The Never-Ending Pedal Debate: Clipless Vs Flats

This age-old debate has been the centre of many post ride vigorous conversations and I’m here today to tell you that one is definitely better than the other! Well, ok… that’s a lie… Maybe not better, but definitely different.

Fact vs Fiction

• Clipless are more efficient = FACT* (I've discussed this one in further detail below)
• You will have the slowest crash of your riding career while riding clipless = FACT
• Flats are better for descending = FICTION
• Clipless are bad for your knees/hips = FICTION
• Flats are better for skill development = FACT
• Clipless pedals result in a higher centre of gravity = FACT
• Your shin or calf will look like it had ended up in a back-alley brawl with a cheese grater if you ride flats = FACT

Clipless Pros

• Pedalling over rough terrain – It is much easier to pedal over bumps, rocks and roots while your feet are stapled to your pedals. When you’re clipped in you don’t need to ‘drop’ your heels in steep or rough terrain to maintain traction between your flat shoes and pedals.
• Increased rear wheel control – It is much easier to lift/slide/scandi the rear wheel while clipped in. This is due to the fact you don’t require such a high level of skillto complete such manoeuvres when you’re clipped in.
• Feeling attached to the bike – Generally speaking, feeling attached to the bike feels great. You feel more in control and less likely to ‘lose a foot’.
• Potential ‘perfect lower half’ position – Spend a bit of your hard earned $$ and get a proper bike fit. Even if it is only a ‘lower half’ (hips down) fit that includes cleat setup, your knees, hips and feet will be grateful for it.
• Easier to maintain cadence – If you racemost weekendsand usually end up in the top three, you probably do some training. Some of that training may include cadence training. It is much, MUCH easier to train at higher cadence when you’re clipped into your pedals.

Clipless Cons

• Incorrect cleat setup can lead to injury – This comment isn’t meant to scare you. If you ride clipless and have no pain, awesome. Continue on- nothing to see here… If you are having some pain- be it on the bike or after a ride. Get a bike fit done or at least get your shoes and cleats set up properly.
• The inevitable ‘slow crash’ – These suck and will happen.
• Confidence takes time – The ability to quickly remove a foot and save ourselves from washing out in a corner is a beautiful thing. It can be much harder to do when you’re clipped in. You need to train your feet to move in a certain range of movements to un-clip. This will become natural in time but in the beginning, you tend not to trust the pedals to ‘let go’ when they should; because of this you tend to slow down and go into self-preservation mode when the going gets hairy and scary.
• Pedals/Shoes are thicker – Even though it’s only a few mm it’s a drawback. When you consider some riders won’t buy that bike because its BB height is 340mm and not 335mm, every mm should count; regardless of where they are located. The thicker the pedal and shoe tread/sole, the higher your centre of gravity will be. Think about it…

Flat Pros

• No cleats – This means no cleat setup or ‘incorrect cleat position’. Your body is a wonderful thing and it magically knows when it doesn’t like a position or movement. When riding flats your feet find HAPPY TOWN all on their own!
• Any shoe will do – Well that really depends on where you are riding. Quick roll to the beach? Pluggers? There's a lot to be said for quality flat shoes with a sticky sole that practically hold onto your flat pedals though.
• Modern flat pedals are thin – A thin pedal equates to a lower centre of gravity.
• Easy to emergency stop and dismount – At any point in time you can unconsciously remove a foot and put it down. High speed, low speed, upside down, inside out (Ok, maybe not the last two).
• Core skills – There are a handful of core skills that I feel every rider should learn before deciding to move over to clipless pedals. They are: Front wheel lift, rear wheel lift, bunny-hop, j-hop, side-hop, rear wheel slide/skid/drift, and for the real go-getters scandi/cuttys. Once you have mastered those you have developed a great sense of body position and weight transfer. Learning those skills correctly on flatswill make you faster, sooner.

Flat Cons

• Pedal slip – Every flat pedalled rider has their own horror story and shin scar to go along with it (see above).
• Less control/accuracy with the rear wheel – Generally speaking (unless you are Brandon Semenuk) there are times when your rear wheel ‘just ended up in that bomb-hole’ because you couldn’t move it the 7cm to the left while you were in the air. Being clipped in makes those kinds of split-second decisions a possibility. It also makes it easier to do core skill manoeuvres like rear wheel lifts and side hops.
• Core skills take practice – Practise takes time, focused practice can be boring. Riding should be fun, so don’t feel like you should/shouldn’t try clipless because you can’t perform the list of core skills mentioned above. Give those skills some time to develop - hire a coach or do a skills session.
• Hard to maintain high cadence – This is less important on the gravity scene but can be the difference between 1^st and 50^th on the XC scene. When you fatigue your body loses ‘ideal position and form’. That means when you’re tired you tend to just ‘plow-down’ on the pedals with no rhythm or rhyme. This can get ugly if you aren’t attached to them. Being clipped in will ensure your feet stay on and the circle keeps turning the circles.

Well there you have it.

There isn’t really a right or wrong. More of a ‘what’s right for me.’ If you’ve been riding for some time and feel comfortable on your bike over varied terrain, I highly recommend you change out your pedals and try whatever it is you haven’t been riding. I swap between flats and clipless every six months or so. My friends think I’m crazy but I like keeping the skillsets up. Both styles of pedals appeal to a different side of me as a rider. I used to think I was fast, now I know I’m slow- so fun, reflection and development are high on my YAAAAAASSSS list these days. Definitely not Strava KOM’s. Although I’ll take’m if you’re giving any out :-)