So, Q for the MTBers

[Nooch]

Just curious -- flats versus clipless, and what the heck do you ride in, clothing wise? I seem to be the only person that shows up to trails (in my neck of the woods) in 'roadie' kit...

Just monday morning musings..

[Matthew]

Clipless. And I also ride in my "road" kit.

[Gummee]

Clipless. And I also ride in my "road" kit.

I ride in my '2nd best' stuff from the road when riding mtn bikes. No sense risking the 'good stuff' in a fall

M

[chiasticon]

I ride in my '2nd best' stuff from the road when riding mtn bikes. No sense risking the 'good stuff' in a fallsame. and I do this for CX practice too. it's not just that the potential for crashes is a bit higher off road, it's that you can snag your clothing on tree branches and rip it. I'd rather rip cheaper/older stuff than my sunday best. I've toyed with the idea of riding in more casual MTB clothing, and I do have friends that do it. I'm comfortable in "roadie kit" though and I think it works well for evacuating sweat, so not sure there's a real need to change.

I ride clipless. same as I do on the road and for CX. never really thought about not doing so as I think it gives you more power through the full pedal stroke. plus you can wear stiffer shoes and not get a hot spot where the pedal sits.

[chunkylover53]

Clipless all the way. Wear what ever you want and feel comfortable in. I personally like baggies, other guys I ride with are all lycra. Then you show up at a trail head in BC and all the local young rippers are riding flats, and wearing flannel shirts and pants...

[Nooch]

I should mention, I just swapped (and only have like, two rides on them) to flats and 5.10's, as more of a confidence booster -- i can drop a foot down easier to recover, so I've been taking a few more risks the last two rides. That said, the climb up to the top of the trail sucked a bit more.

I know this is all in my head and some straight up fashion police nonsense, but I feel 'not right' wearing 5.10's and road kit... like, it just doesn't match, lol..

[commonguy001]

I've gone back and forth between flats and clip in pedals a bunch of times, currently clipped although I like both.
I usually wear my road bibs with a pair of shorts over them if only to keep them from getting tore up... not sure it makes that much of a difference. If I'm doing a longer day with a s-ton of pedaling in the heat I'll just wear my roadie kit as it's cooler and you can unzip your jersey.

My main trail head that you see a ton of people at has basically no one in lycra but it's mostly used for enduro type riding or the shuttle pick-up point for a DH run. It's one of my usual stops on longer gravel rides and I don't think anyone has given my road kit a second look. I've actually chatted with a number of guys/gals who do the big OMTM rides that go through there and they've always been super cool with great route suggestions.

[p nut]

Summer, I wear road jerseys. Fall, I wear button down flannel. Some cheap shirt from target.

Shorts. My favorite is Catella Highland. Deep pockets for phones and other stuff. Tighter fitting than most MTB baggies. Good stretch. Good abrasion resistance (got to test that out on a crash or two).

https://catella.cc/product/highland-short/

Club Ride shorts are nice as well. But a little more baggy than Catellas.

Pedals: Clipless. Unless I’m on the fat bike or Rivendell cruiser.

[bigbill]

Clipless pedals. Like others, I wear older road stuff but in the last few months I have bought some MTB shorts and liners. The liners are PI and have the same chamois as some of my favorite road bibs. Most of the time I'm in a Tshirt but I'm also in the land of single digit humidity. When it gets cool, I wear one of my five Descente long sleeve jerseys that I got for $20 each about 13 years ago.

When this whole ATB/MTB thing was young, we wore our road stuff because that's what we had. Then it became an extreme sport and fashion followed. Tinker Juarez is around here, he wears lycra, and you don't get much cooler than Tinker.

[Jaybee]

Summer, I wear road jerseys. Fall, I wear button down flannel. Some cheap shirt from target.

