Are Flat Pedals Slower For Cross Country? | Flats Vs Clips XC Edition
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- Опубликовано: 11 авг 2023
- In cross-country riding it’s pretty much a given to see beginners, amateurs, and advanced people using clipless pedals. The ergonomics and power gained with clipless pedals is prioritized. The advantages of flats with the flexibility for freedom seem to matter less. But are clips really faster, and if so by how much?
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"it could be all fake" 😂😂😂 never lose Blake from the channel please, he's a legend!
I couldn't agree more!! They all are great guys and galls. But Blake is a gem!
All the comments make sense, but I'm not sure we can call this a proper video as Blake never said "Alright you beautiful people". I think they need to go back and do it again in the clipless and platform clips.
There should have been a 3rd round, clipped in, having a time to beat like you said was the case with the faster time in flats.
Just gone from clipless to flats on my hardtail, can’t see me going back… thanks for this, I’ve been interested in understanding how an xc rider feels about flats for some time. I ride a lot of singletrack xc style and prefer flats.
I did the same, went back to flats, I’m fine with it on my hard tail
Ha, I’ve been eyeing up spuds all afternoon after this mornings ride.
You’ve just saved me 200 quids!!
Flats all the way. And I’m an xc rider:)
This definitely made me happier that I never allowed peer pressure to make me switch to clipless on my hardtail. I love riding flats. Definitely keeps things more fun. 🤙
My bias has been confirmed! I love flat pedals, I couldn’t imagine being attached to the bike on the rougher stuff. I love the freedom flats give you, I love the quick ability to fix your balance/put a foot down. And if you have great spikes pedals with great flat pedal shoes you’re very stable on them.
I also love knowing that I’m not going to be tangled in my bike potentially injuring my knees/ACLs if I have even a minor fall.
I genuinely love that Isaac and Blake went so deep!!
I love riding clipless but I've recently moved to flats because I've been learning to jump. I definitely had bad form jumping in SPD because my first jumps in flats had my feet coming off the pedals. I've now been working on pump tracks, manuals and bunny hops and I'm progressing well with the flats. I will be returning to clips eventually though!!
I always push for PR's on Strava and since I switched back to flats my times have continued to trend faster. If the gains for riding on clipless are real, they are marginal. No more knee issues since I'm back on flats too. So I am only clipping in on the gravel bike now, not the trail bike.
Flats all the way. I move my feet around depending on the trail. Also, flats allow me to try to save from a crash a little bit longer before having to bail out.
Really good video, while I have seen videos on this concept before, they have either been based on the road, the trainer, with people that only ride clips, or with basic pedals and tennis shoes.
This is actually 90% what I ride, so good to see a relatable loop, and a presenter that normally rides flats and one that normally rides clips.
I have flats on everything apart from my indoor trainer. I prefer riding flats, but I do think clips are likely better for sprints and high cadences which I mostly only do on Zwift.
The big benefit that I like on clips is the consistent foot position. When I try flats, my foot is alway set a different angle or fore/aft position and I have to waste time lifting and repositioning to get it comfortable. And having feet come off flats at high speed rough trails is way more scary than falling over when stopped and not being able to unclip
I don't feel any power difference.
And that is exactly what I like about flats... the freedom to move. Always changing my feet angle depending on what I'm doing 🙂
YES! @@uldi1s
agreed, I had super grippy trail shoes and good grippy pedals, i spent longer trying to get in the right position because if you didn't get it right it was hard to adjust, than the time it occasionally takes to clip in, I will switch between from time to time though so I don't forget how to ride flats properly
My feet never come off of my DMR Vaults with Five10 shoes. Weighting and mid foot is the answer. If it happens then you are doing it wrong. Or, you are not riding flats enough.
Ive just gone from clipless to flats on my hardtail and love it. Its a little odd at first trying to clip in out of habit, and moving my foot around the peddle, but now I'm used to it I wont be going back any time soon. 5 10 shoes are grippy!
Interesting video as usual!
Could always do it again but first run on flats, second on clipless. But does it really matter, ride what you prefer.
Well that’s answered one of my question. Enjoyed that one.
I've been on clipless for 30 years both Road and MTB. All my friends ride flats on MTB, I just can't or I am afraid of my feet coming off the pedals in the rough sections or jumps. I have my pedals se up so that unclipping happens with a feathers touch. After this video maybe i'll try flats...maybe.
I think you hit the nail on the head there mate, it's the fear either way. I'm scared of not being able to unclipped in time and your scared of your feet bouncing of the pedals.
Pretty sure all of us have experienced both so it's which one scares you less. If you're mtb'n you need to be scared or else you'll die kinda what makes it fun.😅
I feel the same, but I did go and tried flats and got four stitches in my leg from coming off the pedals and the nails on the pedal putting me leg open… think I will stick to clips!
