(laughing)
- That's fresh ay, right?
- It certainly is.
- This will tighten up!
- I wouldn't spend too much time
tightening those up, mate.
You know what they are?
- No way, I ...
How, no, no! - Yeah (claps hands).
- Look at, it's flippin' icy; I'm not ...
- You're a great rider, clearly a flat pedal rider ...
- Forever, yeah.
- Today we're going to change things up a little.
- Why, today's not the day.
- Yeah it is.
- No, it's so icy!
- Makes it ideal; you're not going to get it wrong.
- No, I don't even know how to set them up
so I can't wear them.
- Yeah you can; let's get into this.
(light dubstep music)
So the flats versus clips is an argument
that often comes up in mountain biking.
Now, as much as I like riding flat pedals,
I've pretty much ridden clips from the beginning,
and I absolutely love the way you can be
pretty light and agile on the bike,
but I don't rely on them for that,
so I can switch to flats when I want.
Blake however, he's always been a flat pedal rider,
and whilst that does suit Blake's style,
I'm actually convinced by getting him clipped in
we're going to make him faster and a smoother rider.
So let's get him on clips.
- Clipless pedals. - Yeah.
- These have got no clips, so these are,
why are they called "clipless pedals"?
- Alright so this is a commonly misunderstood thing, right?
Yeah so flat pedals technically
could be called clipless pedals,
because there is no clip mechanism on them.
But they get his name from these little fellows here.
- Oh wow look at them contraptions.
- So, way back in the day you would learn to ride
on flat pedals, and then you would progress
to toeclips and straps.
So this a flat pedal with a plastic toeclip,
and you've got a nylon strap that's adjustable.
So you put your foot in there and it holds your foot
on there.
So the same concept, you can pull up on the pedals ...
- Okay, yeah.
- And it stops your feet coming off on rough terrain.
They're pretty gnarly to ride and obviously pretty old,
these days.
- Yeah, they look like they belong in a museum.
- I thought it's only fair that you did
exactly what I did growing up ...
- And what, put them on my bike?
- Yeah, so let's try you out on
a pair of toeclips and straps first.
And then you'll really understand
what commitment is on a bike.
Alright, pedal number one (Blake groans).
You won't be needing that.
- Well you don't have--
- These are old school, mate.
- What the hell is this thing?
- That's a pedal spanner.
(Blake sighs.)
- They don't even fit on my bike.
They fit.
- Alright, so you're going to pedal off like this,
and then you sort of flip the pedal back
to slide your foot in.
- Okay.
- You have to wiggle it a bit obviously
because the pedal's got a bit of grip on it.
- Something to take note of is the fact the engagement here,
I've left the loop open.
- Okay.
- So you can put in, and then when your foot is in there,
you can just tighten it up manually.
Go and ride up the trail, have a bit of a loop,
and then try them tight.
- Yeah.
- And then we want to see decent track stands.
- Track stands?
- Yeah, you can do a track stand in your sleep, right?
- Yeah.
- So it should be no different with those on.
- Right, okay.
- I wouldn't start off like that;
I would start off on the flat side,
flip them over as you're riding off.
- Really? - Yeah.
Just until you're used to them.
- Okay.
- Good luck with that one.
(Blake sighs).
- Oh, this is--
(videotape squeaks)
- So the idea today is not for Blake
to just ride toeclips all day,
it is just to get an idea of how terrifying it used to be.
What do you make of them?
- They're not bad. (laughing)
- See that is something that used to happen quite a lot.
And that is why clipless pedals are so good,
because they're actually really safe.
So people think that when you're attached to the bike,
it's dangerous. - Yeah.
- But you're not, because your natural way
of getting off the pedals is to the side.
- That's what I tried!
- So those, you've got to take your feet out backwards.
- Yeah! (laughing)
- So I think just for a bit of fun,
while you're still in there, let's see you do
a couple of track stands.
Alright, you good? - Not really.
(wheels crunching)
Oh I can't get my foot up then.
Oh! (laughing)
Literally you have to pull straight up.
- So obviously they're not good for mountain biking,
but that is pretty much what I grew up riding, off road.
Right, so let's get you on proper clips ...
- Please, these are dangerous.
- Because actually they're incredible; they're so good.
And they're only going to accentuate your riding.
So the next significant thing is the fact
that you're riding in a dedicated cycling shoe,
so flat pedal shoes are focused
on being grippy over efficient.
Now what I mean by that is, a flat pedal shoe
is always going to slightly flex on the pedal,
so it helps give you that grip
but you are losing pedalling power.
The clipless shoe, they are so stiff this way,
but they can have toe flex for walking off the bike.
So when you're connected to those pedals,
all of that power through your legs is driving
straight into the transmission and into your back wheel.
It's a really efficient way of riding.
Okay, so those Avantis are obviously really popular
when you're riding in rough conditions,
because your foot is not going to bounce around
which also means you're not going to
hold on to the bike as tight with your hands,
and you can place the bike quite well on the trail
without having to use a lot of effort.
But there are a few disadvantages
with using clipless pedals.
And the first one is, the commitment to it basically.
You've got to commit in whatever you're riding;
if you're riding something rough, loose, wet,
a lot of time on flat pedals it almost doesn't matter
until something happens, like your wheel slips,
because you can just stick your foot out.
You've got to kind of pre-plan
a little bit with clipless pedals,
so you've got to be thinking down the trail a bit
about what the bike is doing.
The second one is that they can encourage bad habits.
And what I mean by that is, if you're really good
at bunny hopping with flat pedals,
like the correct way of bunny hopping,
when you get on clips you can get lazy
and just use the clips to help you dance around on the bike.
