# Clipless or Five Ten/Regular flat shoe



## 4MooreFitness (Aug 10, 2010)

I do mainly single track xc. Right now I just use my Merrell hiking shoes but they are worn down. Should I invest in clipless pedals and shoes specific for xc mtbing? I saw a post about using Five Tens and I like the style of them, but I'm little. I wear a 5.5-6 in womens... not sure if going down 2 sizes in mens would work out for me.

Anyone with experience using the five ten spd shoes. Would that be a good introduction to clipless? Use the cleat and lock in when I need to with the freedom to ride like a normal shoe when I'm working on a new trail/skill and more likely to fall  

Last year I found a way to endo on a "beginner" track. I can't imagine doing that clipped in :yikes:


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## FrdSHOx3 (Sep 10, 2009)

5.10 Hell Cats if they run small enough for you. They clip in yet wear like a regular 5.10 shoe.


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## LaBelle23 (Jun 9, 2010)

You can now get 5.10s in a women's version (at least the Karver, maybe more by now). I have been riding the men's version for 4 years now and am on my 2nd pair. I love them for technical and steep riding. They give me confidence that I can jump off and bail if I'm not comfortable on something. 

I recently picked up the Shimano MP-66 shoes (skate looking clipless shoe).  They are similar to the 5.10s, but you can put a cleat on them. I looked into the 5.10 clipless, but I didn't think I needed quite as grippy of a sole to clip in. The Shimano soles are still grippy for walking around, but don't have a vibram sole (this years is available with one though for $35 more). The 5.10 soles are so grippy that I thought it might be hard to move your foot around and be able to clip into when you're on the trail and distracted. I use the Time Zs for pedals which have a nice sized platform if I don't clip in. I haven't had any problems with this set-up so far.

If you haven't ridden clipless you are in for a season of skinned knees and slow speed tip over wrecks. You'll want to consider if you just want to ride and get confident coming up to any obstacle and being able to easily get off -- in that case just buy some 5.10s. If you really want to be as efficient as possible pedalling and don't care as much about being confident in techy sections then go clipless. Just be prepared that it takes awhile to train your brain on how to do it. I went back to clipless for XC after 5 years and picked it up again like I never quit, but then again I have already been in situations where I wanted my 5.10s back. I have been encouraging some of my girl friends to try riding flats to get them more confident about approaching obstacles so when they go back to clipless they can ride what they want. If I'm not really confident I can make an obstacle and I'm on clipless I'm less likely to commit then when I'm on flats and I know I can go for just about anything. I watch some of my friends and know if they had that extra little confidence booster they could ride so much of what they walk easily.


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## 4MooreFitness (Aug 10, 2010)

I might give that a try. Last spring-summer was my first year off the multi use path. Ive always enjoyed being on a bike for fitness. I had a hip injury (stress fracture) last winter and my doctor said cycling would be a great way to rehab and get back into workouts. I don't think he meant mountain biking LOL. 

Hindsight I think a lot of my falls were because I was still recovering from my injury. I have more balance and confidence now. My leg was really weak and still a little painful last year. This season I want to improve my speed and confidence. I just like the idea of finding a pedal/shoe I can go back and forth between clipless and unclipping and riding like a normal shoe. 

Thanks for the shoe ideas. Im going to google your set up.


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## miatagal96 (Jul 5, 2005)

Not sure which option you're going to try. If it is the clipless option, I agree with going for something like the Time ATAC Z that has a platform. I started with the regular Time ATAC's, but switched to the ATAC Z's and found that the platform helped a lot. I could start on an uphill and not waste energy trying to clip in because I had the platform. Also, I could unclip and use the platform if I was nervous about a feature. It took me a while (read season) to get used to clipless, but I'm glad I did.


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## 4MooreFitness (Aug 10, 2010)

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/11572-240_TIMZP2-3-Parts-65-Pedals-and-Cleats/Time-ATAC-Z-Pedals-offer?utm_source=Googlebase&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_campaign=FTP&offer=IN211GLB.htm&zmam=3075515&zmas=1&zmac=30&zmap=240%20TIMZP2

Something like that plus a shoe that fits well and can cleat in, but also ride without being clipped in. The pedal looks wide enough to use with hiking shoes also. I might spend a day on a hill with grass just learning to pedal and clip in and out quickly.


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## LaBelle23 (Jun 9, 2010)

These pedals are designed to let you have a platform if you don't clip in right away, but they are not really designed to be used with a hiking boot for real riding. Platform pedals are far different and I would never want to use the Times without the clipless shoe. You could probably make it work, but using the Zs with a hiking boot will be far from ideal. You can get a cheap platform pedal from Wellgo (somewhat disposable, but you caqn find them for $35) for more technical rides you want to use the hiking boots on.

I would highly recommend riding the clipless for the first time on grass. Make sure you get comfortable with them before you go for any trails. It takes a lot of work and patience, but once you have it then its easy.


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## connie (Mar 16, 2004)

4MooreFitness said:


> Something like that plus a shoe that fits well and can cleat in, but also ride without being clipped in. The pedal looks wide enough to use with hiking shoes also. I might spend a day on a hill with grass just learning to pedal and clip in and out quickly.


Spending a day learning to clip in and out quickly = perfect idea.

Thinking you are going to find something that works both clipped in and not clipped in? = BAD idea. YES - there are clipless pedals that have a nice platform around them that look like they are designed to do this, but what they are designed for is to provide that platform momentarily while you are getting clipped back in. If you try to ride unclipped on them, you will still have the cleat hitting metal parts on the pedal and your foot will be shifting around on top of it and frankly, it's dangerous to do for any significant period of time.

So if you are thinking you want to ride without being clipped in - get some good flat pedals and 5.10s designed for flat pedals and ride that way until/if you decide you want to ride clipped in all the time. Realize that good flat pedals and 5.10s are going to "stick" better than what you were using before and pedalling efficiency is really not an issue once you learn to pedal properly. Unless you are racing XC, don't worry about it. And realize that flat pedals will probably help you have some extra confidence to try riding new obstacles, so that's worth keeping in mind.

That said, clipless is probably easier than you think, so if you're just planning to ride easy XC loops that don't have any technical obstacles that challenge you, that might make sense for you. Do spend time clipping in and out repeatedly so you create a muscle memory on how to release before hitting the trail though, or you are bound to come to a stop and forget. Those "stop and flop's" are virtually expected of people new to clipless, but you can avoid it if you take the time to practice in a safe spot first.


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## 4MooreFitness (Aug 10, 2010)

Thanks Connie and LaBelle23. Im just going to get some better flat pedals and 5.10s and spend this season just learning the basics and getting comfortable.This being my first full season not broken, I just want to work on confidence and basic skills. I'll save the clipless for next year. I thought the wider pedals + clipless would be a compromise between choosing to cleat in or not. Love I have this forum so I can find whats right for me while learning from the more experienced.


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## amandar (Nov 14, 2009)

Sounds like a plan! When you start with clipless, start out using it only on the bike path and road rides for a while. And definitely get a pedal that allows for dual sided entry (like crank bros or time) and stay away from the single sided entry pedals that are platform on one side and clipless on the other.


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## LaBelle23 (Jun 9, 2010)

Good luck! I have recently seen some 5.10 women's shoes (Karver's) and men's models on www.chainlove.com for very cheap if your on a budget.


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