# Clipless shoes for kids???



## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

I sent Francois a PM about this, but I would assume he is a pretty busy guy. So, anyone have any experience and/or recommendations for children’s sizes of clipless mountain biking shoes? I have a 6.5 and a 7.75 year old, so obviously small feet—my almost-8-year-old’s foot is approximately 8" from back of the heel to big toe, and the little dude has an almost 7" length. Both of my boys are pretty decent at singletrack riding (they managed to ride up Stile Ranch Trail in Santa Teresa County Park nearby, a 0.7 mile segment than has an average gradient of 10.1% and is scattered with large rocks and sharp boulders) and are eager to try out clipless since daddy rides clipless too. Thanks in advance. :thumbsup:


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## paulys_tx (Jul 14, 2007)

The most widely available kids clip shoe is the Fly Talon. It is available at most stores that deal with bmx racing or Dan's Comp or J&R. They came out with a newer model this year the Talon II. The only thing about these is that they are fairly heavy but they are available down to size 13 kids!


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## JRS73 (May 26, 2012)

Just picked up a pair of Fly's for my son at Dan's Comp 2 weeks ago.

Fly Racing Talon 2 SPD Clipless Shoes at Danscomp


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow! Just what I needed to find. Thanks! :thumbsup:


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

Don't do it!!!

It's the worst thing you can do for kids. It's unsafe and they will not learn the true form of handling and staying glued to the bike using bike physics.

Fc


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## JRS73 (May 26, 2012)

Although I provided the information you were looking for, I should have provided some more information.

As far as my son using a clippless setup, it is for BMX racing. He did not touch a clipless setup until he learned how to win on platforms (Getting through the required 8 Novice wins to get to Intermediate). Once you hit Intermediate, clipless becomes a necessary evil.

As for mtb, I wouldn't put my 8 year old on a mtb clipless setup.


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## paulys_tx (Jul 14, 2007)

I would have to agree! Both of my kids race bmx and therefore are pretty comfortable on clipless pedals, however my 7 year old does not want to try riding his MTB with them. I think it is up to the individual kid because I see lots of 7 and 8 year olds on the trail with clipless and they do fine. If he wants to try it, make sure it is on trails that are not too challenging, but do require dismounts so that he becomes comfortable getting out. Let's admit it, sometimes even us oldtimers get caught off guard in our clips that leads to a fall. Leave it up to the boy to decide . . .


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks francois. I’ve seen your kids riding before, and they aren’t too much older than mine… and they ride quite well. I think I’ll have them stick with platforms for now.


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## kntr (Jan 25, 2004)

$9.99 Shimano clipless shoes.

Shimano MT32L SPD Shoes '09 > Sale | Jenson USA Online Bike Shop

$19.99
Shimano MT52 MTB Shoes > Sale | Jenson USA Online Bike Shop


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## wycough (Mar 9, 2008)

SIDI Dom 5's size 36 or 37 fits my 7/8yo son. ebay is your friend


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks, gentlemen. But as per Francois’ advice I think I’m going to hold off until my boys are a bit older and have refined their riding techniques/style/experience with platforms.


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## AKamp (Jan 26, 2004)

I have to disagree with the Ultralord, I put my son on clipless and he is riding much better. He is now 10 but has been riding clipless for a year or so now. No problems getting in and out. Great control when he is climbing and sprinting. I am sure he could have ridden flats as well but I grew up with clips/straps and then swapped to SPDs back in 90 and never looked back. He is riding in Shimano shoes. Plenty of closeouts usually available in little sizes.


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## gmather (May 29, 2012)

Pearl Izumi makes a nice small size 37 mtb shoe. It is technically a women's shoe, but since it is all black amd has an agressive sole my son couldn't tell the difference. Based on my personal experience of hacing having a 10 year old son ride with SPD clipless pedals (and knee and shin pads) alongside a 12 year old daughter still riding a flat pedal, I think the y son's confidence and control is much better with clipless pedals. But that is obviously based on a n of 2, might have a gender bias and isn't scientific in anyway. 