You Know what??? me too I bought flats and shoes yesterday, took it out for a ride and tried to bunny hop a curb and my feet came right off the pedals. I just don't get it, like Gravel!!!!@@nicolaspade1341
I've been on clips since forever on everything but the dj bike but went to flats for other bikes too now for improving my technical abilities.
I've had so many sketchy moments where I've unclipped accidentally riding clips. With clips it's also easy to get lazy with my legs and forget pumping and just stand there. That eventually can cause problems in momentary riding position and mistakes.
Next time you guys do something like this. make sure one of you starts on flats, and the other starts on clips. Then second go first guy on clips second guy on flat, You know what I'm sayin. Thanks for the effort guys!!!!
Went to flats a few years ago after 20 years of riding clipped in. Love the flats almost as much as I love watching Blake doing videos like this one. Superb!
I love this. Thanks for sharing
huge probs to the music implementation in this video! those tunes were underlining the action really well!
Brilliant film 🎥 boys - I’m sticking to my flats on my Hardtail
I'm pushing 50 and the older I get, the more I gravitate toward flats. Not sure if there is correlation there, but that's my preference.
I'm 64, riding harder than ever. Riding flats is part of the equation as I am more relaxed on them. Just helps me have more fun.
Opposite for me, I've knackered my shins on flats and they now take ages to heal so I mostly ride clipless
I've always been riding clipless SPD, so I can use the same pair of shoes for MTB ánd road, which is mostly convenience. In technical riding, I absolutely love it, but when learning jumps and bike skills I would be more confident/comfortable on flats because I wouldn't be scared of not being able to unclip in a panic move.
I love my flats, Specialized Boomslang pedals 👌🏽
On my mtb I have DMR Vault pedals in combination with Five Ten Trail Cross Mid Pro Mountain Bike Shoes. Lots of grip, I love this combination. On my roadbike (which I don't ride that often, to be fair) I do have Shimano SPD (mtb) clip pedals and do prefere those over flat pedals (where I started with).
Excellent vid gents. Flats for me 100% of the time. I used to switch to flats 2 to 3 times a year just to make sure I was using proper technique. About 8 years ago, I ended up never switching back to clipless.
I've always had flat pedals and would never change I love them.
I like flats, I can change positions on the pedals, don’t like clips, because feel like I’m in a “foot straight jacket”
I have large feet and like to pedal more in the middle of my foot.
It’s also nice to be able to walk around comfortably after you get back to the parking lot or God for bid you have to walk your way out the trail.
Interesting, I kinda feel the same, my trail bike has flats and when I ride on the street and road bikes I ride flats too because I don’t really care about the near none existent power difference. But when it gets really rough, bottoming out my forks kinds rough I will always go clips. It’s important to notice that I do ride DH pedals and shoes for everything, no xc stuff
Freedom is the key when you performed better in flat pedal whereas clipless, although is efficient, it is the constraint that worked against both of you.
I have never ridden clueless......clipless, I have ridden clueless plenty of times! But I honestly love big, blocky flats under foot, you can get your foot off so quickly when needed plus you can do more silly things if you can whip your feet off and over the frame quickly. 🤪👍 Blake's no slouch so Isaac must be a rocket with just coming from racing.
Finally a Clips vs Flats video! Wait, what.............oh, nevermind.
Fun. The most important stat in all of this. I’m no XC racer. I’ll probably never be a racer of any discipline. But last week I went back to flats after 3 years of feeling like I was having to work for clipless. It also came with criticism from my riding peers that I didn’t feel like I was having fun riding on clipless, for all the claim gains it has. Will I go back to clipless. Maybe depending on what I’m doing. But I’m at home on some DMR flats and Five Ten shoes. The SPDs will go in the parts bin for now
Another flats Vs clips video... Never fails to amaze me how much mileage you guys can get out of this topic 😂
I rode with clipless for about 10 years and never fully warmed up to them. I'm much happier with flats. They allow you to move around more and they're definitely safer. Never going back to clips for mtb
Flats. 100%. Use clipless on road/gravel a bit just to give them a use from time to time but flats offroad for trail/enduro 'lite' just work better, especially for those iffy climbs where you have to get your foot down quickly or you fall in a ditch/thorny bush/ditch filled with thorny bush...
Did you happen to record the times for just the climb/descent? That would be nice to know.
Me just switched to flats... being honest I have a bit of trouble getting use to them, some deep scratches on my shins from the screws, sometimes get trouble to maintain my feet to the pedal. But overall I feel more confident in speed loose rock section than need to lose my feet of the pedal to touch the ground...
I hope I improve and give my shins a holydays from getting injured hahahaha
Well that wasn't what we expected was it?!
