Mountain Bikes!

That will look awesome, P.
Glad to see you got another hobby.

 

I wish I knew how to post pictures here lol.

 

So, I'm complete new to mountain biking this year, but have plenty of miles on the road. I use clipless on my road bike, but I don't feel comfortable going clipless yet on a mountain bike. I haven't been out a lot, but on the rides I've been on, I could see where I would have gotten myself into trouble with clipless. Maybe I need to learn the hard way?
Rather than using the full cage, someone suggested starting the transition to clipless using some sort of strap that goes on the pedals that you can tuck your feet in, but it's real easy to come out of them. Anyone use these and, if so, can you provide a recommendation? Or, did I get bad advice?

 

I think determine why you want to go clipless first, and if you can do that and know what you are trying benefit from, then just "learn the hard way". I think modern clipless setups are as easy to get in and out of as any strap system of whatever else you could come up with. For me, I got good flats and good shoes and was happy. Clipless on the road bike, flats on the MTB.

*edit* also to me I think it really depends on the type of riding you are doing. I could see for sure wanting clipless for long XC rides or rides that really benefit from the additional pedaling efficiency. I use clipless pedals on my gravel monster on trails. When I am out on the FS and riding featured trails or downs - I have no desire for the clipless setup.

 

decide which type you want... spd or egg beaters. Its not hard... you can run the adjustment loose on spds. Its all about balance... but you will hit the ground occassionally. I snapped a chain going up a climb and got flipped over the bars clipped in.
No biggie... yesterday I was warming up on a fast trail about 90 rpms when I went head on with some weekend warrior that cant read trail direction signs. My 16mph > than whatever speed he was pedaling. Knocked him into the weeds. I was so pissed it showed on my HR meter... then later in the parking lot discovered I had broke my pointer finger

 

I found more benefits being clipless in MTB than on road.

Just go all in. If you've been doing it on the road, it'll be second nature.

 

The fears of learning MTB clipless are unfounded. Send it.

 

If' you've done lots of road miles in clipless pedals, you'll be fine on clipless on the MTB.
You can also set the tension, so you could have them "loose" at first and then tighten them up as you get comfy.

 

Get the standard single release cleats too (SH51 I believe), it's the standard kick your heel out, motion. The multidirectional release ones are a liability.

 

Yep, you can set the tension pretty loose if getting out is a concern. I find clipless easier to escape than toe straps or clips. I've gone down plenty of times on the trail while clipped in and the only time I ever had an issue is when I was doing a wheelie and ended up on my butt with a broken tailbone. No more wheelies for me while clipped in. If you are already used to the sideways motion of unclipping then it shouldn't really be much of a transition.

 

You will be fine with SPD pedals. Just set the tension to light and have at it.

I prefer clips to flats due to some knee issues. The "float" in the spd pedals allows my knee to be aligned when pedaling. I had some pain with flats, which I attribute to my foot placement not being exact.

Enjoy!

 

Similar, but kinda opposite for me. I rode with some XT clipless pedals at a few different times. I also have 1 of my knees that i kinda baby, or try to protect from further injury. I used to just run them with the tension almost all the way out. I like the float. They still never just popped out at all while riding, but I figured that way if I crashed I wouldn't get twisted at weird angles. Angled them so my toes were ever so slightly out, and it took any weird side tension off my knee. I've always used flats on anything that would leave the ground for any amount of time... so DH never, and when I got rid of my hardtail I pretty much stopped using the clipless... but you'll be fine. Flats give me no problems, but rather any problem these days would stem from seat angle to pedals and which muscles are activating the most, rather than the type of pedals. The placement of shoe on pedal is an easy enough one to train yourself to do better on flats with just a few rides if you go that route. Enjoy.

 

I appreciate all of the replies. To answer the question above, I 'think' I want to go clipless for climbing efficiency and to reduce the number of pedal strikes. I don't know what I don't know yet other than the fact that I have a lot to learn. I've had a few pedal strikes on ruts, rocks, stumps, etc and I know the primary reasons are my foot positioning when coasting and not paying enough attention to the terrain and not thinking about what I might hit the pedals with. On my road bike, I typically coast with the pedals at 12/6 and I know (think?) I should have the pedals at 3/9 on the MB when going through trails, it's just a hard habit to break.
I've also seen the pedals that are flat on one side and clipless on the other, but they seem kinda gimicky.

 

I literally can't ride without clipless pedals-they add so much control and pedaling efficiency. I highly recommend the Crank Bros Mallet-e pedal. Its a flat with their egg beater inside and is double sided. Gives you foot a little more support and in a sketchy spot you can just ride the flat if you need. They are crazy easy to get in and out of too.

 

You prob already know you should be coasting on road bike at 9 & 3 also, aero and all. If you don't need clipless for MTB or have no reasons, don't do it. Flats are more fun and help ummm highlight opportunity for skills development.

 

Thanks….I think this is what I’m gonna try.

 

The hybrid pedal isn't really a gimmick, and I had a pair when I started riding again about three years ago. My local trails are a mix of "old-school" CCC hiking trails (built in the 1930s) and more modern flowy trails. I enjoyed having the flat option on technical climbs and descents when I was relearning how to ride.

https://www.amazon.com/ROCKBROS-Mou...Q,B07Y7T6Y84,B07F62K7W3,B07QM4X22Z,B073PY3146

As for pedal strikes, you'll have a learning curve there as well. 9/3 foot position when coasting is a must. As for pedaling, you'll quickly learn to look for obstacles that will catch you out. There's almost a "ratchet" motion where I'll see a rock or log and pedal backwards to clear and then resume normal pedal motion. I use pretty small SPD pedals on my MTB bike, and a shoe with a pretty stiff sole. This equates to a narrower profile on either side of the crank arm, but also means that my foot is really unstable when not clipped in.

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-PDM5...BFDW,B000P9TOHQ,B00WLFT6HK&srpt=BICYCLE_PEDAL

 

Flats for me. I love my chesters and FiveTen Trailcross shoes. What I lose in efficiency and climbing uphill I gain with being much more confident on downhills and washed out corners.

 

Pedal strikes are a thing for sure, but likely to be a thing with flats or clips - and I think you already identified that. But nothing "wrong" at all with wanting to run clipless on a MTB, just a good set of flats and shoes also shouldn't be ignored if you haven't tried them. I have a bad habit of getting pedal strikes because of timing my accelerations out of corners and similar - coasting to early and then pedaling too early - a lot of it is timing and reading the trail.

 

strikes are gonna be more a function of low bottom bracket heights these days and crank arm length more than anything else, but every little bit helps I guess. hence guy a few pages back running 165's on his enduro bike because of how low it is when 5 years ago you'd never see 165's on anything but a DH bike.

also, do as you wish, but Crank Brothers seem to be made out of nicely anodized recycled aluminum soda cans, and the springs brake if you breathe on them too hard, and franky I, and a large portion of the internet thinks they're all piles of shit. Plenty of people still use them with success though, so either way. XT's will last you 10 bikes.