Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
Knew THAT one was coming. 😉
@CrankAddictRich, @domo is referencing a troll comment from a contested thread "are Fatbikes a fad?"
Take the comment as the good natured ribing it was intended. 🙂
2 Fatbike newb questions.
- Thread starter CrankAddictRich
- Start date
Knew THAT one was coming. 😉
@CrankAddictRich, @domo is referencing a troll comment from a contested thread "are Fatbikes a fad?"
Take the comment as the good natured ribing it was intended. 🙂
Kaleidopete
Well-Known Member
Or, as in my case, if you have no skills to start with, you will ride like the wind!
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
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CrankAddictRich
Well-Known Member
Well, considering I have no MTB skills to lose, I won't be too bad off.
CrankAddictRich
Well-Known Member
exactly right, half the time.
Good seeing you today... thanks for the supplies. Quote of the day, "You're still running tubes!"
CrankAddictRich
Well-Known Member
hahahaha... I know. I'm sure I'm guilty of multiple MTB/Fat Bike rules violations, but I'm learning. I did remove the dork disk from the back wheel and with your guidance today, now I have an MTB helmet, so I won't be made fun of.
CrankAddictRich
Well-Known Member
One last question....
Clipless pedals? Is everyone running them? I've got SPD's on my bike now, but I'm wondering if I should temporarily switch back to flat pedals as I get used to riding on some more technical stuff.
Clipless pedals? Is everyone running them? I've got SPD's on my bike now, but I'm wondering if I should temporarily switch back to flat pedals as I get used to riding on some more technical stuff.
Ride whatever pedals you like. I run clipless on all my bikes, including the fatty. But, in the winter, I change over to flats because the snow gets packed in the cleats and makes it a PITA to get clipped in.
Supermoto
Well-Known Member
I run flats on my fat bikes. I don't feel like I'm giving anything up by using them and gain the ability to stab my foot down if I push the front tire in a turn. Good pedal and good shoes make a difference as does heels down technique. I do use SPD on my other bikes and have found flat did not work well on my SS rigid 29'er. Bounced around way to much.
either way is fine
either way is fine
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
If you're comfortable on flats great.... but if riding trail on flats is new for you... maybe you should stick to SPD's or take some precautions. Flat pedals to the shin's smart a bit... just ask Moose.
CrankAddictRich
Well-Known Member
Yea... obviously, the overall answer is "run what you feel comfortable with or want." I wasn't really looking for that. I was looking for some reasons for running one over the other.... which you hit with the snow aspect.
Coming from the road, being clipped in obviously pays huge dividends in efficiency and I can definitely see some benefits in having the same efficiency in loose conditions like being able to put down even power through the whole pedal stroke when climbing, but there's also a piece of me that thinks I might be more comfortable learning how the bike will handle in loose conditions while not being clipped in at first, so I can put a foot down easier if I need to... Devil
s advocate says that I'll never get used to feeling clipped in in techie conditions if I don't just jump in the deep end and go for it... so there's that too. I'm probably just over-thinking this all way to much because this weather is putting a damper on me getting out and actually riding.
I wrote this up a bit ago...
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads/...f-hope-love-and-redemption.37123/#post-591742
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads/...f-hope-love-and-redemption.37123/#post-591742
Supermoto
Well-Known Member
I rode spd on mtn bikes since mid 90s, when i first tried flats recently, I thought they were terrible. I could not keep my feet on the pedals, couldn't spin, couldn't bunny hop. I would hit a bump, my foot would roll the pedal forward and come off. They only lasted a few rides. About a year ago, I tired them again because I had a few bad crashes in tech stuff and some "ride the bike into the ground" wash outs. Over time, I learned how to ride with them, just like I learned how to ride SPDs when they first came out. They feel more stable then the spds, I can use different foot positions. And with heel down technique, I can spin. plus I have the added safety of being able to step off the bike when things go wrong
I think the whole SPDs efficiency is overblown, especially when it comes to mtn biking, you aren't spinning along at a nice smooth cadence.
Flats, fat bike and droppers are all things I said I would never use....then I tried them and saw how great they were
I think the whole SPDs efficiency is overblown, especially when it comes to mtn biking, you aren't spinning along at a nice smooth cadence.
Flats, fat bike and droppers are all things I said I would never use....then I tried them and saw how great they were
Magic
Formerly 1sh0t1b33r
But is the goal not to do so? Smooth is fast. Ability to keep spinning while bouncing around without your feet coming off the pedals is fast.
Supermoto
Well-Known Member
I think bike,rider and trail has more influence on spinning than pedals. Its really coming down to personal preference, you can't go wrong with either
Paul H
Fearless OOS Poser
I read this b4 and decided to go clipless... WIP
CrankAddictRich
Well-Known Member
Well written post and I can't disagree with any of it. I'm not actually asking if clipless is better than flat, I'm 100% certain it is. As a road cyclist, I'm 100% comfortable clipping in and out, so when I got my fatboy I threw clipless pedals on immediately. I'm actually wondering if maybe I jumped the gun a little bit and I should switch back to flat for a few months as I get used to being off-road, which is essentially the order you describe in your post, learning to ride off-road on flat pedals for some time before switching to clipless.