Personally, I ride clips in spite of injuring myself nastily when I couldn't unclip fast enough. After that I tried flats for a while, ok I didn't spend £300 on top pedals and shoes (I'm not as well wadded as GBMN presenters!!) , but I went back to clips because with clips I don't have to think about foot placement, it's just one less thing to worry about, and I backed off the spring tension to minimum so I have to worry less about not being unable to unclip and have another nasty fall, and my feet hardly every accidentally unclip - so clips are a win for me. 😀
I had the same exact experience.
I like riding clipless on my road and gravel bikes, but I greatly prefer flat pedals on my hardtail MTB. I love climbing technical trails ... steep, loose, rooty, rocky, twisty, sometimes muddy climbs. With flats I can feel exactly when I have traction and if I need to bail, that's easy. I'm also sure that flats help me master good technique with bunny hops, drops and other challenging sections I enjoy on my hardtail.
would love to see a “flats only ruling” in all UCI disciplines tbh…after all we are on dirt, where flat pedals are meant to be ridden…
Best thing about flats is when the pins go all the way into the shin😵💫 thats one of those "and they said mountain biking is fun" moments lol. Although never slipped a pedal on rough terrain, just jumping badly.
As i only have one leg, i need clipless do pedal :D
I'm so happy that they exist and therefor i can use an normal bike to ride.
In the past i had a handbike, but not the arms for it :D
@Blake, so are you mostly running flats or clips on your hardtail these days. In previous episodes you said clips but this one, flats?
The real flats were the friends we made along the way, and the flat ground Blake had to recover on.
Been riding flats and thinking of switching to clipless, which I already ride on road/gravel. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe I should try different shoes first.
great video, Shimano will be proud they sponsored this :D.
Overall the answer to that question seems to be: DO NOT DIE and why not both :P
@gmbn you need to do it again and start with flats then do clip-less to see if that “time to beat” is the real cause for the second run being faster
All well and good on short track, but try to go for marathon race, and see which are better, for me no doubt its clips
The sound guy/girl is on point! Do you sell any of that background beat? 😅
Clips for life. I'd put flats on a jump bike, unicycle, penny farthing, or trials bike. Riding flats once in a while helps your skills. Riding more than a mile also helps you. How about ride for an hour to 90 minutes and see how far you travel clipped in compared to flats? ✌
Clipless pedals are great for pedaling with one foot to help get going up a climb when you mess it up halfway and have to stop.
I ride flats on MTB and clips on the road bike, i dont feel safe at all clipped in on the MTB, i feel like its a bad crash waiting to happen and f***ed up knees. Flats all day long on the MTB.
I clip may not be faster but saver. Feet stay on peddles can watch my ride. Good video
Flats are just more fun 😊
I pretty much ride flats 90% of the time. I never feel confident on clipless and that adds another factor to consider during the ride making me ride more cautiously and therefore slower. I do keep going back to clips then almost immediately regret it on the ride. Maybe with time I’ll improve unclipping etc and my confidence will increase.
I tried clipless pedals. I like to use body english on the bike to maneuver and clipless pedals feel like they limit the range of motion I have on the bike. When riding down black and double black, it feels sketchy as heck for me and I am definitely slower on the them. They do offer more efficiency in pedaling, I'd say bout 10-15%; but, flats for me all day. Also, when going uphill, you can get off anytime you want and get back on without much inconveniance. Also, I'd hate to be clipped during a crash. Flats all day for me.
Ask any sprinter on a roadbike to sprint on flat pedals ... case made.
Or BMX racer!
Case made for road bikes. Well done you.
I tried clipless for a few days. On my gravel bike. It turned out that for rides I like the most (going on road and seeing tiny trail made by animals on the meadow or in the Forrest - I have to explore) it was very inconvenient. I was unable to change the position of my feet, my knees were hurting because I'm used to using them while steering and they weren't aligned with my feet. I was falling on the side because of late unclipping.
Oh and It's harder for me to have balance on clips, don't know why but it was sketchy going on a narrow trail.
I prefer flats, old school me, plus I've damaged my left leg years ago and it's now at a funny angle and can have pain, so mometimes I need to move its position
I do just like Blake... When I commute to work, it's downhill all the way to work... so I get there without breaking a sweat! The way back is another story though!! When it's nice out, I usually give it some more and when I get home, I just crash the bike on the front lawn and lay in the grass under the big maple in front of the house!!!
Check out 😊magnetic flat pedals they gotta be out there somewhere
Did you both do a warm up first about, 20 minute's
My personal opinion you can keep your clips i careless about micro numbers in honesty about speed i rather have factor of knowing that’s one less thing to unclip to bail if need to and is bailing always good no but again I rather trust what my heart brain tell me and if I need throw or jump off bike for any reason I want be ready. Also I implant lots bmx to mtb with out a dirt jumper y bc I can
More Blake!!!
