Coming from road racing, I always took it for granted that if you are serious about biking, you have to be clipped in. Become one with the bike, let the cranks be the extension of your legs, my old trainer used to say. Although that is quite right for the road racing, it's not necessary true for mountain biking. I took the advice from Gary and Sinéad, and thanks to Stephen who was kind enough to give me his flat pedals to try, I never took them off the bike again (well, I did but only for cleaning and service).
I think that everybody who uses clipped in pedals and shoes, should at least try to ride flats on different terain. For me the difference was colossal. Not only it gave me more confidence during cornering at speed but made me feel the corners way better. For those who ski or surf it's like trying to do it with the knees bent as oppose to straight. For me the freedom of movement on the bike makes all the difference. Of course it gives me more confidence, but most important it's the ability to move the centre of gravity to follow the trail. But you might say, what about the climbs? That was something I was wondering about too. I think the time has come when people should realise that mountain biking is not road biking off road. That's called cyclo cross. We, mountain bikers should know that climbing the mountain on the bike should not be compared to running ( like road cycling is) only to dead weight lifting. Just like during the lift, we should be trying to push the ground away from us with our feet. And again flat pedals are just perfect for that.
Next great recent invention for the mountain bikes is the adjustable seatpost, or like some would call it a dropper post. The idea behind it is simple. When you climb then seat goes up allowing you to use maximum of the power transfer from your body to the crank arms. During descending you can drop the seat down to allow free movement on the bike letting you adopt a centre of gravity to the steepness of the slope or severity of the corner. In my opinion this device is as necessary on the mtb as brakes and gears. I've yet to meet anybody who disagrees. It surly is a game changer to your riding style, speed and a comfort for every type of riding, but especially AM , Trail and Enduro.
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