Shorts. My favorite is Catella Highland. Deep pockets for phones and other stuff. Tighter fitting than most MTB baggies. Good stretch. Good abrasion resistance (got to test that out on a crash or two).

https://catella.cc/product/highland-short/

Club Ride shorts are nice as well. But a little more baggy than Catellas.

Pedals: Clipless. Unless I’m on the fat bike or Rivendell cruiser.

This is kinda where I am as well. Tech T in long or short sleeve depending on temp. Maybe a flannel. Slim fit "baggies". Old bibs underneath, knee warmers if it's 55 or less. If you want cheapie shorts: Target golf shorts are a decent fit and durability though not nearly as well finished and fit as the Catellas or similar.

Flat pedals and 5.10s are fine. You'll get used to the pedal stroke.

[eippo1]

I use the Shimano 9120 pedals. Can clip in or can use the platform if I'm coming into a turn and want to have the foot ready to stomp down.

Also love using Dakine, Yeti or PI mtb bike shorts because I can easily ditch on my side and my shorts will not shred. Also had a pair of road shorts snag on a branch and finished the rest of the ride with a slit going all the way up to the top of my thigh. I wear either road bibs or a more breathable insert underneath. Also go for looser mtb jerseys with no pockets so that I can be more comfortable with my bladder backpack.

https://bike.shimano.com/content/dam/productsite/shimano-northamerica/img/article/shimano-advice/pedals/PD-M9120.jpg

[NHAero]

These Catella shorts have a chamois like a road short?

Summer, I wear road jerseys. Fall, I wear button down flannel. Some cheap shirt from target.

Shorts. My favorite is Catella Highland. Deep pockets for phones and other stuff. Tighter fitting than most MTB baggies. Good stretch. Good abrasion resistance (got to test that out on a crash or two).

https://catella.cc/product/highland-short/

Club Ride shorts are nice as well. But a little more baggy than Catellas.

Pedals: Clipless. Unless I’m on the fat bike or Rivendell cruiser.

[DRZRM]

Yeah, I ride Five Tens with flats on rocky trails, though there are a few trails here that are engineered to be fast and swoopy (Raystown PA) and I'll swap out to Sidi's and XT clipped in pedals. I generally wear MTB baggies over padded liners or bibs just to protect them (and me) in case of a crash, and generally wear my road jerseys that are a bit less fitted on top.

[fmradio516]

I first started riding clipless because i was having a hell of a time getting up long, technical climbs without bouncing my feet off the pedals. Then i set up my suspension+tire pressure right, and changed to flats. I was also falling at least once every ride because i couldnt get unclipped in time. I also think riding clipless can lead to "bad technique" if you want to get super techy on the trails. Ive been riding flats all year and havent even thought about going back to clipless...

I ride in a baggy jersey(w/a baselayer) and baggy shorts(cheap Zoics w/liners from REI are fine, unless you get a pair with bad zippers)

[ltwtsculler91]

Well if the rest of us still mountain biked, we'd be out there in roadie kits too :bike:

That said, I really like the Gore Windstopper shorts to throw over tights for the winter to keep warm and from getting cut up. Jacket, just use the older ones

[JAGI410]

Flats for fun rides, clipless for endurance rides. Club Ride (the brand) shirt and Zoic shorts. Sometimes a 3/4 sleeve Enduro type baggy jersey. Never ever road kit, that's a no no outside of an XC race.

[KonaSS]

Always clipless and always roadie kit. Trails here call for XC type riding. Sometimes we get someone showing up in something baggy, if they continue to ride with us, they usually ditch the baggy stuff. No matter what, that stuff doesn't breathe as well as roadie kit.

[p nut]

These Catella shorts have a chamois like a road short?

No chamois. You really don't need them MTBing, unless you're riding more "gravel" type events (i.e. Leadville). You're constantly standing up going over obstacles, pumping, jumping, etc.

That's me, anyway. There are other MTB shorts with pads, so some people must like them.

