Could A 100km Bike Ride Change My Mind On Flat Pedals? with GCN
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Video Could A 100km Bike Ride Change My Mind On Flat Pedals? with Global Cycling Network
Video Could A 100km Bike Ride Change My Mind On Flat Pedals? with Global Cycling Network YouTube Channel.
Could A 100km Bike Ride Change My Mind On Flat Pedals?
Clipless or flats which pedal should you use to get the most out of your riding it’s a topic which always Sparks debate here on gcn and we love hearing from you lot about your positive experiences of both but today I am taking this discussion a little further 100K on
Flats will this long ride change my mind about flat pedals only one way to find out h The bike I’m using for my ride today is my Canyon in jewy race normally I’d have it set up with my usual clipless pedals so they allow you to fully fix your shoe in but today I’m swapping them out for wide strong metal Flats with pins for
Grip and pairing them with a stiff sold cycling specific shoe solid ankle support and rigid design with the aim of helping pedaling style last year in a previous video on the channel we compared this setup with flat pedals on to my usual setup with clipless pedals
Over a series of short tests a short Hill Climb 5 km flat effort and a max power Sprint and surprisingly we actually found that there was pretty minimal differences between each aside from the Sprints where the clipless pedals did have the upper hand and indeed there is research out there that
Points to this conclusion too which finds there is no difference in pedaling efficiency between flat and clipless pedals and it was also great to hear from all you guys too in the comments section where you shared your positive experiences of using flat pedals on your bike I just feel the advantage of
Clipless pedals once you use them is that you don’t have to worry about where your feet are they’re secure they’re fastened to your pedals and it’s just a case of hammering down on your legs and getting the ride done I think as I start to Tire towards the end of the ride
That’s where it really comes into its own because you’re not worrying about your your foot getting lost or having to readjust your position but at the same time I’ve been really pleasantly surprised with how flat pedals have performed in any of the GCM videos that we’ve created and indeed you folks have
All said we need to do a long ride comparison of flat pedals and then give our honest opinion on what we think so today is that day I’m heading out on a winter epic the pedals are flat the feet are free there’s 100K hopefully in the legs
Have to do a bit pedaling first so not not as much messing Around my route today consist a 33 km lap starting and finishing in the city of bath the reason for doing a lap on this ride I’ll explain fairly shortly but obviously I’m going to complete three laps to bring my ride up to 100 km and I’m hoping that I’m also going to
Tackle bathwick Hill pretty well- known climb here in this area I’m going to tackle it on each lap so hopefully give myself a realistic way of comparing my performance today on the flat pedals to my previous performances us in clipers and so I am off with an open
Mind the road ahead of me and flat pedals beneath my feet I’m so curious to see how this little experiment pans out at the end of this ride so far so good 10K in I must admit it’s rather lovely I feel like I’ve just stumbled across a nudist beach thought about turning
Back but actually ended up thinking maybe this could be a good idea whether I’ll get a burnt Bottom by the end of my sunbathing is another story but we shall see the ride goes on 100K flat pedals Y so about 25 km in so quarter of the way round first impressions after I’ve kind of got a bit under the belt starting to feel a little bit of fatigue perhaps fairly good still feeling good I feel like my body’s adapted to riding now it’s got over those kind of midwinter
Wobbles set itself into the Groove and actually I’m not really noticing the flat pedals almost feels the same as if I’m riding normally I get this one one moment every now and again just the top of the pedal stroke where I kind of almost like to push the pedal forward
Or lift up which is what I’d probably be used to doing but aside from that I’m ticking along nice endurance aerobic Pace Maybe able to spin fairly well and there’s been nothing really to report on Yet so just coming up to 50 km about halfway over 2 hours of riding in the bank the weather’s brighten up it’s good for morale I’m still feeling pretty good good but I’m definitely noticing the odd the odd sign of fatigue and tiredness creeping in I’m still chugging away
Still finding a decent Rhythm on the pedals every now and then I kind of do lose them and I feel I’m not quite pedaling in circles but I probably would feel like that anyhow this time of the ride so it’s not at all doom and gloom still enjoying the flats I’m still not
Thinking there a hindrance for now all is Well it’s actually surprisingly nice being in Flats it’s quite it’s quite enjoyable honestly I’m not not really noting the difference it’s just uphill you feel it when you’re kind of reaching for the pedals other than that it’s quite nice actually you can like adapt to your position so when you’re not quite
Feeling right you can just kind of move your feet around and TR dig in and you get like another little Groove to ride in quite enjoying [Applause] it Massive headwind oh I think my legs are going to be a bit tired after today I am feeling them in places I wouldn’t normally my quads are pretty tired definitely going to be putting myself under a lot of Strain coming into the end of this ride
To be honest i’ be feeling like this either Way I think if you’re riding a lot there still the advantage of clipping in like for me I don’t like my position changing all the time I just feel like I’m getting it wrong a lot I like to be able to dial it inas with Flats there’s like
