Show off your Mountain Bike!!!

What's a holy war about it... if you can climb steep technical trails with flat pedals more power to you. In a 2 to 3 hour ride 24 miles or so...I'm dog tired by then and being clipped in helps me go up hill... I forgot my SPD shoes one time and going up hill with eggbeaters was a bitch and a half. That was a short ride. With flats...it can be done no problem, but long rides and technical up or downhill...clipped for me works. Plus if you are more into weight...you are not using flat pedals anyways...

But what do you call clipless? It either clipped (spd type pedals that have special hardware that mounts to your shoes) or flat pedals. I hope you are not talking about that old school cage around top of the shoe. No one rides that crap anymore except old timers. If you never had a clipped in pedal.. you really should try it.

Just 8% grade... that's a pleasant climb. There's area here in SoCal are very steep and much higher grade... clipped in helps me given I'm in granny gear and trying to keep the front of the bike down while climbing.

 

eggbeaters are clipless pedals. spds...are clipless pedals. they use a different cleat setup, but still both are varieties of clipless.

i did not invent the terminology nor say that it makes sense.

old school cage around shoe = toe clips
modern clipless pedals are called clipless to differentiate themselves from the original toe clips
pedals without anything mechanically holding your shoe to the pedals = flats/platforms/etc.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_pedal

 

Where do you ride or what state are you in? I know places like Texas it's mostly flat so you can get away with flat pedal for mountain biking. Also if you are a strong rider than it doesn't bother you. I'm not a good climber nor do I have tree trunk for legs. I also ran into a true roadie and his legs were tree trunks...so climbing would be easy for him. Quite a few trails here in SoCal are very steep and climbs for miles before any downhill sections.

 

and....holy war.

 

This month I've done 30k feet of elevation gain almost entirely on trails, I use only flats. I use Spank Spike pedals with 5.10 Freerider shoes. I've done up to 40 mile rides on these flats and have had zero issues climbing with them. Would clips be more efficient? Probably. But I love bombing down hills just as much as I love getting to the top of those hills and there is no way in hell I'm clipping into a pedal when going down some of these trails. It's all about personal preference.

 

in total agreement.


i used clipless briefly on my mountain bike a few years ago. i was determined to use them since everyone said it was the next step rider advancement. so i bought some spd520s and shoes and learned to use them. i rode them for about 6 months with no issues. i wasn't any faster than before, but lost the ability to dab in rock gardens. i became overconfident and washed out my front wheel trying to go too fast into a turn. i stayed connected to the pedals and cracked 3 ribs when i hit the ground. i removed those pedals and went back to flats. now i only use clipless on my roadbike. i actually use the spd520 mountain bike pedals and shoes on the road bike. it's much easier to walk around in mountain bike clipless shoes than road bike ones. i use azonic switchback pedals and 5.10vxi freerider shoes. if i ever wanted to switch back to clipless on the mountain bike, i could do it without spending a dime and would likely be way better on them now than i used to be....................but i never want to shy away from a technical section of trail out of fear of not being able to get my foot out in time.

tl;dr.......use whatever pedals you want to use, but don't waste your breath trying to convince other people to switch to whatever you are using.

 

It's too sketchy to pull off can-cans, superman seat grabs and tail whips clipped in.............

 

Think how helpful it'll be to do 720 no hand flips stretched out being clipped in.

drwx and square... more power to you...I find it more efficient and less energy to be clipped in. Far as crashing...I've crashed many times clipped in...I like my egg beaters... they are easy to clip in and out...only time I was stuck to the bike was when the handlebar turned 90 degrees in an instant down a fast fire road. I hit some sort of sand trap and went head first into the sand/dirt. Other times I crash, I'm just clip out and walk over the bars... it's easy engagement and dis engagement with eggbeaters. I ride with bmx style spd shoes from sixsixone. they are flat bottom and recessed spd.

 

Being clipped in is the only way to ride when you are focused on long miles with a mtn bike. Can't have a fast smooth
spin with plat form pedals. If you are taking lifts or rides to the top of the mountain and racing down then you can get
away with not being clipped in just for fun. It's all about personal preference.

 

I used to run only flats, hated toe clips, but did eventually switch to clipless and cannot go back. I thought I could, and I started with flats on my fat bike. Went for one ride, and my feet would bounce off the pedals on fast, rough stuff, roots, basically hitting any kind of buimp at speed would shift my feet on the pedals. Probably not using the right technique, and with better pedals and the right shoes it might be different. But I run XT Trail pedals on all my bikes.

 

Picked this thing up a few weeks ago. By far the best bike i have ever ridden and completely worth the money. Also have new pedals for it lol

 

Thats a sharp looking bike man!!!

 

The key is good shoes and good pedals. I run both depending on what I feel like on my mountain bike. My gravel grinder is clipless only so my feet stay in place

 

My budget parts bin Dawes Haymaker 1x9. I really need to replace the boat anchor pogo stick suntour fork on it. But other then that it's a great riding bike and I have less then 400 into it total.

 

ive been eying up a entry level rockshox fork for my old bike. they aren't too expensive really. I had a suntour on another bike I had and yea it was pretty rough haha. who knows, the rockshox may be just as bad.

 

Anyone have experience with trek card financing?

 

Yes, I have done 3 or 4 bikes through their 12 month no interest deal. As long as you get it paid off in the 12 months, it is a good deal. I think Specialized has their S-Card as well and I would bet the terms are similar.

I don't think they offer it anymore, but I did the Trek Care Plus on my carbon Fuel -- I never buy warranties but they gave me 15% off the bike if I bought the warranty. Basically they will replace anything you break while riding it for 3 years. I got debris in the deraiilleur, folded it up into the spokes, and they replaced the wheel, derailleur and hanger, shift cable and chain for no charge. So, I am more than even on that deal.

 

that sounds like a hell of a deal actually. I always see those credit accounts as a scam outright, but maybe I should start looking into them a little more.

 

You have to pay 5% of the balance monthly, don't pay late or miss a payment, and make sure it is paid off in the 12 months, or they will screw you (well, you know the terms going in, so that would basically be screwing yourself). They will apply the 20-something percent interest from day 1.

If you need pedals or other accessories, get them to add that to the bike and the price at the time of original purpose. Don't use the card for anything else, the interest rate sucks.

Follow the terms and it is a great deal if you don't have the cash all at once.

 

duly noted!