[fmradio516]

No chamois. You really don't need them MTBing, unless you're riding more "gravel" type events (i.e. Leadville). You're constantly standing up going over obstacles, pumping, jumping, etc.

That's me, anyway. There are other MTB shorts with pads, so some people must like them.

I use a chamois unless im riding downhill mtn bikes. May be overkill for a FS bike, but i appreciate the extra padding.

[Jaybee]

No chamois. You really don't need them MTBing, unless you're riding more "gravel" type events (i.e. Leadville). You're constantly standing up going over obstacles, pumping, jumping, etc.

That's me, anyway. There are other MTB shorts with pads, so some people must like them.

I use a chamois unless im riding downhill mtn bikes. May be overkill for a FS bike, but i appreciate the extra padding.

I think position matters a lot for the chamois/no chamois debate. My trail and fatty are upright enough and saddles wide enough that I'm pretty comfortable for up to 4 hours with no chamois. If I'll be out longer or doing some really long pedally sections then I use the old bibs underneath the shorts. I've got friends with lower positions that are always in chamois regardless of the ride length/chillness.

[kingpin75s]

I only wear any kind of kit for endurance rides/races, road or mountain.

For daily road and mountain riding through most of the summer:

Rapha Merino Tank Top - or - Icebreaker fitted T
Rapha padded (minimally) boxer briefs
Outlier shorts (with a little stretch to them)

Variations on the above as it gets colder. Yesterday it was 37 degrees so Rapha padded boxer briefs and some old SWRVE Black Label winter softshell trousers. Lots of layers and a Mission Workshop Orion up top.

For clip vs flat, I generally clip in for road and mountain. I have pretty good form and did run flats and 5-10s for a number of years when I got back into mountain biking to make sure I was not developing poor habits.

[Tony]

I use the Shimano 9120 pedals. Can clip in or can use the platform if I'm coming into a turn and want to have the foot ready to stomp down.

Also love using Dakine, Yeti or PI mtb bike shorts because I can easily ditch on my side and my shorts will not shred. Also had a pair of road shorts snag on a branch and finished the rest of the ride with a slit going all the way up to the top of my thigh. I wear either road bibs or a more breathable insert underneath. Also go for looser mtb jerseys with no pockets so that I can be more comfortable with my bladder backpack.

https://bike.shimano.com/content/dam/productsite/shimano-northamerica/img/article/shimano-advice/pedals/PD-M9120.jpg

The extended aluminum (front and rear) does offers a better platform unclipped like you mentioned, however when clipped they offer no support/contact with the shoe. It's there for pedal protection. I mention this as many folks think its a bigger platform while pedaling, its not.

[vqdriver]

the one maxim of mtb is that the terrain dictates everything. quite literally, the terrain will tell you what you 'need'. everything from wheel size to suspension type to tire tread to pedals to drivetrain. if everyone at your local trailhead is on pinned platforms, there's probably a reason. you may want to be non-conformist, but sometimes the herd has it right.

[batman1425]

Longtime roadies often reach for the clipless out of habit, but if you are new to MTB, you'll become a better rider faster using flats. Clips cover up your mistakes.

[Nooch]

The extended aluminum (front and rear) does offers a better platform unclipped like you mentioned, however when clipped they offer no support/contact with the shoe. It's there for pedal protection. I mention this as many folks think its a bigger platform while pedaling, its not.

This is good to know. I went out to a fairly technical, rocky area and just couldn't get into a groove trying to climb this section -- and every time I'd stop, I just couldn't get started again (with SPD's). I'm also short, so standover on a 29er is lacking a bit, so it was all a mess -- hence switching to the platforms until I 'develop' a bit more. While I had a mountain bike in my younger days, I'd never really spent any serious time mountain biking, so this is all quite new to me :)

[sparky33]

older road stuff but in the last few months I have bought some MTB shorts and liners.

Five Tens with flats

Wear what ever you want and feel comfortable in. I personally like baggies, other guys I ride with are all lycra.

