over. I’ve found it’s hard to unclip in these situations, so I don’t clip in on the tough stuff. I think this all boils down to a comfort and experience level.
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I JUST went clip-less this week. It is a little unnerving at first but its not too bad. Just practice a little bit. I’ll be honest though, I have my clips at a pretty sharp angle so the clip out is like at 10 degrees instead of 15. Once I hit panic mode its pretty easy to clip out. I road a pretty techie trail with mongoose on Saturday with them for the first time and I did okay. Clipping in was the biggest pain. Only ate it once but I think it would have happened with or with out clips.
I bought the Crank Bros Mallet C for around 60 bucks and it gives you the option to ride either way. I am pretty happy with them. I do have to say I feel like I have much much more control over the bike now. My ascension has improved and will probably get much better as I develop this new muscle group. That and you can MAD bunny hop with these guys.
I think it is at least worth trying.
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Good advice…I guess I will have to give it a shoot. I honestly $uck because I am just starting but I would like to start hitting some jumps in the future. But the trails that I have in here like you guys said dont have CRAZYYY jumps so I should be good with clippers…and the days I hit a more "bumpy" trail I will put the normal pedals.
Thanks for the input….and I guess now is time to start eating $hit with the clippers. l\ 😛
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"Ronaldani" wrote
Good advice…I guess I will have to give it a shoot. I honestly $uck because I am just starting but I would like to start hitting some jumps in the future.
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Thanks for the input….and I guess now is time to start eating $hit with the clippers. l\ 😛Hey man, Im new too. I’ve only been doing it a little over a month. Every one has been where you are at now.
Yeah, you will and every one will laugh. Its a right of passage I suppose. But its all in good fun.
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I used toe-clips for years. when I got a new bike this year I rode with the platforms that came with it and a few months back finally bought clipless pedals and love them. Got used to them in about 30 minutes in the yard.
I have fell three times without un-clipping. Two of the times I came to a stop and forgot to un-clip. It was funny. This past weekend while crossing a creek I went down the 4ft bank and when my front tire hit the soft stream bed it slowed way down. Me and the rest of the bike didn’t. Can you say endo into a wet sand bed in the stream. Would of been real funny except my right fingures bent 90 degrees back. After a few minutes and making sure everything else was fine I got back up and slowly rode the 3 miles out. Did I mention it F%^&ing hurt like hell! Try using your rear brake with a banged up hand. Oh I rode clipped in on the way out. I am no wuss! 😃 😃
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Another thing I’ve noticed about being clipped in, other than falling down LOL. Is that it really strenghtens your legs (front and back) and knees. I have friends of mine that can’t keep up any more because they’re not clipped in when we go riding together. When I was first clipped in with the miles I put in commuting I would be more tired than usual. But after a week or so I don’t notice it anymore. After I get used to trail riding clipped in, I hope to be able to ride clipped in most of the time on trails.
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I have been riding MTB’s for two decades and have this piece of adive. Besides my Gary Fisher Cobia. I ride a Specialized TriCross, I use it for road riding because I am still an off roadie at heart and can’t quite bring myself to ride a full on road bike. Anyway, I use clipless for road riding, but when I go off road I want to be able to disengage from the pedals faster but I want the advantage of having power on my upstroke. I have been using Power Grips on my MTB’s for as long as I have been riding MTB’s and have found that they are unbeatable when it comes to having the best of both worlds. Look into them, do some research. See if your LBS carries them in stock, if they don’t, then check Bike Nashbar, thats where I buy mine.
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I rode cages for over 15yrs up until a couple of weeks ago. Fell over a few times and recently fell out of the cages a couple of times on xc stuff. No dh/freeride here.
I broke my cages and decided to go with a set of Crank Bros eggbeater SL’s and Lake shoes. I feel attached to the bike but when it’s time to unhook it’s almost automatic to step out and unhook. I’m sure a situation will come up where I fall over because I can’t get unhooked but even if you ride platforms eventually you fall over.
