Clipless merits

[shinobi]

Had spd s from the time they came out , flats seem to kill my knees for some reason.
Paul.

 

[secret_squirrel]

Had spd s from the time they came out , flats seem to kill my knees for some reason.
Paul.

Me too took a knock to my knee late last year and its been giving me gyp ever since in spite of physio visits. Finally twigged that the platforms on my commuter weren't helping as my foot was tending to 'toe out' during the ride. Slapped a set of my onza's on and touch wood I'm on the mend.

 

[shinobi]

Had spd s from the time they came out , flats seem to kill my knees for some reason.
Paul.

Me too took a knock to my knee late last year and its been giving me gyp ever since in spite of physio visits. Finally twigged that the platforms on my commuter weren't helping as my foot was tending to 'toe out' during the ride. Slapped a set of my onza's on and touch wood I'm on the mend.

It must be something to do with the foot position , as you say toe in or out with clipless your foot is more or less held in one place .

 

[gtRTSdh]

Toe straps are positively dangerous compared to SPD's, hold on let me just lean down and loosen that strap off before I can put my foot on the floor. SPD's are so successful it's getting hard to buy a pair of flats with decent bearings.

There is always these if you want a proper flat and spd.

 

[xerxes]

it's getting hard to buy a pair of flats with decent bearings.

Have a look for Wellgo pedals, I have them on two of my bikes and the bearings and pedals in general are holding up just fine.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/wellgo-lu-939-a ... at-pedals/

They do lots of different styles of flat and SPD pedals and they're pretty cheap: http://wellgo.imb2b.com/sell/

 

[tintin40]

Toe straps are positively dangerous compared to SPD's, ]

glad i'm not the only one who thinks that.

 

[Neil]

Toe straps are positively dangerous compared to SPD's, hold on let me just lean down and loosen that strap off before I can put my foot on the floor.

I never have them that tight I can't easily get my foot out. But good enough to still hold my foot in position. Yes, some will say that the wiggle room means they're not as efficient as clipless, but I remain unconvinced - if they're keeping my foot in the correct position, with a little bit of wiggle room to ensure my knees feel comfortable, then I'm not getting why I should go SPD. I'd simply have to be more restrictive in footwear.

The notion that you need that firm a connection to the pedal to generate decent performance, I'm calling as a crock - you need your foot not to move about. But at least for me, the notion about being able to use them to also pull - well you can do that anyways with toeclips - but IME it just leads to fatigue - for me, cycling is all about spinning or pushing hard.

 

[matt24777]

BMX nutters seem to manage perfectly ok with flats!

Although interestingly a lot of the BMX racers at the olympics last year were using SPDs so they could get as much power down using the push/pull method.

Personally I struggle to ride without SPDs now just don't feel secure without them.

I prefer the earlier cleat retention design rather than the simpler modern versions. The reason being that i like mine quite tight and not too much float, I seem to have wandering foot issues with the modern ones resulting in heel rub that I simply don't get with the older style.

I've fitted out 2 of my bikes with M505's Old style cleat retention, and dirt cheap! I think I got a pair for about £11 NOS off ebay and a second NIB set for about £15. can't go wrong!

 

[highlandsflyer]

BMX racing Olympics style is not really street BMX.

 

[matt24777]

BMX racing Olympics style is not really street BMX.

One of the two genres of bmx, original comment didn't specify, agreed street style are flatties generally.