This month I wanted to talk about a classic argument regarding pedals, the old clip in pedals versus fatties argument. In my experience people tend to put themselves really strictly into one camp or the other - flats or clips - and that's not my view at all!
You should have both , and develop the skills to ride both, as they both have their pros and cons.
Sam Hill has recently gone to enduro; he is a devoted flatties man and he won the last round of the Enduro World Series. This has created a debate for the online world that flat pedals can be used for enduro at a professional level, and achieve highly.
I have tried a lot of brands of flat pedals; Shimano (they have a new range coming out soon which look really good), HT, Giant, and most recently, the Crank Brothers Stamp large pedal.
Currently, I am using Crank Brothers pedals for flats and clips (all three types they make - downhill clips, enduro clips, and flats). I like to change my pedals around depending on the course/track I'm riding. I'll use clips at my ‘home’ track of Thredbo. I know where I need to huck and pull the bike around and the clips really help with this, while some other tracks such as Greenvalleys, near Wollongong in NSW, don't suit clips. Greenvalleys is a loose, dry, steep and rocky track, so I always use flats there.
[caption id="attachment_13534" align="alignleft" width="256"]
Crank Brothers Mallet E Enduro Race Pedals[/caption]
Crank Brothers Mallet E Enduro Race Pedals[/caption]The Crank Brothers Enduro pedals are also awesome and have a smaller and lighter pedal body but still the same four-point, effortless clip in and clip out. I also love using my Crank Brothers Stamp pedals when I'm at the dirt jumps on my dirt jumper. These flats are truly a versatile pedal.
It's cool and fun having the different types of pedals and also having the different types of shoes to suit. I'm currently using a pair of Five Ten Minaar clip shoes and also a pair of Five Ten street flatties that I wear all the time.
Changing pedals is easy, just make sure you have an 8mm allen key or specific pedal wrench and a good quality grease, like Park Tool grease, and make sure you don’t cross thread your crank! Patience is the key.
One word of advice is that you will always inevitably bash your shin using flatties, and everyone who uses them has the scars to prove it, which is why shin/knee pad combos can be a great idea.
So, in closing, don’t restrict yourself, be versatile and use all types of pedals and learn the good and bad points of both.
By Alex Unicomb - Pushys Sponsored Athlete