Longtime roadies often reach for the clipless out of habit, but if you are new to MTB, you'll become a better rider faster using flats. Clips cover up your mistakes.

Five Tens and flats - for mtb'ing, only. They didn't make sense to me at first, but now I would never use anything else. Keeps me honest about the fundamentals of weighting and driving the bike.

Lycra, baggies, plain clothes - yes, yes or yes, whatever feels appropriate for the day. Leave the precious stuff at home.

[unterhausen]

I have some mtb shorts, but I don't usually use them. Too hot. I ride clipless. I asked the owner of my lbs what he thought about me changing to flats and he said not to do it. I haven't fallen because of being clipped in, but there have been some close calls.

All this offered with the caveat that I'm not really up to riding the trails around here. Rock garden after rock garden.

[fmradio516]

Five Tens and flats - for mtb'ing, only. They didn't make sense to me at first, but now I would never use anything else. Keeps me honest about the fundamentals of weighting and driving the bike.

Lycra, baggies, plain clothes - yes, yes or yes, whatever feels appropriate for the day. Leave the precious stuff at home.

Yeah to 510's. I have the Freerider Pro's and let me tell you. The pro models are worth their weight in gold. The amount of protection to the top of your foot is amazing(compared to the base model); its almost like a steel toed boot. Ive snagged the top of the toe box on rocks and hidden stumps and just had them glide off. any soft toe box at that speed would have caused me to need to stop riding and been in agonizing pain.

But like everyone says, its all about where youre riding. if its smooth trails only, youll be fine with whatever. but super fast, techy trails, youll want better stuff.

[Butch]

Baggies over old bibs if ride is less than 3 hours, good bibs no baggies if longer, old road jersey if water bottles and no hydration pack, fast or short rides, Club Ride etc jersey if using pack. In my group of Steamboat friends anything goes

[Peter P.]

Clipless. And I also ride in my "road" kit.

Same. Also, no dope, mexican food, or beer. ;)

[Peter P.]

Clipless. And I also ride in my "road" kit.

Same. Also, no dope, mexican food, beer, or a visored helmet. I have some self-respect! ;)

[GonaSovereign]

WWND?
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/43/78/4d/43784df9a7a58ab39fe3d6a03dee49d3.jpg

IMHO: if you race MTBs, dress accordingly for better performance. If you're riding around for fun, do whatever floats your boat.

[adamhell]

i ride in cotton dockers and vans slip ons. deity black kat pedals.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Byv9FT8FrQ0/

[Lewis Moon]

Clipless. And I also ride in my "road" kit.

Yep. Same here. Flat pedals feel like I've lost a control point on my bike.
Road kit just works...and my interests tend more toward XC so I don't really have to do the MTB hipster/skater thing to blend in.

[Matthew]

I do tend to wear my older stuff more because of snags from trees, branches, etc. Plus I'm more likely to eat it on the trails than on the road!

[Matthew]

And I am also XC all the way. But I do like Mexican food.

[Lewis Moon]

I do tend to wear my older stuff more because of snags from trees, branches, etc. Plus I'm more likely to eat it on the trails than on the road!

I came home last week and found a 6 inch long, 1cm thick stick poking through both my gillet and jersey. Never even felt it.

...and I live in Arizona (and you don't) so, Mexican food is a staple.

[eippo1]

The extended aluminum (front and rear) does offers a better platform unclipped like you mentioned, however when clipped they offer no support/contact with the shoe. It's there for pedal protection. I mention this as many folks think its a bigger platform while pedaling, its not.

This is absolutely true. That was for me a positive since I want them to feel like clipless when my foot is in there. However, I find that they are a huge help when I eff up on an uphill and need to get going again. And again when I unclip prior to a turn.

[p nut]

The extended aluminum (front and rear) does offers a better platform unclipped like you mentioned, however when clipped they offer no support/contact with the shoe. It's there for pedal protection. I mention this as many folks think its a bigger platform while pedaling, its not.