A buddy who just started riding is resisting any type of hook up to the bike. When we ride he is constantly getting his feet knocked off the peddles from the bumps.
I prefer the eggbeaters but wouldn’t hesitate to ride cages again. I doubt if I would ride any single track with out some type of hook to the bike. It just wouldn’t feel safe to me.
Try several setups and go with what works best for you.
Rider up!
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"Ronaldani" wrote
I started MTB a month ago and it got pretty addicted. The trails I have being going are not extremely hard but has its ups and downs…and some cool jumps, rocks and what not. As right now I have used normal shoes with normal pedals, which from what I know has pros and cons.
My question is should I get clippers for this kind of trails? Or I should just leave normal pedals?
good thread right here:
http://www.singletracks.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=2862 -
I’ve been running clipless pedals for 15 years and can never go back. Even riding on platform pedals I get a "naked" feeling like I’m not in connection with my bike.
A bike shop owner asked my friends and I once, "if you could keep only one thing on your bike while giving up the rest of the gizmos what would it be." It didn’t take us long to decide we would all keep our clipless pedals!
I think if you try it, you’ll really like it.
Griz
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First, you CAN have your cake and eat it too, so to speak:
Shimano PD-M324
I ran those for a couple of years and would routinely ride the normal stuff clipped in and then flip them over to the platform side for more technical stuff.
Eventually I found myself clipping out less and less until finally this spring while in Moab, on Porcupine Rim to be really specific, I found that any time I was on the platform side and hit an obstacle I would bounce off the pedal and lose control. When clipped in I can keep good control of the bike, and subtle body movements, such as those you’d use in technical rock gardens, are much easier and more effective. As soon as I got back, I got myself a pair of Eggbeaters and I’m not going back.
The point is, if you want to dabble with clipless, get those Shimanos so that you have the choice, and then go from there.
*They’re pretty expensive retail, but you can usually get them new, on eBay, for quite a bit less.
**Performance Bike carries a knock-off of these but they are pretty flimsy and harder to clip in/out of. -
I rode sans clips for some months, and then switched to clipped. I found that I can get a smoother pedaling stroke going, use my hamstrings to support my power strokes, and the "issue" of getting out of the clip has never been a problem. In fact, just the opposite has been my problem: they come out (and yes, I’ve tightened them). I have a pair of the Shimano-324, and use them on my singlespeed. This gives me the option of powering or cruising. The downside: they’re heavy.
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i just got clipless pedals a week ago i haven’t gone riding on the trails yet but i hit concrete and scraped my leg pretty bad the first day because i couldn’t clip out but now i am get better
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"singletrakkiller" wrote
i just got clipless pedals a week ago i haven’t gone riding on the trails yet but i hit concrete and scraped my leg pretty bad the first day because i couldn’t clip out but now i am get better
The reason why I tell folks to first practice in a large grassy area.
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I rock it oldschool platforms, and shoes I wear Vans HI-tops. Cuz when I need to bail, I NEED TO BAIL 😬
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"singletrakkiller" wrote
i just got clipless pedals a week ago i haven’t gone riding on the trails yet but i hit concrete and scraped my leg pretty bad the first day because i couldn’t clip out but now i am get better
That’s called a "horizontal trackstand"
We’ve all done it.
It’s even better when you have an audience.
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OK I will tell my story of Clipless pedals….When they first came out wayyyy back around 87 I had the first generation Look clipless pedal…So at the time I was a roady and here I was on my race bike all geared up training away. Came up to a busy intersection and to a full stop looking cool….Until I realized I couldn’t unlclip…Feeeewwwwww CRASH… Click…..Click…. Yup….
"Hey are you alright buddy?!?.." ….Ummmm yeah I’m OK.As I pick myself up and un-tangle myself from the Post office box and my bike….Brushing the unknown road crap off my leg and feeling very stupid.. A gorgeous looking Blonde looking at me like I am some kind of Tard…Anyhow got on my bike and split….