Good luck!


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## wycough (Mar 9, 2008)

My son has been riding clipless since his 5th birthday and has plenty bike control, skill and confidence. The only time he rides flats his street bmx or while riding fixed gear offroad.


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Apr 21, 2010)

Fortunately my boys are still at a learning stage. That is, learning bike handling skills, so getting used to stuff "the hard way", as in, _on platforms_, I think is just fine for now. I am looking forward to having them smash my uphill Strava KOMs someday with the aid of "clipless" (why the hell do they call them that? They physically _clip_ onto the shoes!!!) pedals/shoes.


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## bmf032 (Sep 8, 2010)

Because they were made to replace the old school toe clips a lot of us used before clipless existed. It does seem strange now.


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## vpc66 (Oct 22, 2012)

My son started using clipless shortly before his 11th birthday . He had been riding a 24" wheeled mtb but after I built his 26" wheeled ride he wanted to be set up like me and was off and running like nothing....the only thing that gets me is he is on his second pair of shoes already,thank god for Ebay because the way kids go through shoes going clipless for a young kid ends up costing a bit .


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## nickmm1 (Nov 13, 2012)

francois said:


> Don't do it!!!
> 
> It's the worst thing you can do for kids. It's unsafe and they will not learn the true form of handling and staying glued to the bike using bike physics.
> 
> Fc


Agreed .. think about when you first started to ride. you needed the freedom of all your limbs.. kids have an easy time falling with the ability to post up. take that away if cold be a injury waiting to happen ..


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## Surfpoodi (Sep 14, 2011)

The only situation were we are using click-in pedals (yes, I am renaming clipless pedals, right here, right now!) for our 5 year old is on the back of the mountain tandem. I was worried he could literally bounce off. You can't see the hits coming on the back of a tandem, and he doesn't always hold onto the bars very tight.

But everywhere else, road, mountain, BMX, park.... flat pedals only.


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## Grubster (Jul 22, 2012)

My ten yr old has been running clipless on trail for a couple years and never had a problem. My eight yr old just swiched over a couple months ago and we saw an immediate improvement in his climbing and his confidence in the pedals has been pretty good. He has had a couple of low speed tip overs but who hasn't.

The one thing I would recommend if you are going to switch a kid over is don't just put the pedals on make sure they work and say "there you go kid". work with them in the back yard where a tip over is no big deal. Have them come up to a line clip out and stop. Get as many clip in, clip outs done in a stress free envirnment.

As far as safety is conserned, rider ability vs trail difficulty is a much bigger factor than pedal choice. If the little guy/gal is ready for a particular trail, they are ready for it. You could argue for or against clipless pedals for kids all day long but I know this; if you tried to take my kids pedals away now, you would have some mad little kids. There is no going back.


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## bloated_rd_kill (May 19, 2005)

What pedals are most of you using? I have some old time atacs but don't know if they might be to hard to unclip?


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## Grubster (Jul 22, 2012)

My boys preferred shimano. I tried them on crank brothers as that is what their old man prefers but there was no denying that they did better on shimano for whatever reason.


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## Vampir (Mar 15, 2012)

I hooked my daughter up on clipless for the first time this weekend. She had been asking to switch for some time but I was hesitant since she was cross racing. Now that the season is over, she'll have time to learn with no race pressure.

I set her up with a spare set of eggbeaters I had. It is clear to me that the spring rate is too high. She is having a hard time clipping in without standing up and bouncing. I placed an order for some Shimano's (which have adjustable spring tension).


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## longboarderj (Sep 11, 2010)

My oldest son(12) has tried spd pedals but does not like them, he likes his Teva Links and flats with pins. My daughter (8) wants to try them, but I want her to be a little better on her flats first. I think that it really has to do with their comfort level on the bike. Both of my kids are comfortable on their bikes and ride trails better than some of the adults I ride with, and if my son liked them I would have no trouble letting him use them, but I think my daughter is still a little too young.


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## Vampir (Mar 15, 2012)

A follow up to my post from a week ago...