Can’t speak for Crank Bros and Time’s I’m using now, but I’ve never had any of my SPD’s break. And I’ve had a lot of pedal strikes. None of my friends have had one break either. Yet, it is a feature listed per Shimano. I’ve used them before but can’t see what benefit there is, other than unclipped pedaling.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deorext-m8000/PD-M8020.html

[Tony]

Can’t speak for Crank Bros and Time’s I’m using now, but I’ve never had any of my SPD’s break. And I’ve had a lot of pedal strikes. None of my friends have had one break either. Yet, it is a feature listed per Shimano. I’ve used them before but can’t see what benefit there is, other than unclipped pedaling.

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deorext-m8000/PD-M8020.html

The trail versions have a slightly bigger contact area.
Same here regarding durability, several pairs that I've been using for over 15+ years, transferred from one bike to another, not pretty but still working great.

[chrismoustache]

Went from flats, to Crank Bros, back to flats. Mostly because I need to be ready to chase after the dog if and when he decides to 'investigate' porcupines.

[EricChanning]

I started hitting the trails again after years of mostly road. I'll wear a road kit for races otherwise I'm riding mostly XC bib liners with slim breathable shorts from swrve that I don't call baggies. The shorts aren't baggy, they just are not tights. I wear a poly technical t-shirt that breathes well or merino if it is cooler.

I wear Fjällräven Abisko Trekking Tights in the colder months. They have pockets and are more durable than roadie tights. They aren't lined in fleece which is nice.

A bicycling mag writer recently posted a story about how wearing more casual gear during a mtb ride causes you to have more fun and take the ride less seriously. It's still up. "Enclothed cognition" was the term she mentioned.

[redir]

I like quality flat pedals with Five Ten shoes. I rode clipless for years and decided to try flat after reading an article in Dirt Rag mag about it and have never desired to go back. The first thing I noticed was that my downhill times improved. I would have thought that would have been the opposite but I feel al of more confident and safer on flats going fast down hill. I also like it for very slow rooted or rocky sections particularly uphill because I can stay on the pedal a lot longer. IOW I can bail out at the last moment without falling over so that means more power to the pedals longer and I can dig myself out of a hole.

With good shoes and pedals you can almost feel full pedal rotation. You can certainly "scrape the mud" on the bottom stroke. I'm still better at bunny hoping with clipless on but the cats that ride flats tell me it's jsut because I learned wrong and they are right.

[Nooch]

A bicycling mag writer recently posted a story about how wearing more casual gear during a mtb ride causes you to have more fun and take the ride less seriously. It's still up. "Enclothed cognition" was the term she mentioned.

N/M, found it :)

[GoldenUnicorn]

Always clipless. And I've never worn roadie kit on a MTB ride. Seen it happen lots of time, but never done it myself. In my group, you'd still be welcome, and its unlikely we'd even comment about your clothes.

Now, we'd probably comment about everything else, but we're assholes.

[sparky33]

I can't seem to find it -- would be curious to read it in my downtime :)

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a28422461/flannel-riding-shirt/

This article is somewhere between rehashing the Rivendell Reader and click-bait, though I take it as a benign affirmation of dressing as you prefer.

[Jaybee]

I feel like there might be something to "enclothed cognition". Wearing a flannel or a hoody definitely takes the edge off. And though I won't say everyone ripping up the climbs in lycra is "intense", 100% of the people who are definitely too intense are wearing lycra.

This extends beyond cycling too. I find my telecommuting is vastly enhanced by dressing like an adult even if I could be wearing PJs.

[benb]

It's just tribalism here.

When I started MTBing 99% of all the riders on the trails around here were on clipless and lycra.