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Hehe…last fall when I was bike commuting my "snot rocket" fell short and I had to pull over and deal with it.
I stopped next to the "Clean up your dog’s crap" barrel and sign, unclipped my right foot but then leaned left.
I fell into the aforementioned sign and cut my arm, which got horribly infected and I have a scar there still.
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Can’t say I ever fell on a sign..That is new to me…But I can imagine.
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Yeah, that was a first for me too. 😳
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third time riding with clipless i try to manual, witch turned into a one wheeled "horizontal trackstand". i got uncliped after i bounce off the ground real good. but clipless is worth it! i love them
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Maybe my third ride with clipless I was starting to feel good, rode up on a fairly technical section that was new to me so I paused to take a look. To be efficient I decided to not unclip and rode up to a tree probably 6 inches in diameter and grabbed on to support myself. Crack. The tree snapped off at the base and I tumbled down the side of the hill with the tree. Didn’t hear anyone belt out in laughter so I don’t think anyone saw it.
Ever since no problems though, I think I used to spend more time worrying about getting my feet back on the platforms than I worry about getting out of my clipless.
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I started back into riding last spring and went right to clips. I love it, i can get more power out of the stroke and my feet dont pop of if the pedals get wet or im going over a technical area. I have the platforms with the clips, this way if im doing something really technical i dont have to worry about getting out of my clips.
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I keep reading about the power gains from the clipeless. Would anyone care to elaborate a little more?
I am getting into my second year of MTB, I am so hooked I cannot stop thinking about it.
I have a unique situation, I used to be in amazing shape and played college ball but had a brutal shattering of my knee and leg, so I cannot do major impact sports. No more running etc, so this sport has litearally saved my life.
im 6’3" 255lbs, It takes alot to big my bigass around a trail and I am looking for any and all power additives I can obtain. Do you really get that much benefit, power wise, from clipless?
I bought a Fuel EX8 a couple months ago and love the ride, however going from hardtail to FS, I noticed the imeadiate power loss with big squishy. Even in sport mode. Thank you in advance.
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I began using clipless about 2 years ago. I’ve been using SPD’s and there have been a couple of times where I couldn’t bail out on time and fell. After awhile, I was considering to switching to platforms. About 2 weeks ago I went to my LBS and told him my frustrations. He told me to try the speedplay "frogs" and it would give me a totally different experience. He was right. The frogs let my feet float around the pedal instead of being stuck in the same position like with my SPD. Clipping out is a breeze now. They ran me about $120, but it was money well spent.
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enoeht;
The big power gain from clipless is mostly in the shoes. Riding flats you need squishy shoe that forms to the pedal. When you ride clipless that sole of the shoe is hard. The power isn’t effective immediate, it’s cumulative. If you are not pointing your toes and "smearing" your foot on the back stroke then clipless will also allow you to generate far more power on the back stroke.
Immediate power loss on a full squish sounds wrong. You should feel it only when you start your pedal stroke. Once you tension the chain, power differences should be nearly unnoticeable. Indeed, the more consistent contact created by the rear suspension should improve power in many sections. Are you spinning the cranks, or are you simply pushing down on them?
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Well, I guess what I meant about imeadiate power loss, was going from a hard tail to the FS, was when I push hard uphill I fell my bike suspension absorbing some energy. Where as before it was direct power transfer to the bike.
I know it has alot to do with my technique after reading many of the threads and amazing advice from you all. I just need to be on my bike more and learn to position myself correctly.
Im putting the Candys back on my bike tomorrow and just gonna get into the clipless and get into it.
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Well, I slapped those Candy’s back on the Fuel EX8 busted my ass 3 times in my back yard. One of which really hurt since it was 9 at night and could not see a thing, but wanted to get some what familiar with them for the ride the next morning.
