Clipless Vs Flat Pedals, What’s Fastest For Mountain Biking?

This video contains paid product placement by Fox clothing. Everyone knows a rider who swears by flats or SPDs, but which are fastest?

World Cup winners Laurie Greenland and Steve Peat join presenter Will at BikePark Wales to see whether flats or SPDs win out! We ride three of BikePark Wales’ fastest tracks to see if we can find out by putting ourselves (and our pedals) against the clock…

Clipless pedals, often referred to as ‘clips’ or ‘SPDs’, attach your feet to the pedals via a metal cleat bolted to the bottom of a shoe. Flat pedals use a large platform with metal ‘pins’ that compress into the rubber sole on the underside of a more traditional shoe in order to provide grip. But which is faster?

We’re going to have split times from each run so we can see where clips or flats perform best and find out overall which pedal each rider is fastest on…

#MBUKmagazine #MTB #mbuk #mountainbike

Credit:
marjorie_blais

00:00 Intro
00:44 What Pedals Do We Run?
02:00 What’s The Difference Between Clips And Flats?
03:25 The Challenge!
04:53 Run One – Flats
08:50 Run Two – Clips
11:44 Run Three – Flats Again
12:30 Run Four – Clips Again
13:31 Conclusion
17:28 Outro

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[neilparnell]

I know this is MTB related, but I ride flats on the road for commuting to work and clipped in on best bike for serious rides with a lot of climbing. My average speeds using both types are pretty similar. The main difference for me is flats are less hassle on stop start commutes, and clipped in is much better and more comfortable for longer rides with more climbing involved.

[toralftanneberger]

Interesting last timing table. Besides Laurie's third run, there is progression on every run for every rider. That looks more like getting to know the track better makes you faster. Maybe it needs some more runs to get a clearer trend over the choice of the pedal. But nice POV-footage anyway ;)

[knottme]

Now this is the content ive been after.more stuff like this please

[Bridgeybikes]

Rode clips for years! But been on flats for 3 years now. Flat pedals and shoes are so much better than back in the 90s! Ace video ✌️

[TheBeautifulbeard]

10:35 damn the speed and precision from Laurie is insane!

[finbox]

Great video guys.
I think you would have a more realistic comparison if you used average Jo riders.
A tiny majority of riders ride like pros, the speeds etc etc they ride, they need clips. I live in Queenstown NZ, mostly steep and tech riding and 95% of riders are on flats, it's the same with other towns in NZ that have, steep tech terrain, they mostly ride flats also. I used clips for 20 years and switched to flats 5 years ago, I broke all my PB`s up and down (this mostly comes down to modern technology) I believe if you can ride both peddles it will improve your riding dramatically!

[jokermtb]

Motocross riders don't clip in (or maybe they should?), but they are able to grip the bike using their lower legs, unlike mountain bike riders. Clip in pedals accomplish the same 'bike grip' that motocrossers use to stay 'on the bike'. Has anyone ever tried clip-in pedals for motocross bikes? That said, Platform pedals are definitely more fun and casual. Steve Peat's 'walk round the pub easier' quote is so very appropriate, and one I completely agree with. My lower legs and foot orientation is somewhat 'duck-footed' meaning my feet stick out to the sides more than most people, which made it very difficult for me to ride clipless pedals. I could never get the cleat angled enough to provide a neutral stance on the pedal, without having my ankle bones stike the cranks when pedalling. Tried adding spacers to the pedal spindles to increase the Q-factor and give my ankle bones a bit more clearance, but ultimatel gave up and I've been happy on platforms for nearly 25 years now (Kona wah wah 2 alloy pedals are my faves - nice and roomy for duck footed riders!)

[superawesomefuntimego]

I have tried SPD's multiple times for weeks on end and for sure can see the benefits, but my confidence is not very good with them. Especially on wet, muddy, technical terrain where I struggle to unclip quick enough and with several broken bones in my ankles through the years, they never feel comfortable (motorcycle racing). I never slip a pedal with flats and have 100% confidence when using them, so I have not felt the need to try SPD's again recently. Maybe they would be worth revisiting as I get faster and start bumping into my limits, but for now I'll stick with flats.

[shawn-paulluchin]

One thing also is flat shoes last months and clips last years. I walk around the pub with my clips. No problem. Thank you for the content!

[winklertribe]

I ride flats exclusively— the thought of not being able to put a foot out easily when needed would make me even slower

[hananas]

Gotta be honest, I don't ride MTB much anymore, but having started in MTB, the spirit definitely stuck around. I ride flats on any bike including road, and I ride road/gravel/commute in a bit of a different style than actual roadies. I just like to have fun, don't really care that I could be ever so slightly faster.

[iffy_too]

Looking at Laurie's times I can't see where you're getting 6.5 secs from. it looks like 19.6 secs difference on the last run and 11.1 on the first. Who can't read, type, or do math at BikeRadar?

[TheyForcedMyHandLE]

Switching between flats and clips on a regular, I find that most clip shoes don't allow the cleat to be moved far enough aft. That may be fine for XC, but for enduro/DH the shoes should have the cleat slot shifted further back.

[shawnpritchard]

I ride a rigid single speed. I like clips.

[kodithebear]

I dab most rides that would be horrible falls clipped so I'm happy on flats.

[benjy]

Who would of guessed that for two of the guys their fastest time was their last run, where they obviously had more track knowledge, not really a good test, also different flat pedals give different levels of grip.

[Paganiproductions]

Flats all the way for me and i even ride xc whit them

[allenrichards]

Flats are just more comfortable, alternating foot position helps with fatigue for me. Clipped in faster, no surprise there.

[kirkwoodbharris]

I might be the oddball, but I enjoy having both options with one-sided pedals...

[ottosandrini]

Those mallets in the thumbnail are almost the only non spd system, lol