5 Common Errors with Mountain Bike Pedals and Shoes

Our shoes and pedals are the most important connection to our mountain bike. While coaching, we often see these common errors to do with pedal and shoe choices – be sure to avoid these and get the best out of your bike.

While riding technical terrain our only option to remain balanced and stable is by standing on our feet, that’s why we cover our basic body position and balance in our courses.

Our main goal is to have our weight equally distributed between both pedals so we have a good platform to stand on. The more technical the trail is, the more important this basic skill becomes.

When we’re riding very easy, smooth, and flat trails – we can just sit and pedal along. Once you add an incline, some rocks, loose gravel, or any other feature that challenges our balance, staying stable becomes critical.

This leads me to the main point – if you don’t have a good connection between your feet and your pedals, your balance will always be less than optimal.

Common errors with clipped-in pedals:

1. Getting clipped in too soon!

If you’re just making your first steps into mountain biking in general or technical riding – it can be a good idea to hold on a bit before getting clipped in. You want to develop a comfortable and loose attitude on the bike as well as get used to riding slowly and controlling the track stand technique.

Shops might be pushing you to buy clip-in shoes and pedals, but you should learn how to sync with your bike without a mechanical connection first.

2. Detaching one pedal while going into technical sections

OK, this is a bad one, and I see it a lot!
Where do you need the most control and best balance on your bike? In technical sections of course.
Still, because of a lack of confidence, I see riders often unclipping one foot so they can bail out, this creates the following problems:

• You start with a less stable platform to stand on.

• Your foot is a lot more likely to fly off the pedal – increasing your chances to fail and crash.

• Your mental attitude is all about bailing out instead of successfully riding the feature.

So – if you want to be clipped in and ride properly, here are 3 suggestions to get you going:

• Commit! If you decide to ride clip-in, make sure you understand the fundamentals and stick to it.

• Practice on more mellow trails and easier features so you can increase the level of your comfort and confidence.

• Get on flats, get your skill level up – and only then clip in.

Common errors with flat pedals:

1. Not investing in good pedals
   Cheap plastic pedals, pedals that have a very small platform, or pedals that don’t have enough grip – are often the same – a very cheap one.
   Get a decent flat pedal from a good brand so you can have a good platform to balance on.

2. Not riding with flat pedal-specific shoes.
   I was personally riding for years with hiking shoes, only when I switched to flat pedal shoes I understood how massive the difference is. They give way better grip and support and are a huge upgrade to “regular” shoes. I’ve personally been riding with FiveTen, Specialized, and Ride Concept shoes – all will get the job done!
   Make sure you have the right tool for the right job, shoes are the most important contact point we have with our bikes and are worth investing in.

3. Foot position
   Once you’re standing, it’s not easy to move your foot around the pedal – so make a habit of placing your foot in the “toes in the air” position, getting both good support from the pedal while maintaining the ability to drop your heel a bit for bracing and agility.

Conclusion

Without good foundations, there is no structure. Our foundation on the bike is the ability to stand and maintain balance and stability through our feet.

Make sure you understand why you’re choosing your gear, maintain a good connection to your bike through your feet, and don’t skimp out on good pedals and shoes! They are worth more as an upgrade than most gear and bike parts!