Clipless or Nah?

I cut through Flemington a few years and took this photo.

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I run clipless on my road bikes, but I swap between clipless and flats on the mtn bikes depending on my mood. On rides where there will be a lot of climbing, I usually run clipless. Rides where I might do a lot of sessioning or awkward tech, then I'll run flats. I jump better with flats, so DH is usually on flats unless I'm racing (but since I'm pretty much retired from racing, clipless on the gravity bike is rare). I have taken to riding flats over the winter.

How I store my mtn bikes usually requires removing the pedals, so swapping pedals around isn't a big deal to me. I'll often do a ride on Sat with flats and then swap to clipless for a different style of riding on Sun, or vice-versa..
 
Norm said:
I like clipless. It's just my preference and it's served me well for my riding career.

I won't belabor that statement with a rationalization on why my choice is right. Flats may be better for you. Or me. But I like my clipless on all the bikes.
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You were a professional cyclist?

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Flats for life , for me I just have more fun . Switched to flats to see if it would cure some Achilles pain from pulling up . It did and after some saddle adjustments I found no difference in efficiency or power so just kept em on .
 
Norm said:
I like clipless. It's just my preference and it's served me well for my riding career.

I won't belabor that statement with a rationalization on why my choice is right. Flats may be better for you. Or me. But I like my clipless on all the bikes.
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pretty much the same for me...I have always used clipless, they work for me and I really dont think about my pedals much. I go to rays once a year and use flats for a weekend and I feel like I can get used to them pretty quickly. If someone was asking me, I would simply say...try both and come up with your lists of positives and negatives.

The only thing I would argue is that clipless will get you hurt easier...I find that to be a bunch of nonsense. So long as you dont WELD them to your feet...I have had many huge crashes in the past 14 years with clipless....when I stopped, my bike was else where and no longer attached to me.
 
Been riding clipless since I started riding MTB more regularly. I think that was like 2016ish. I switched to flats this year and realized I have a lot of bad habits.
 
As a well know roadie-wanna-be-MTBkr on here also I can say that for the type of riding I want to do AND to improve my confidence of being able to bail out I ride flat pedals on my MTB with flats. Basic pedals with pins and adidas 5-10s.

I stick to basic riding and single track like Nassau but I have ridden SSP with the crew here and I was VERY happy to have flat pedals to get off and walk when I felt I was riding above my skill level.

Once I got a decent set of pedals and shoes it made all the difference and sometimes I fell like I’m clipped in. I also twist my heel off the pedals out of habit it’s probably funny to watch.

After MTBNJam I may need better pedals tho lol

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Ryan.P said:
Flats for life , for me I just have more fun . Switched to flats to see if it would cure some Achilles pain from pulling up . It did and after some saddle adjustments I found no difference in efficiency or power so just kept em on .
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How do you figure pulling up is causing achilles pain? Achilles is only loaded when pushing.
 
Ironjunk said:
How do you figure pulling up is causing achilles pain? Achilles is only loaded when pushing.
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No idea but I had a few areas that would occasionally flare up with discomfort and riding flats solved that for me . Prob has more to do with my feet never being in the exact same position for to long vs being clipped in and always having the same position.
 
I don't understand "clipless". You clip in to the pedal, how can it be clipless? the pedal people are obviously messing with us.
 
iman29 said:
As a well know roadie-wanna-be-MTBkr on here also I can say that for the type of riding I want to do AND to improve my confidence of being able to bail out I ride flat pedals on my MTB with flats. Basic pedals with pins and adidas 5-10s.

I stick to basic riding and single track like Nassau but I have ridden SSP with the crew here and I was VERY happy to have flat pedals to get off and walk when I felt I was riding above my skill level.

Once I got a decent set of pedals and shoes it made all the difference and sometimes I fell like I’m clipped in. I also twist my heel off the pedals out of habit it’s probably funny to watch.

After MTBNJam I may need better pedals tho lol

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This is great perspective, thank you for that. The thing I was going for with wanting to try clipless was what @jdog and a few others alluded to, the feeling of being more composed and connected to the bike. That said, what you've mentioned (and illustrated with that wrecked pedal) is that I am not at a level where I can really afford myself the luxury of clipless. I was at MTBNJam and did not have a fun time; it was well-above my tech comfort level, and I found myself walking quite more than I hoped. The comfort of walking in flats compared to somewhat stiffer SPD shoes was something I had not considered.
 
Bikeworks said:
This is great perspective, thank you for that. The thing I was going for with wanting to try clipless was what @jdog and a few others alluded to, the feeling of being more composed and connected to the bike. That said, what you've mentioned (and illustrated with that wrecked pedal) is that I am not at a level where I can really afford myself the luxury of clipless. I was at MTBNJam and did not have a fun time; it was well-above my tech comfort level, and I found myself walking quite more than I hoped. The comfort of walking in flats compared to somewhat stiffer SPD shoes was something I had not considered.
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Sorry you had a rough day at the Jam. That terrain is not for everyone.

I will stick to my original post regarding this specific question. But I will implore you to not factor walking into this equation. Walking the bike should never be why you choose either of these options.
 
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