Took them out the next morning, and I have to say you all on here are just awesome for the advice. It was such a different experience and 200% worth it. I am still gimp at them, but to me, the endurance gain was just massive! I could almost take a break from pedaling by pushing and start pulling. Kinda hard to explain but I am sure you know what I mean.
I still have a ton of technique to work on, but I feel like I can just power through things I could not before. Cant wait till I am 100% comfortable in them, I am a very aggressive rider and do not mind leaning a bit to far to test the edge and wipe, I just think its gonna hurt a lot more on these clippers 😆
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it’s not just push and pull. use your legs for the full pedal stroke, push down, pull back than up then push forward. Also to get good, pedal using only one foot for a minute or two than switch sides. You do not have to un-clip just let the non working foot go for a ride.
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I’d rather have clipless pedals than front suspension.
I have no BMX skills. Therefore this is a no brainer for me.
For those with BMX skills, different story.
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I rode BMX for a while, but still hate using flat pedals for mtn biking.
For your next upgrade – go tubeless.
Clipless pedals and tubeless are the best two things you can do to your bike.
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Dont want to hijack the thread, but why do you feel so strongly about the tubeless? Grip? I just went back to the WTB Velociraptors, something about those tires instills me with a lot of confidence going hard at it. It is a feel thing, and for me I love those damn things.
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+1 for velociraptors…
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Question for you MTBers
I have a Trek 4300 which has the front suspension, not the rear. I’m finding it difficult to bunny hop (is manual the same thing?) over obstacles such as logs, rocks, and even curbs. I hate the feeling of my rear tire pounding on these obstacles but I don’t know how to get the rear wheel off the ground. I’m wordering if I get clipons, will it be easier to jump over these things? Or is there a way to jump over the obstacles with non clipons?
I’d imagine if my feet are strapped in, I can generate enough force that I can raise the bike if I jump, or at least just enough to get a little bit of rear tire clearance.
As you can tell I’m new, and this site has been very informational so thanks anyways for the help!
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It can be done with flat pedals with practice and the right technique. (Trials riders don’t use clipless pedals)
However, it is MUCH easier when clipped in.
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i’m gonna follow maddslacker on this one cus i ride with flats on the trails and i often have to hop my back tire going over stuff. it can be done very easily with practice, its not that hard. if i may suggest finding a small curve the closer to the driveway the better cus its smaller in height usally, what you wanna do ( or atleast how i would do it ) is as i approach the curve bringing my front tire over i would be standing, knees bent and pedals paralel to one another and as the rear tire approaches push down and back on the pedals ( not to hard back ) just enough so that your shoes have a grip on the pedals and pull up, its hard to explain what comes naturally when you ride but i hope you this can be helpful…..
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Another trick is if you have a full suspension bike, drive your weight down to compress the suspension right before you lift. This will add a little boost to your hop and send you even higher.
I agree with chilipepper, as I learned to bunny hop as a kid on a BMX with flat pedals. Now that I ride clipless on a full suspension bike it’s almost like cheating it’s so easy!
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"ChiliPepper" wrote
That loading and unloading your suspension really helps getting you through gnarly terrain as well, but only if executed correctly.
It really helps do an endo if you do it wrong. 😆
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Thanks Chili and maddslacker!
The video will help a lot. Now I just need to find time to practice with all this crappy weather and work. Some higher power must be laughing at me since they make it beautiful on the weekdays and cloudy and rainy on the weekends 😈 😆
Anyways, sorry to get off the original topic. Thanks again!
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When I bunny hop, it seems to help to "twist" my grips forward after the 1st pull up.
I hope that makes sense…
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"maddslacker" wrote
+1 for velociraptors…
I’ve been rockin the raptors for a while now and I really like them, but I had a wake up call a few weeks ago. It was damp out and where I was riding was very rooty. I had been attacking the trail like it was dry and eventually it caught up with me. Going into a turn, my front tire caught a slippery root and I went down fast and hard. Made me realize that the Velociraptors aren’t invincible, and neither am I. 😃 I rode a bit more gingerly the rest of the day…
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I’ve done that too but on wet, smooth rocks.