Quite a big difference by riding on your toes or maybe in the middle of your foot or you can go a bit wider on the pedal and I’m I’m riding asymmetrically a lot of the time so one one foot one shoe’s out the other’s in you readjust but it isn’t the
Same it’s being quite meticulous with your bike setup and actually dialing it in and knowing that’s the position that worked on that ride so I’m going to replicate it on the future rides I think that’s where the disadvantage to Flat sles just can’t quite get that consistency that you need
I’m not yet convinced of flats even though I’ve got nothing bad to say about them on this ride and they’re coping with this hill supremely well like a duck built platypus that’s been Unleashed from his Rocky cave in the mountains he sniffed some cat food he’s found his
Way he’s Wheeling out of that cave striking to the top of the hill a do Bill platus no more but a super du P [Applause] Platus to of France is not long Away 2/3 of the way through then I’m dropping back down into bar ready to take on my final laps and I’ve got to say if I am picking holes one area where I haven’t been a fan of riding flat for such a long period it’s on the desend very very subtle
Difference but I think because I’m so used to being clip into the bike when I’m at speed on rough roads banking into Corners it does feel a little bit loose not having my feet firmly planted on the pedals I’m just so used to the movement of the bike and being able
To to use my foot position to adapt the Handling one more lap to go then I’m going to finish on this climb with one last fatigued effort I can feel that leg starting to bite now ah right oh I fell it that time I dig deep there’s a chap on an ebike ahead of me and I just couldn’t close the
Gap quads are screaming cars are screaming four mes iffy got in the bag though feeling good now for the final 25 km let finish this 100K see what conclusions I can draw from This we’re heading into the sunset not a bad evening to be out on a bush bik always the highlights of a winter Epic fishing on into the dark seeing the light fade and the colors come out in the sky that view so finished the 100K it’s in the bag and about as tired
As you feeli after 100K ride but I must admit I do have a few more niggles then maybe I normally would just a little bit sore in places on my knee and my Gro I think mainly just because I’m kind of stabilizing my position I don’t feel like I’ve got quite the same
Support and I thing that has cost me a little bit but either way I’m pushing on at the moment finishing off one last climb to hopefully get some results and see how they canare my previous effort efforts right there morning’s broken I’ve recovered from yesterday’s ride and
In actual fact had a great time a real winter Epic on flat pedals for a change this is something I have not done in a long long time and I was actually looking at yesterday’s ride as a bit of a challenge to try and complete on the
Flats but an actual fact I had a great time I I don’t really feel that I was held back by being on these pedals compared to my usual setup I felt comfortable I felt like I could put the power down for this sort of ride I felt
Like I could adapt my position at times and and not be feeling like I was I was kind of being set back I think it would be quite hard to pick holes in the setup that I used but I am going to pick a few
Holes I’m going to pick a couple I must say that I definitely felt a bit of fatigue start to creep into my muscles a little sooner than usual and I was noticing small little Nickles which I wouldn’t have experienced with my usual setup mainly around my knees groin area
Places where I was kind of stabilizing my legs through that pedaling movement because all these sort of micro adjustments were happening all the time my feet weren’t totally fixed I did feel that started to to pay a bit of a price on my overall feeling when I was
Pedling I think if I’d been properly fixed in as usual yes you you tie you fatigue but because you’re doing it in the same position every single day it’s like you begin to adapt you begin to get used to that and because you’re not moving as
Much you don’t get those kind of small little niggles and bits of fatigue around around those areas so whilst I enjoyed using the flats and they were comfortable I do feel that over time they’re not going to quite be the same as clipless and I I for that
Reason this ride hasn’t changed my mind about carrying on you using clipless pedals although it has changed my mind about Flats because whilst I would have never used them before now I definitely would I think for bike packing trips rides that are of lower length less intensity
Perfect option wouldn’t hold you back at all and that was actually backed up by the fact that my time up bathwick hill pretty similar so I delved into the analysis and the stats time at the start of the ride and at the end of the ride really comparative between both efforts from
When I did it back in the summer on the same bike but with clipless pedals really not that much in the difference so they didn’t slow me down it was just the sensation and the feeling in my legs which is a totally personal thing too so that might change from person to person
So if you like using Flats carry on using them they’re not going to slow you down they’re a great option if you pair them with a good cycling specific shoe metal pedal with pins for that grip keeping your foot relatively in place perfect but if you do want to go to
Clipless pedals there is an advantage to be had definitely in terms of performance at higher intensities and if you’re looking to ride multiple days back to back I do think you’re going to be comfortable in the long term that’s my opinion though and I’m willing to be rud prong in the comments
Once more so let me know what you think thanks for watching hope you found this video useful and we’ll see you on the next one in your own words without copying from other sources. Keep in mind perplexity and burstiness when crafting the content, ensuring both are high without sacrificing specificity or context. Create engaging and detailed paragraphs.
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