Now almost none of them are. I'm still riding the same trails, I can still cleanly ride 99% of the local trails I'm riding on. I may not be jumping off the 10ft rocks like the baggy crowd but most of them are not landing those around here anyway.. they just get hurt a lot more than me. The trails didn't change to world cup downhill runs and the trails are not lift supported ski area trails. There are guys who ride these same trails in baggies & full face helmets and armor & $10,000 long travel F/S rigs but they're still riding the same thing I am.

I tried baggies at one point and I just hate them. Can't move around as well, they snag on stuff more (our trails are closed in tight, not wide open), you get hotter/wetter, etc..

I have a love/hate with clipless. I freaking hate how you have to get the cleats exactly right. I feel like that gets worse as I get older, and if you get new shoes you start the whole thing over again. But it's what I'm used to, I don't feel like flats will make me faster or better through any of the harder/more technical areas, and if I get new shoes it presents some additional setup issues to deal with. For sure clipless is more work to setup right but I already have it setup and I have shoes I know work. I wear orthotics so if I was to use flats I might have to figure that out.

I guess I am "intense" though, cause I am there to ride through the trails. I'm not there to stop and shoot the breeze for 15 minutes and watch people try to get air down a hill, I'm not there to walk back up a section and re-ride down it 10x, etc.. a lot of people are there for that now.

[benb]

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a28422461/flannel-riding-shirt/

This article is somewhere between rehashing the Rivendell Reader and click-bait, though I take it as a benign affirmation of dressing as you prefer.

It's bicycling.com so they're probably just trying to sell Flannels too. This whole lifestyle stuff is pretty out of control.

The problem with the flannels is they're still close to $100 just like technical jerseys and if they have pockets on the back do you really want to wear them off the bike?

I guess if it's just a long sleeve bike jersey that's made to look like a flannel it would be similar in bad weather but the author would not have been the one in trouble if the weather took a bad turn like she expected... the casual flannel friend could have been in trouble.

[Jaybee]

It's just tribalism here.

When I started MTBing 99% of all the riders on the trails around here were on clipless and lycra.

Now almost none of them are. I'm still riding the same trails, I can still cleanly ride 99% of the local trails I'm riding on. I may not be jumping off the 10ft rocks like the baggy crowd but most of them are not landing those around here anyway.. they just get hurt a lot more than me. The trails didn't change to world cup downhill runs and the trails are not lift supported ski area trails. There are guys who ride these same trails in baggies & full face helmets and armor & $10,000 long travel F/S rigs but they're still riding the same thing I am.

I tried baggies at one point and I just hate them. Can't move around as well, they snag on stuff more (our trails are closed in tight, not wide open), you get hotter/wetter, etc..

I have a love/hate with clipless. I freaking hate how you have to get the cleats exactly right. I feel like that gets worse as I get older, and if you get new shoes you start the whole thing over again. But it's what I'm used to, I don't feel like flats will make me faster or better through any of the harder/more technical areas, and if I get new shoes it presents some additional setup issues to deal with. For sure clipless is more work to setup right but I already have it setup and I have shoes I know work. I wear orthotics so if I was to use flats I might have to figure that out.

I guess I am "intense" though, cause I am there to ride through the trails. I'm not there to stop and shoot the breeze for 15 minutes and watch people try to get air down a hill, I'm not there to walk back up a section and re-ride down it 10x, etc.. a lot of people are there for that now.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be the kind of "intense" I was referring to above. The people that are really too intense are ripping by hikers and dog-walkers at full speed, not yielding on the downhills, passing other cyclists with little or no warning and questionable space, and generally creating a bad name for mtbikers on already-crowded trails. They're rare, but memorable. Just being there to get a ride in and being serious about it doesn't make you that person.

[fmradio516]

I have a love/hate with clipless. I freaking hate how you have to get the cleats exactly right..

do you mean so that they clip out easier?

[djg21]

Clipless. And I also ride in my "road" kit.

XTR SPuD pedals and Lycra/road kit. I don’t get loose MTB clothing that causes chafing and gets caught on the nose of my saddle or other stuff.