I’m an amateur Enduro rider wanting to go to XC rider and I do ride flat pedals. Are Enduro flat pedal shoes and XC, flat pedal shoes, different?
In most point there are same/or i can say you can use same! But normaly on XC bike i tend to find lightest FLAT pedals (300g or less), platform does not need to be soo big as for ENDURO. Same with shoes - more light - you need them also for more pedaling uphill ;)
I think a better way of doing similar trials, is having one presenter do their first run with setup A and the other presenter setup B, then switching for the second run.
Results consistent with James Wilson Catalyst Pedals hypothesis.
7:50 evie richard!
Where is this track?
I'd like to see how they'd do with platform clips to see if the feel wins out completely over performance and whether it's the shoes or being clipped.
Never have gone to clipless, and I never felt the need to do so. My friends tell me to switch to clipless because it´s soo more efficient, but maybe I was right all the time.
Isaac looks just like Calvin’s dad from “Calvin and Hobbes “
In my opinion most of the benefits of clips are with long rides, maybe if you want to compare with xc, do a xc race not a 7 minutes PR
Wow, was the nurse on standby with the oxygen tank. Anyway, I like riding on flats. I would not feel safe being clipt in any great performance guy's better you than me 😅😂
Interesting.
What about half way Rey?
I like most have experimented with both sides and I'll say this...I've never had a bad crash or embarrassing moment on flats. It's good to feel connected with the bike though so how bout one in one out like the O.G mountain biker who took bikes to the mountains...Hans Rey we love you.
If you've never heard of him check him out, mostly on eebs now but so is anyone over 40 and he's much older than that.
I just tried clipless on my trail bike yesterday for the first time and I felt unstoppable climbing. If you’re pedaling most of them time, they have to be faster.
I've experienced riding flats on XCM race this year because I forgot riding shoes... Had to put on flat pedals and ride with my light and soft running shoes, because that's what I hat on me lol, WORST experience ever... downhills were honestly not as bad as I expected but still bad, but oh mannnn the climbs ... I spent more time chasing pedals on the loose terrain and actually putting the power down, and still finished in 4th place, and if I didn't fuck up I had a chance for the 1st or 2nd position...
Just gone over to flats myself. Way better. And less nervous in the slow big rocks!
Try again next week. Flat first, clips 2nd. Wonder if it would be different 🤔
I am enjoying flats more for XC riding. Performance benefits only when sprinting, because of extra Power from Pulling. Otherwise pulling is Weak and inefficient with that small muscle. Studies show only minimal gains if at all.
Why does every mtb racer use clips then from xc to dh?
Hey I'm flats all the way but there must be advantages or these top teams with big r&d budgets wouldn't all be using them.?
Are you both most of the time on flats? I think that will give a big difference against somebody who is always on clipless.
Isaac normally uses clipless, whereas Blake usually rides flats.
Ok, I didn’t expect that.
Anyone who's had an MCL or ACL tear is risking waaaaaay too much with clipless in my opinion. The twisting motion kills my knee and the idea of trying to pull off a foot that is accidentally still clipped in, sounds like another surgery waiting to happen. My pops hasn't riden his road bike in years for this exact reason so I'ma get him some flats too.
Riding flats. I kinda hate idea to be connected with the bike. I know you can learn it and unclip quick. But you can still see guys falling (sometimes going otb) and still being clipped. Nightmare for me...
Flats for life im old school got a new enduro bike that I haven't changed to tubeless and most probably won't 😂😂😂
I switch between clips and flats, starting to use flats more
Wait so what's the difference between clips, clipless, flats and clipped in? 😢
Clips are the cages that used to hold your feed onto pedals back in the day.
Clipless pedals do away with the clip by using a CLEAT on the bottom of your shoe that cleats into the pedals.
Flats are pedals with spikes on designed to rip your shins into bloody mess if you forget to ride with your ankles in a weird, contrived position.
"Clipped in" is what bum-bag, check shirt dorks say to describe having your shoes cleated into clipless pedals, before going on to talk about suspension "dampening".
Hope that clears it up for you. :P
Lol you guys are obsessed with the flats v clips argument. 😅I rode clipped in for years until a knee injury meant I had to convert to flats. Now I'm a flatttie evangelist.
Flats bro are the beast
I would say there's not any universal difference between flats and clips. Whenever I see people riding flats and asking about my clips, I just tell them it's rider preference and not a big difference one way or the other
The nerves of being clipped in mean a lot more time spent picking lines. Ive just gone nack to flats after years with clips, at the same time as upgrading to full suspension. Its definitely a learning curve but im sure itll make me a better rider
Yes, yes they are.
Run them both depending what riding. Prefer the flats thow...
Fast IS fun! 😂
I have flat pedals xc on both my xc hardtails i dont want clipless pedals
Flats!
I ride both and feel not the diferens
flats are king!
Blake litterally looked like he was gonna die after that first run