Originally Posted by PaulRivers

Part of the comparison to "flats" is like which one is the person talking about?
- The cheap slick pedals the bike shop including with their bike
- Better make pedals with pins
- Pedals with pins + five ten (or similar) shoes with grippy rubber

I had a similar experience, before clipless I don't remember slipping around on the pedal, after clipless I found it to be a problem with both cheap pedals and expensive pedals with pins.
Then Five Ten shoes and there is no slipping with these guys. I had to lift my foot off the pedal to reposition it with the first pair of shoes I bought it was a bit extreme. I think they've actually toned down the grip on their more recent models because it was to much for average people before.

I use Dmr Vault Pedals and Five Ten Freeriders, now there's never any slipping at all, never any hotspots, never any numbness in my feet. Not all flats were this good for me though.



Sure...I usually don't go into it because it starts a thread war, but since people are writing about it anyways... :-/

Clipless really did not work well for me. I had:
- Right foot would get a very uncomfortable hotspot halfway through nearly every ride
- Right foot would often be numb by the end of most rides
- Right knee would sometimes be painful (only with clipless not flats)
- Always felt unsteady on clipless my feeling of steadiness and connection is much better with good flats and shoes

I'm personally embarassed I tried so hard to make clipless work for me, I tried at least:
- 2 fittings
- 3 pairs of different clipless shoes
- 3 pairs of expensive shoe inserts
- Multiple pedal systems (speedplay, shimano, crank brothers, time atacs)
- Few different saddles just in case

All trying to make clipless work.

I finally (embarrassing how long it took) tried going back to flats.
- Immediately half these problems went away but still got some foot numbness and a little slipping on the pedals occassionally
- Went to the shoes and pedals I mentioned above and it all went away
- And I meant it went away completely - I'd jump off the bike at the end of the ride and my feet would feel fantastic.

Then there's other things that are just nice with flats:
- I change shoes at home then wear the shoes for the drive over, the ride, any restaurants/eating/etc, drive back home. No more of the shoe changing dance in the parking lot. Never get to the ride only to realize I forgot to put my clipless shoes in the car.
- I feel more stable on the bike with good flats.
- Commuting somewhere? Just hop off the bike and walk in. No need to bring a 2nd pair of shoes, change shoes, or click-clack around somewhere.
- I didn't have the issues some people did with clipping in and out, but I just felt like there was always a small mental load when riding with clipless, that went away when I went back to flats.

As I said I'm personally embarrassed I spent so much time trying to follow the ideology and make clipless work, when I could have enjoyed biking a ton more by switching back to flats earlier. Not everyone's experience was the same as mine but I find in real life (not online) I meet a heck of a lot of people who tried both and went back to flats, vs people telling me clipless was better for them.