Flat Pedals on a road bike

[Electric Blue]

Hi Guys,

probably a naive question, but I am getting a new 'impressive' road bike, problem is, I havent ridden much in the past 10 years, and I recall when I was staring off last time that I had a few issues with clip in shoes/pedals, where the bike fell over when I stopped, due to my inability to balance/ remove shoes from pedal quickly enough, hard/ embarrassing falls, but more importantly I dont want to damage my new 'fancy' bike.

What are the thoughts on flat pedals on road bikes, it is only for an interim period, but I'd rather look a little silly than bang-up my new ride..

Any feedback would be appreciated.


Cheers,

EB

[Nobody]

I use flats. I'd be surprised if anyone even notices. If he/she/they do and laugh, why should I care? It's not like it's the first time I've been laughed at and it won't be the last. Laughing at people often says more about the people laughing than the person/people being laughed at.

[Cinder]

If it's what makes you comfortable, then go for it, who cares what anyone else thinks about your pedal choice.

[open roader]

If it's what makes you comfortable, then go for it, who cares what anyone else thinks about your pedal choice.

+1

Why not, as you point out, it's a choice, not a permanent fixture.

[toppity]

what's the new ride?

[sogood]

If it's what makes you comfortable, then go for it, who cares what anyone else thinks about your pedal choice.

+1. Do whatever that works best for you. But do keep an open mind on clip/strap and clipless alternatives, as these do increase one's efficiency.

[Nobody]

How much do we believe cleats give us this time during normal road riding?

For those that haven't seen these plenty of times:
http://isbweb.org/data/kautz/index.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1997818

[trailgumby]

Here we go again... Don't you think this is just a slight over-reaction hmmm?

[Nobody]

Well, what do you expect from a rant?

I don't really expect to hear back from sogood anyway. He knows I'm easily provoked unfortunately.

[trailgumby]

Play the issue and not the man, maybe?

I didn't think his statement about efficiency was particularly outlandish or exaggerated, TBH. I think they do impove efficiency over flats ... once you've adapted to them. By how much? Who knows.

[Nobody]

They are issues...

OK, sorry sogood if that came off as personal. It wasn't meant to be an attack on you as such. I sent you the original as a PM so you don't wonder what was there. You might find it amusing. Original post edited. Now everyone can be happy and smiley again...

[sogood]

What did I say? Wasn't that controversial was it?

But you'd have to agree that clipless/clip+strap can prevent shoe slips when wet. So in that respect, there is efficiency gain. No?

No prob Nobody. I saw your earlier post. All cool...

[Nobody]

I didn't think his statement about efficiency was particularly outlandish or exaggerated, TBH. I think they do impove efficiency over flats ... once you've adapted to them. By how much? Who knows.

It could be 2%. Is it worth risking safety in certain situations for 2%? Obviously most think so...

[Nobody]

[sogood]

It could be 2%. Is it worth risking safety in certain situations for 2%? Obviously most think so...

If safety is a parameter, for a rider who is used to clipless/clip+strap, I'd suggest that it's safer with clipless in the wet, especially if one rides with some vigor. Shoe slip on a power stroke can be ouchy.

[Electric Blue]

what's the new ride?

A Colnago Extreme Power

Some great advice here thanks, can anyone recommend a specific set of flat pedals that you would put on a good bike?

I am getting a pair of Shimano Dura Ace Carbons the 7900's, but maybe for the first month or so use some flats.

Looking forward to getting out in the South Perth area for rides.!

And getting much advice on gear here! Thanks all!

Cheers,

EB

[Nobody]

[Nobody]

Some great advice here thanks, can anyone recommend a specific set of flat pedals that you would put on a good bike?

Maybe give DMR V8s a go if you're after cheap pedals. I have a couple of pairs of these. They are OK, but as they only cost $30 from OS online, don't expect too much and you shouldn't be disappointed.

If you want something more expensive, then Superstar are raved about.

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=127

[Mir]

Just my personal opinion, going from an MTB to a roadie was easy. Going back again was not. My MTB has flats, roadie has clipless.

I feel more connected with the bike and feel safer hammering as well as through corners and descents. I've had my feet slip off the MTB flats a few times, they've never ended well.

Shoes designed for riding on flats would probably make it more secure but I just can't feel them having the same control as clipless pedals do.

Plus I've got thin noodly legs, so putting my leg down to try and prevent a crash at speed would be a small exercise in futility.

I've had my fair share of 0km/h clipstacks though.

[ireland57]

I spent 18mths riding mtn bikes with flat studded pedals and after watching my mates countless crashes from clipless pedals I swore never to have them.

I've now had 1 year racing mtb sprints and endurance races in clipless and would never go back to flats. The mtn bike pedals can be hard to reclip when choked with mud though.

The technique of unclipping (pulling outward and down at the same time) takes little time to learn and once it's learnt it stays.

[sogood]

Well you can tell those MTB and trials guys they don't know what they are doing using those studded flats in muddy, rough conditions...

I totally understands where you are coming from too, but this thread is about road bikes, not MTBs where the riding style and environments are markedly different.

[Nobody]

[sogood]

Well you can tell those MTB and trials guys they don't know what they are doing using those studded flats in muddy, rough conditions...

I totally understands where you are coming from too, but this thread is about road bikes, not MTBs where the riding style and environments are markedly different.

True. It is much smoother on the road so even less likely to have pedal slip problems than off road.

False. The better grip on the road may permit some intense pedal action and certain amount of high cadence work, which may lead to pedal slips. Fortunately without big boulders and mud ponds, so the chance of accidental falls is far lower than certain styles of MTB riding.

[Nobody]

For those who do not want to use flats for their designed purpose (to grip while still allowing extreme freedom of foot movement) and want something inbetween for urban or fixie use, there are these:
http://www.skingrowsback.com/products/i ... ucts_id=28
http://web.mac.com/chicagowig/www.chica ... traps.html

However the main reason I'm more likely to stay with flats for road use long term is I believe they are easier on my knees than SPDs.

[mitzikatzi]

Powergrips