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I do utilize the bunny hop from time to time, but I find (or at least perceive) that it is harder on a mountain bike than it used to be on my bmx bikes growing up. I had a large gap between riding bmx bikes as a kid and finally getting back into riding mountain bikes. I used to bunny hop like a mad man back in the day and could get so much air. It feels a lot harder than I remember, but it’s probably cuz the bike is heavier, and I am heavier (and older). It’s still a great techique for hoPping logs and other obstacles on the trail. I try to find something to bunny hop on each ride just to practice, plus bunny hopping while riding fire roads or tooling around the neighborhood is great practice. Keep at it and good luck.
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Clips ins is the best for me. Gives me good control over the bike and power up hills. Just set them to the lowest release point. Ride hard.
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I just clipped in today for the first time. I practiced (clipping in/clipping out) for a bit and then I rode around my neighborhood. I came to a stop and I forgot that I was clipped in. I fell in front of all my neighbors and we all had a good laugh 😳 . I practiced some more, and I think I might I have it. The true test will be this weekend when I hit the trails.
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Truly, the difficulty lies not with unclipping, but rather remembering that you need to…
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"jkneivel" wrote
I practiced some more, and I think I might I have it. The true test will be this weekend when I hit the trails.
Just remember when you’re out on the real trails, if you’re on any kind of off-camber, always unclip on the uphill side. If you try to unclip on the downhill side, there’s a good chance your foot doesn’t reach the ground: bike topples, you go with it, bike between your legs, over the edge and down the hill.
Hmmm… Sounds like somebody has firsthand experience. 😳
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After all these years of my feet flying off the pedals at the worst times I have decided to go clipless. I bought some Crank Brothers egg beaters 2 which I’m still waiting to arrive in the mail. I crash as it is now, I’m sure I’ll be crashing a lot more in the future when I’m trying to get my foot out of the clip.
I rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy. 😼
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"cynergy68" wrote
After all these years of my feet flying off the pedals at the worst times I have decided to go clipless. I bought some Crank Brothers egg beaters 2 which I’m still waiting to arrive in the mail. I crash as it is now, I’m sure I’ll be crashing a lot more in the future when I’m trying to get my foot out of the clip.
Just make sure to place the cleats for the lesser amount of pivot to unclip…eggbeaters have no other adjustment.
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"maddslacker" wrote
[quote="cynergy68":miu93mzf]After all these years of my feet flying off the pedals at the worst times I have decided to go clipless. I bought some Crank Brothers egg beaters 2 which I’m still waiting to arrive in the mail. I crash as it is now, I’m sure I’ll be crashing a lot more in the future when I’m trying to get my foot out of the clip.
Just make sure to place the cleats for the lesser amount of pivot to unclip…eggbeaters have no other adjustment.[/quote:miu93mzf]
I’ve got them set to 15deg to unclip. The other setting is 20. Thanks for looking out.
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"jkneivel" wrote
I just clipped in today for the first time. I practiced (clipping in/clipping out) for a bit and then I rode around my neighborhood. I came to a stop and I forgot that I was clipped in. I fell in front of all my neighbors and we all had a good laugh
Reminds me of when my son first tried clipless pedals. I had him try it in the yard, and yup, fell right over the first time he stopped. I laughed and he got mad, saying it wasn’t funny. I told him that almost everyone does that….once….and that’s why I had him start out on the lawn.
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I like to ride with clips that fit right over the top of my shoes and attach to the pedals. I have found that they keep my feet planted on the pedal no matter how i land off of jumps, and they allow added force on the up stroke.
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like many many people said, its preference and riding style. i rode clipped in for 2 years and do like it, but i have been doing more technical riding and am switching to flats. You loose the uphill advantage but i like the quick dismount ability.
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