The Pros ride Clipless Why Wouldn't I?

This email came into my inbox from James Wilson this morning that I wanted to share with you. Flats over Clipless is a great arguement - Here is some more food for thought on the subject.

One of the hardest things to overcome when having a discussion about the value and role of both flat and clipless pedals is that everyone knows that the fastest riders in the world use clipless pedals. Most World Cup and National Level DH races are won on clipless and every XC and similar discipline is won on them as well.

Hell, you even have some studies that show a (slight) increase in power from using them too.

This would all seem to indicate that they are "better" than flats, right?

Unfortunately the answer is a little more complex than a simple yes or no. To answer that question let me pose another question to you...

In the weight room, can you deadlift more weight with a weight belt on? I'm sure that everyone reading that question would agree that yes, all other things being equal, if you strapped a weight belt on you could lift at least a little more weight than you could without it. This is why pro power lifter and Olympic weightlifters use them. Now, ask yourself the same question we apply to clipless pedals...does this make lifting with a weight belt "better" than lifting without one?

Again, in this situation most of you reading this won't be so quick to answer "yes". Most of us recognize that just because you can lift more weight with a weight belt that certainly doesn't make it "better" than not using one.

In this situation we naturally recognize the need to not use the weight belt all of the time for everything we do. Building your core strength and movement without the aid of the weight belt will help you be stronger and more injury resistant both in the gym and in the real world.

So the answer to the question of "is a weight belt better than lifting without one" is that it depends on the situation. If you are using a max load and trying to break a PR on the deadlift then it might be a good idea to use one.

But if you are just doing a regular workout you should probably "train raw", which means to use no support equipment. The strongest guys in the world know that the stronger you are "raw" the stronger you will be when you use the weight belts and other support equipment.

So, let's bring this back to the question of "are clipless pedals better than flats"? And right now some of you may be wondering what the hell a weight belt has to do with clipless pedals and your feet.

Click here to learn how clipless pedals really work, why they are just like a "weight belt for your feet".

So, in conclusion, clipless pedals certainly do benefit some riders in certain situations. But, as you'll see in the blog post, that benefit is not derived from allowing your legs to do something different than what they can do on flats.

They do it by artificially strengthening the weak link in the movement chain, which is the feet. However, the tradeoff is potential bad habits and unnatural weak and tear on other joints.

This means that if you are going to use clipless pedals that you should have a strong base built on flats (I suggest at least a year on them exclusively) and that you still use flats to keep your pedal stroke and skills honest while reducing potential overuse injuries

Learn to ride on flats. After building a strong base on flats then you can consider using clipless pedals for racing and high performance purposes.

But don't use clipless pedals as an everyday crutch or think that you need to use them to be a really good rider.This approach will let you use both pedal systems to maximum effectiveness for your needs instead of getting caught up in the dogma of which is "better".

Until next time...

Ride Strong,

James Wilson

MTB Strength Training Systems

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