Flat pedal technique advice

[ChrisJC]

Following on from one of my recent posts I got myself a pair of Five Tens and Shimano Saint pedals and removed the washers from the pins for extra bit. First ride was an eye opener. I was getting bounced off the pedals regularly until I worked out you really need to drop your heels and force your feet into the pedals on descents. The other issue I have is that after riding road for 25 years clipped in, the natural tendency on short sharp hills is to unweight your pedal on the upstroke which led to my feet slipping off the pedals. Initial reason for getting flat pedals was to encourage me to ride steeper technical uphills and being able to dab a foot if needed. Also good for my general skills development. At the end of my session the downhills were getting better and I managed a few small jumps without losing my feet; however the steep inclines still have me beat!

Does anyone have any tips re technique or am I on the right track and just need to give it time to adapt?

Cheers C

 

[Ultra Lord]

Keep goin mate! It'll take awhile to get used too.

I think with pinch climbs you really need to focus on smooth strokes, and pulling through the downstroke, sort of like sliding your feet along floorboards. Staying central is pretty key too, crouching into the bike helps abit rather than hanging over the front.

But most importantly keep riding on flats! Maybe run alittle less rebound in the shock? I found it helps having the bike push a little harder into your feet. Not too much mind you, nobody likes riding a pogo stick.

 

[Calvin27]

Make sure you reduce all other variables first. Are taking the same lines, is your body position and the way you maneovoure that same also. After that I'd suggest looking at your cadence. When I went from a double to single front chainring, my climbing miraculously improved. I find high cadence climbing makes your feet more suseptible to slipping and also give you less control over how you climb. For example, if I am trying to clear a chunk of rock I can hammer on a harder gear and just plow through, on a spinning gear, I have to massively increase my speed which affect balance and control. Of course traction control is also something to worry about. FYI I was running 24/36 on a 29er so very low gears.

Other than that, just more time. I'd recommend trying prolonged climbs with lots of switchbacks (Mt Stirling climb on Epic trail for example - 7km of switchback climbs fml!).

 

[JTmofo]

You're pretty much going to need time and practice to re-adjust to riding flats.
Try practice bunny hops, pumps and roll over to improve control and contact with the pedals.

I recently (6 months ago) went back to riding flats, and took a while to adjust. Heels down and weight through the pedals will help. I found that I was accustomed to "pulling up" on the stroke with clipless, so try and focus on the downward stroke when climbing.

Foot position also plays a big role, where the central contact patch of the pedal is closer to the middle of your foot than with clip ins.

 

[SF Trailboy]

Best advice I was given to help with my flats transition, was don't forget to scrap the mud off the bottom of your shoes through the bottom of your pedal rotation.....

You'll see.

 

[trickbooter]

If there is one thing flats teach you it is to ride with your bike, not on top of it. Clips let you muscle through rough sections whereas with flats you need to move with the bike, and move the bike with you. I have ridden clips forever but injury forced me into flats 6 months ago. I still find climbs really hard compare to cleats but my DH technique is improving massively.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[trickbooter]

If you get bucked off the pedals, give it some thought, maybe re ride the section. It isn't just about digging into the pedals more, it is about working the bike over the ground rather than letting the ground beat you up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Calvin27]

If you get bucked off the pedals, give it some thought, maybe re ride the section. It isn't just about digging into the pedals more, it is about working the bike over the ground rather than letting the ground beat you up.

Yep and pedal stroke timing - particularly the power stroke. It's kind of like how fixies single speeds make you a better rider.

 

[ChrisJC]

Thanks for the advice - some good points to think about! As you tend to ride with your foot further forward, I'm guessing you've all had to drop your saddle a fair amount?

 

[ChrisJC]

If you get bucked off the pedals, give it some thought, maybe re ride the section. It isn't just about digging into the pedals more, it is about working the bike over the ground rather than letting the ground beat you up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did that. I have a 800m loop with a short rocky descent and another section with some decent 2-3 foot drops which I rode several times. after an hour I was feeling more planted.

 

[NeoNasty]

I've also recently gone from Clipped in to Flats.

I rode clipped in for about 4 years and recently thought I'd give it a try. It took me about 2 weeks of riding to get the hang of it, I did the same as you and keep trying to pull up on the pedals. Once I stopped doing that and re learnt how to bunny hop. I fell in love with it. I have kept the clips ins on my hardtail ( I still get bounced off on rough stuff ) but on the duelly its all flats at the moment. I might go back in the future, but I have much more fun with flats, one foot down sliding around corners on decents.

Keep at it and you'll pick it up fine, were not the first ones to have done it so it can be done.

 

[teK--]

Heavy feet with heels low and light hands. Easiest when standing up. Also the whole pedal circles technique is a Roady thing; with flats it's more stomp stomp action.

 

[4dabush]

Some is body position too. Search some youtube videos to help.
Heels down for braking and descending as you have discovered. Feet wedge for lots of other times incl. climbing (heal down leading foot, toe down trailing). For steep climbs, think of toes 'clawing' the pedal on the upstroke - practice some rear wheel 'lifts' on flat ground to see what I mean, like trying to pop the back wheel up over an imaginary kerb. Pedalling smoothly In circles will help you get up loose ascents.