I put a pair of Shimano XT pedals (PD-M780) on my daughter's bike a couple of days ago. With the tension turned all the way down, they are considerably easier for her to clip into than the eggbeaters.


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## Captain Cobb (Mar 23, 2010)

I agree with FC, when one of my boys was 9yo. I was quick to put him in clipless shoes and shimano pedals, and he was very quick to learn, at the time I thought "Great!!" However as time went on I noticed that he was learning bad habits eg. bunny hopping by pulling up with the shoes, and regulary his feet would pop out as a result. Sooo then I had to ween him back to flats in order to develop skills correctly. Now at 11 we are about to give clipless another go. LP I see that you already decided to wait, good call!


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## Grubster (Jul 22, 2012)

This decision depends on the kid and what they are trying to accomplish. There is no right answer here.......Come to think of it, I have seen expert level cross country racers(aka, roadies playing in the dirt) with horrible bunny hopping skills. I guess we should stick them on flats too....at least if they want to learn to bunny hop properly.


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## UncleTrail (Sep 29, 2007)

They aren't clipless, but they are nice.
Teva Kids Shoes


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## Blitz (Oct 27, 2005)

*Clipless for kids*

I found this thread and now I'm resurrecting it for some additional feedback. Do the posters that recently switched to clipless for their kids have any regrets from early adoption?

I understand the thoughts re:bad habits, but I suspect they'll come along anyway (they did for me).

My son is really eager to go clipless. I'm sure it's only because my wife and I are clipless. He's turning 7 in a month and has asked for clipless pedals for his birthday.

Having watched multiple adults switch to clipless, I see real advantages to switching when they are young. Making it cerebellar as early as possible.

I was thinking of going SPD with a either a wide pedal or an opposite side pedal for wearing normal shoes around the neighborhood.

Any experienced thoughts/regrets would be appreciated!


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## silvascape (Sep 11, 2014)

I dont have any comment on the advantages or disadvantages of changing to clipless pedals when young except that smaller kids tent to find it a lot easier to clip out of pedals by rotating their heel inwards rather than outwards which might be a bad habbit in the bush. 

Northwave kids mountain bike shoes go down to a size 32 and seem to be the shoe of choice on the bmx track this year for the under 10 crowd.


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## Demo8 s twerks (Oct 17, 2015)

Get him flats, he will learn more techniques and skill using flats


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## Blitz (Oct 27, 2005)

Demo8 s twerks said:


> Get him flats, he will learn more techniques and skill using flats


Did you try clipless for your kids and then come to this conclusion or can you expand?

I'm aware of the flats -vs- clipless for kids, but frankly as an adult I think it's BS as it applies to me. I'm a XC racer that does Cx and occasional endure. I wouldn't say clipless hampered my skill development. In fact, as a more efficient peddler, I would say not having platforms helped me develop racing specific techniques that wouldn't be possible with platforms. But that's my two cents.

I don't fully know how it would help or hinder kids. That's why I'm looking for some experience input. I suspect my little guy would be riding the clipless with normal shoes for cruising the neighborhood with friends. But that's another thing I don't know.


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## jharpphoto (Mar 24, 2018)

My 10 year old has been racing mtb bikes this season and has been on clipless pedals from the start. However his shoes are not very good. I can't find ANY decent shoes that fit his little feet. He wears a 34 euro and we are looking for a scott or sidi, shimano shoe for him. Does anyone know where I can find shoes this small?


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## kabayan (Oct 25, 2004)

My son enjoyed his Diadora X Phantom Jr. These aren't very breathable. They are also lighter than the Fly Talon 2s.


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## jochribs (Nov 12, 2009)

I got my son women's Pearl Izumi All Road V4 shoes. He wears a 37, which is a woman's 6, which is a boys 4/4.5. 

They don't look like women's shoes at all, and I don't know why they call them 'all road' because they are a 3 strap mountain shoe. 

I don't know if they make them down to a 34, but it's worth a look. Definitely a worthwhile shoe, and we got them on sale at the nearby P.I outlet, so replacing with the next size will be a sure thing when the time comes.


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