Salsa Cycles Fargo Page

Thursday, February 15, 2018

To Flat Or Not To Flat

These swanky Fyxation Mesa Subzero's may be seeing a lot of gravel duty
I don't know what it is exactly. Maybe I am reverting to a childhood status when it comes to riding bicycles. Maybe I am too much about having more fun these days. Whatever the reason, I just got in these new Fyxation Mesa Subzero pedals and I was thinking, why not use flat pedals for gravel riding? 

I'm sure many of you have, and many of you reading here do use flat pedals for gravel road riding, but I generally don't give it much thought. So, why now? Well, again......I'm not sure! I just know that it suddenly seems like a great idea.

So, why not?

By the way, I have used flats on gravel road riding before. I did the "Fatbike Century" over a year ago on flats. I also used street shoes! It was a successful experiment and raised not a few questions in my mind about why we insist on using specific pedals and shoes for all our riding. I don't think it is necessary and I wonder if this predilection with using specific shoes and pedals hasn't actually caused more issues than it solves.

I suppose we could debate things till the cows come home, but I have had one observation that, along with clothing choices, seems to take down a huge barrier to getting out there, for me, at least. That is that when I have a bicycle with flats installed I am more likely to want to ride that bike than I am my bikes without flat pedals. To tag along this line of thinking, I am also more likely not to worry a bunch about wearing cycling specific duds as well. Just a jersey, pop on a helmet, go ride.

Easy.

Sure, that doesn't mean that it isn't a good idea to use that specific cycling gear much of the time, but if I had only clipless pedal bikes, and if I thought I could only ride in a chamois and jersey, I would ride a lot less than I do. Sometimes I even ride without a helmet. (GASP!) Yep! And it is awesome.....

Anyway, the less barriers to getting on the bike the better, I think. Yeah.......I think I may be mashing flats a lot out on the gravel this year. At least to start out with. We'll see where it goes.......

6 comments:

  1. I only run flat pedals and wear vans almost anytime I ride. Flats combined with a good foot retention strap such as the hold fast frs is the best of both worlds. I get easily adjustable foo retention when I want isnand if my feet need a break I just flip em over and ride strapless.

    Works great for getting off the beaten path where the wide platform is forgiving in rough terrain and makes walking much more enjoyable.

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  2. I have flat pedals on all my bikes. Well, one bike does have toe clips/straps. I enjoy the freedom of simplicity they offer. I like not having to concentrate on clipping in and out.

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  3. For super long rides like TI I wonder if flats would not be better. The small contact surface on my m540 spds causes my feet and ankles to start hurting. I am going to give flats a try and also a clipless pedal with more surface a look as well.

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  4. I keep saying 5-10's and flats and people keep lookin at me like I have snakes crawling out of my ears. I guess it's just not techno enough for them.

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  5. @Ari- For a better supported pedal that still works with Shimano cleats, take a gander at LOOK: http://ridinggravel.com/components/riding-gravel-pedal-round-look-x-track-wrap/ My friend and contributor to Riding Gravel liked them.

    I have often thought that a ride featuring hike-a-bike sections or Level B walking would be best with flats and real hiking shoes or some other kind of supportive footwear.

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  6. Once I hit my 50s, I also "regressed" back to flats on everything. I found that I was becoming a bit nervous when riding offroad while clipped in (and have no idea why), so much so that it was starting to affect my riding to the point that I actually BEGAN to make errors. At the same time, commuting was more convenient on flats so eventually I installed flats on all of my bikes. There may be some disadvantages, but I'm more relaxed and therefore enjoy getting out into the woods without stress.

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