To get your body position better, try getting someone to hold your bike balanced and then stand on it. Get down into a normal fast (sort of aggressive) position over the bike, now stand on your feet, with hands light on the bars, elbows out and weight centred...now feel how far forward you actually need to be to be balanced on your feet. Most of us still have our weight too far back.

Let me know what you find...I bet you need to move your head and shoulders forwards a lot. Now you have found your weight centred position and the weight evenly on your feet, you'll begin to not lose your feet climbing or descending...it feels awkward at first but you'll understand pretty quickly that to have balanced weight on your feet, requires you to maintain that shift in body position. Good luck - hang in there, it's worth it.

 

[Nerf Herder]

Think about your suspension setup and tire pressure ... You could be getting bucked because you've gotten used to firm suspension ... And the clips just hide this bouncing around previously.

bend your elbows and knees more ... Absorb and flex with the bumps

score your soles, especially where the balls of feet sit on the pedal/ shoe sole ... New shoes ... Nice new rubber ... Pins may need to penetrate and soften the rubber to get better grip.

Pro Tip
Slicko on the pins will soften the rubber a little quicker ... Sounds counter intuitive I know ... Put grease to increase grip ... Bonkers ... Think of it as moisturiser for rubber. Nice moist rubber means soft grippy rubber. Dry, dusty rubber means hard, not so grippy rubber.

 

[johnny]

Thanks for the advice - some good points to think about! As you tend to ride with your foot further forward, I'm guessing you've all had to drop your saddle a fair amount?

Don't believe I did, to be honest.

 

[damo666]

To ask a question from before:

As a lowish skilled intermediate weekend warrior who has only moved to being clipped-in in the last 18 months, I'm really enjoying the feeling of security in being properly attached to the bike at all times!!
I understand the generic "improves your skills" argument, but outside of that what are the other positives in going back to flats other than being able to ditch the bike quickly when going over, or dab a foot occasionally?

Or is it more like surfing, where any bloke over 45yrs will tell you all beginners absolutley need to start on a single fin to 'develop their skills' - which isn't really the case now with modern boards.

Genuine question and I'm not trying to troll!

For me I have seen a number of benefits & develpoed my riding since being clipped in, and am wondering if it is worth the effort & time to ditch those and then chase what seems to be the same end effect by adding pinned flats & expensive sticky shoes?

 

[stirk]

Think about your suspension setup and tire pressure ... You could be getting bucked because you've gotten used to firm suspension ... And the clips just hide this bouncing around previously.

bend your elbows and knees more ... Absorb and flex with the bumps

score your soles, especially where the balls of feet sit on the pedal/ shoe sole ... New shoes ... Nice new rubber ... Pins may need to penetrate and soften the rubber to get better grip.

Pro Tip
Slicko on the pins will soften the rubber a little quicker ... Sounds counter intuitive I know ... Put grease to increase grip ... Bonkers ... Think of it as moisturiser for rubber. Nice moist rubber means soft grippy rubber. Dry, dusty rubber means hard, not so grippy rubber.

And there's the one hundredth and second use for slicko! Interesting too, I might try I my hard as fuck Teva links

 

[gcouyant]

bend your elbows and knees more ...

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Keep reminding yourself "....elbows out ....... knees bent....". Make it habit and the rest will come to you.

 

[JTmofo]

To ask a question from before:

As a lowish skilled intermediate weekend warrior who has only moved to being clipped-in in the last 18 months, I'm really enjoying the feeling of security in being properly attached to the bike at all times!!
I understand the generic "improves your skills" argument, but outside of that what are the other positives in going back to flats other than being able to ditch the bike quickly when going over, or dab a foot occasionally?

Or is it more like surfing, where any bloke over 45yrs will tell you all beginners absolutley need to start on a single fin to 'develop their skills' - which isn't really the case now with modern boards.

Genuine question and I'm not trying to troll!

For me I have seen a number of benefits & develpoed my riding since being clipped in, and am wondering if it is worth the effort & time to ditch those and then chase what seems to be the same end effect by adding pinned flats & expensive sticky shoes?

Riding flats develops and maintains bike control, balance and stability. Clipless encourages you to mask core skills with the fact that you are attached to the bike. Bike control/pumping/bunny hops etc are all aided when clipped in, and that makes you lazy and dampens your skills. Body positioning is also compromised as you can get away with situations being clipped in that would otherwise have you arse over tit on flats.

I agree that there are benefits to riding clipless, especially in XC style situations where pedal stroke efficiency is critical and bike control less critical.

 

[scblack]

Thanks for the advice - some good points to think about! As you tend to ride with your foot further forward, I'm guessing you've all had to drop your saddle a fair amount?

As with Johnny, I can't say that is necessary. I can't see the rationale behind that idea.

I'll also push the "elbows out, knees bent" mantra. YOU are the suspension for a bike, ride a bit "softer" with the flats and think you are not just ploughing through rough sections.