Don't let that happen; it is important
to be able to ride both sets of pedals.
So, making sure you've got your cleats
set up right in the first place is really important,
in not only getting the best out of your pedals,
but to avoid knee injuries.
Now this sort of thing does make
more of a difference on road bikes,
where you're in the same position for hour after hour,
or if you're using a pedal that's not got much float.
And float is the amount of movement you have
before you can clip out.
Now these particular ones have 15 or 20 degrees,
so it's quite a lot so you've got
a lot of movement to play with.
And a really good way of finding out
if you need to set your cleats up facing a certain angle,
is by dangling your legs and just seeing
what sort of natural angle your feet are at,
and then aiming your cleats straight from there.
So, Blake's right foot, I'm guessing,
from an injury in the past?
Leaning slightly into the-- - Yeah it broke.
- Whereas your left foot looks fairly straight forwards.
- Yep.
- So we're just going to take that into account
with the cleats.
And the other thing is, where you put your cleats
fore and aft in the cleat slot.
Now, the most efficient one for pedalling
is directly under the ball of your foot,
so that is this part of your foot here.
And on Blake, roughly where this little blue mark is
on his flat pedal shoes there.
Now the reason for that is because
it's the best point for power transfer
and it's also a really efficient position
for using your calf muscle.
But seeing as he rides a lot of flat pedals,
he tends to run his feet a little bit
further forwards on the pedal,
so the cleat, we're actually going to run it
a little bit further back to simulate
that feeling of the flat pedal,
give it a good base position ...
- A little bit behind the ball, I reckon.
- Yeah and then we'll take it from there.
But it's always good to have a sort of a ballpark setting,
get your cleats on; I recommend using
a tiny bit of thread lock because they do rattle loose,
and it also stops the threads corroding.
(light dubstep music)
(ice crackling) (Blake grunting)
- Oh I can get more power.
Wow, oh.
Alright so the key fact that I've found using clips is,
when I tag a root just like I did there,
on flats my foot would've bounced off,
I would've lost all my motion,
I would have lost all my momentum and all that.
I would have had to have put a foot down.
But being clipped in it kind of just bumped me
and I can carry on through, plus,
what also I found out, which is cool,
is when I'm climbing, and there's a bit of rooty section
like I did just across there, is
I can lift up my wheel, lift up my rear with my feet
but still keeping the power going
so I can get a good climb on.
I rode this way slower than I was if I was on flats.
Flats, I'd kind of want to keep my momentum going
because my feet's going to be bouncing around,
and if if I do tag I'm going to lose all that momentum.
(crashing musical tone sounds)
Alright, I'm pretty good at jumping bikes,
but I've never jumped clipped into a bike.
So there's a few little tables here
that I'm going to test my skills ...
(laughing)
Alright, that's a bit of surprise!
Ooh!
That table there, I like to move the bike around
so I kind of little did a scrub,
and my feet do move on the pedals.
And my outside foot was like just,
I thought it was unclipped and I thought,
"Oh no here we go; I hate clips now."
But it didn't unclip and because Doddy was saying about
the 15 degree or 15% movement in the cleat on your feet,
kind of compensated for that and it didn't unclip,
so I'm like, I'm pretty surprised.
(wheels clacking loudly)
Oh wow, alright that bit there,
using the clips I can manipulate the rear end
by putting it wherever I damn well please.
Because this section here, I'm like,
I wanted to go there, but then I wanted to go there quicker,
so I can leave my feet, instead of concentrating on hooking,
like you would if you were on flats, hooking the pedals
to push the bike to where you want,
plus your feet are going to move as well
when you're hooking, with these you're clipped obviously,
and you can just go, "No, there, there,
"right I'm going to lift the back end there,"
and you can push it where you want,
especially like there, and then I wanted to go
on the high line there.
And I can just like, lift it up, push it.
It's way, it's different.
It's like a technique that I'm gradually learning.
Very quickly really.
It's crazy how much clips work.
- So we've got Blake set up on a pair of
Crank Brothers clips earlier on today.
He's been blasting around the woods all day,
and actually I'm quite surprised; I think he might like it,
but we'll have to ask him a couple of questions
to see how he's been getting on.
(wheels rolling)
Oh, that was so good, there!
(Doddy laughs)
Oh!
- So you've obviously still got a few things to master.
You're not going to get this overnight.
- Oh, no way.
- What did you reckon then, how've you been getting on?
- That was really good fun; it's totally different
because I've never ridden clip pedals,
but using the clips to like get more power down,
like, you're pushing but you're pulling as well,
which is pretty cool, and then on the rough stuff
you can like, lift up the back wheel at slow speeds ...
- And place it on the trail? - Place it on the trail.
I think I'm going to use it; I think I'm going to try it.
But if I was to do a race, like the Mega Avalanche,
I don't know, because I want my feet to be everywhere.
- Yeah but do you know what, first half fair enough,
second half, you need the horsepower.
- True.
- It gets tiring down there. - That is true.
- But hey, it just goes to show you
that flats and clips are both great things, and
I'm really glad that you're going to start riding them ...
- Yeah, I think I am.
- Because I think being able to ride both
is really good for everyone. - Yeah, yeah.
- For another video on how to pick the right pedals,
click down here.
- And if you want to see if flats versus clips,
which one's faster, click just down there.
- As always, click on the globe
to subscribe in the middle here.
There's fresh content coming to you every single day.
- And if you liked me falling over with clips
give it a thumbs up! (laughing)