Platform pedal love

MR. evil said:

I am with you on the platforms! So far I really like using them. They have given me the balls to try things I just wouldn't do in clipless. Plus I just have more fun on them. My only issue with them is that becuase they are biggerm they tend to bang and scape rocks more than my clipless. Randi is also giving platforms a try.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I did find that I hit the ground with them more since they're fatter.

MR. evil said:

My 2 clipless riding partners had to walk down :wink:

Click to expand...

Lol

severine said:

You guys had to go and post this right after I bought shoes for my "new" clipless pedals, didn't you? :dunce:

I really hemmed and hawed over that decision. I guess there are pluses and minuses to all approaches. You just have to find the one that works best for you. :beer:

Click to expand...

Nah, you should definitively go clipless. Its good to have and learn and I think it is better for overall XC stuff. But so far I am liking the platforms for practicing stunts. It would've been nice to have them when I first started learning wheelies and fell on my back a few times while still clipped to the bike!

cbcbd said:

Nah, you should definitively go clipless. Its good to have and learn and I think it is better for overall XC stuff. But so far I am liking the platforms for practicing stunts. It would've been nice to have them when I first started learning wheelies and fell on my back a few times while still clipped to the bike!

Click to expand...

Ouch!

I've bought the shoes so I'm not going back now. My biggest complaints should at least be addressed with the clipless pedals. Though I can definitely see the advantage of practicing stunts with platforms. Advantages to both in different ways, for sure.

I will probably go back to clipless eventually. It is just that for the time being I really like using the platforms while trying to push my riding boundries

I think riding the skate park (or around town) on flats makes you a really awesome bike handler, so you learn how to really control the bike, and not with your feet in the XC style bunny hop kinda way, but in that Brian Lopes smoothness kinda way. Then when you're riding trail in your clippless you are smoother, and therefore fast over the long haul when fatigue starts kicking in. Being comfortable with small airs at speed over rock gardens or root beds and being skilled enough to hit them smooth and fast can save you alot of abuse and pedal strokes.

Greg said:

I'm not a free rider; mostly XC for me. Not that I wouldn't give platforms a try, but I have no problem pulling out of my clipless, but there is indeed a sense of feeling trapped sometimes. Bridges for me, especially higher ones over rocky streams are still very scary. I try to focus on the start of the trail beyond them and just ride moderately quick over. Scary, yet thrilling and that's part of the appeal of mountain biking, I suppose. For FRers and DHers, platforms make a lot of sense.

Click to expand...

Might give them a try this season, mostly out of curiosity.

JD said:

I think riding the skate park (or around town) on flats makes you a really awesome bike handler, so you learn how to really control the bike, and not with your feet in the XC style bunny hop kinda way, but in that Brian Lopes smoothness kinda way. Then when you're riding trail in your clippless you are smoother, and therefore fast over the long haul when fatigue starts kicking in. Being comfortable with small airs at speed over rock gardens or root beds and being skilled enough to hit them smooth and fast can save you alot of abuse and pedal strokes.

Click to expand...

Interesting point. I think being willing to switch them up based on the expected type of ride is how I'm going to approach it. Question though on drops with platforms. And I'm talking baby small drops cuz I don't go big. :lol: Anyway, is it different on flat? With clipless I like feeling more connected with the bike heading into a drop. Slipping off as you pull up would suck, I'd imagine. Maybe I'm just overthinking it and they're really not ridden any different.

If you're trying out clipless for the first time and are using Shimano SPDs - make sure to get "multi-release" cleats, they will make the transition very easy - they release from multiple angles. I put my wife on SPDs last year - with the single release cleats she was totally freaked out and refused to ride them. We found the multi-release cleats and it was a whole lot less scary, she really hasn't had a lot of issues with early release, I suppose if she does we will go back to the single release cleats.

John

Greg said:

Might give them a try this season, mostly out of curiosity.



Interesting point. I think being willing to switch them up based on the expected type of ride is how I'm going to approach it. Question though on drops with platforms. And I'm talking baby small drops cuz I don't go big. :lol: Anyway, is it different on flat? With clipless I like feeling more connected with the bike heading into a drop. Slipping off as you pull up would suck, I'd imagine. Maybe I'm just overthinking it and they're really not ridden any different.

Click to expand...

Drops and jumps are really no different on platforms except for the fact that if things go wrong you are not attached to your bike. I have found that I have also become a much smoother rider since switching to platforms. Towards the end of last season I was getting a hang on pumping berms and the ups / downs. I am also hitting the DH's much faster due to increased confidence. Randi also got much more aggresive since her switch to platforms. Keep in mind that platforms are not better or worse, just something different.

If you are trying to pick the bike up with your feet, you will have some scarry moments in the beginning. Wear shin guards, practice going up and down curbs on the street in a controlled enviornment. (you can also practice rinding skinny logs by riding along the curb) There is no real difference between a 6 inch drop and a 6 foot drop. If you can come off of a curb flat and smooth, you can come off a 6 foot ledge flat and smooth. Adjusting to the shape of the lip is where the technicality of a drop comes into play. if it's a slightly uphill takeoff, you will have to compensate to keep the front wheel from diving down. If it's a smooth slightly downhill lip, not so much. Again, heading out around town with flats for quick after dinner rides when you don't have time or motivation to go trail riding and finding small drops like curbs, loading docks, retaining walls and practicing low speed control will greatly improve you trail riding. Most of the technical MTBing is low speed, so ride around at low speed working on balance, wheelie drops, and going up curbs with a slow, deliberate, "front wheel-back wheel" technique will greatly improve your basic skills. Also, try and find a geat that propels you just over a blike length with one good pedal stroke. This is the gear you want to be in for wheelie drops. It will insure that you will pedal thru the lip w/o having to spin multiple stroke which throws off your balance. AND, get used to standing up. Lower you seat if you have to. Think extend, absorb. You can't do this whith your saddle jammed up you butt. Like trying to bump ski sitting on a bar stool.
My $.02