At the heart of this it my belief that clipless pedals hurt people. One of my earliest influences in this industry was Ian King and he always preached injury prevention first and foremost. He always said “If you’re hurt it don’t matter how fit and fast you are”.
One of the things that I keep throwing out there but keeps getting glossed over is the 85% overuse injury rate among cyclists. I personally don’t think that cycling is a dangerous sport and that the vast majority of participants are simply doomed to some sort of ongoing knee, back or neck issue. Much like running, which suffers from 80%+ overuse injury rates as well, I think that it is not the activity but how we’ve screwed it up by trying to “improve” on how Mother Nature made us to move.
Add in the riders who get hurt from their clipless pedals either popping out when they were not expecting it or couldn’t get out when they needed to and you have a lot of riders suffering. Even if you had to take a significant performance decrease I’d still argue that flats are, functionally speaking, better and that clipless pedals should be reserved to racing situations only.
However, this is not the case. The two examples that people always fall back on in the “every pro does it” argument is XC and gated racing, two extremes that don’t represent real trail riding. Let’s take XC racing off the table – sure, there may be some technical features on some pro courses but until every course steps up and you get penalized for jumping off and running over technical features then I’m not buying it. And let’s take gated racing off as well since most of us don’t have a gate start at the trail head. My message is for the average rider out there who wants to ride faster and with more confidence on the trail.
DH racing is seeing more and more flat pedal riders making podiums so there is nothing definitive there and the vast majority of those guys can rip trail with flats. Your average freeride/ slopestyle/ dirt jump rider can rip trail as beautifully as anyone and the vast majority of them don’t clip in. I’m not talking about road riding on dirt or gated racing, I’m talking about mountain biking with technical trail features and “pucker up” moments.
So, if there is no real advantage to clipless pedals (since they simply feed into a dysfunction while you can fix your movement to better power flat pedals) then what it boils down to is are you willing to accept the injury risk associated with them? I’ve literally had dozens of riders make the switch and report no decrease in performance (once they got the technique down), an increase in fun and a decrease in chronic pain.
If you still think I’m wrong then please answer these question…
- Where is all the science that proves that clipless pedals are definitively better? If you don’t believe me then why believe the clipless argument without doing some research and seeing for yourself what proof they have? Look at the studies, too, because research done on riders in a seated position doesn’t necessarily translate over to the standing position.
- Am I wrong about my description of how the human body is made to produce lower body movement (using the hips to push through the “dead spot” instead of using the hip flexors to pull through) and how the foot is supposed to articulate during movement?
- Am I wrong in my description of how sitting and spinning with clipless pedals is completely removed from the description of proper movement? Or my description of how the clipless pedal interface and shoes screw up the natural inward rolling motion the foot is supposed to cycle though?
- Am I wrong in my assessment that the “sit and spin with clipless” mindset, and the horrendously dysfunctional movement it wreaks on the body, is at the heart of an 85% overuse injury rate?
If we can not refute these points then I think that there is something there. No one I’ve spoken with yet can refute all of these points which is why I’m starting to get a bit more vocal with my thoughts. In fact, last week I was visiting with Alwyn and Rachael Cosgrove, two of the best strength coaches in the country, and when I asked them about it they both told me that they couldn’t refute my logic and there was probably something there.
I don’t say this stuff just for the shock value as I really don’t care either way. Like I said in my podcast about this, I don’t own stock in flats pedals and 5-10 shoes, I just want to get to the truth. If someone can prove to me that clipless pedals offer a real advantage and don’t contribute to that 85% injury rate then I’ll admit I was wrong and go about developing the best programs in the world to take advantage of that.
So I won’t just let it go as long as people are needlessly wearing out their knees, hips, low back and neck. I won’t just chalk it up to “personal preference” as long as most new riders are encouraged to go clipless based on lies and half-truths and end up one of the timid souls I see every day on the trail who’s progression stagnated long ago.
While I will back off the statement that they are “worthless” (I’m sure that they offer someone some sort of advantage in some type of race) I won’t back off my assertion that they offer nothing but an increase in overuse injuries for the average rider who just wants to rip some sweet trail and keep enjoying some progression every year. Entire sports have been wrong about things before so ignoring my points and falling back on the “that’s not how everyone else does it” argument is a bit short sighted. Sports progress and I think that our sport, the sport of mountain biking, can progress past this road riding influence.
-James Wilson-
Posted by | in Mountain Bike Strength Training | 12 Comments
I got into an email discussion between my buddy Gene Hamilton (www.betterride.net) and a student of his regarding standing pedaling technique while climbing. Here’s my thoughts on that plus why I’m throwing the gauntlet down on clipless pedals…
Climbing while standing all comes down to body position, or more importantly you ability to hinge at the hips and not the low back. Any rounding of the low back and/ or upper back (I call it turtleing up) will throw off your power center and your balance.
Proper standing pedaling technique is nothing more than proper hip hinge technique where you’ve got your chest puffed out, and arch in your low back and being able to maintain that spine position while hinging at the hips. The only way, in my opinion, to really ingrain this and get it right on the bike is to get off the bike and train that movement pattern. So, if you really want to see good standing pedaling technique watch my deadlift demo video and ingrain that movement. If that is how you move you won’t have to “figure out” how to do it on the bike, it will happen with minimal thought and effort.
Now, since most riders can’t achieve that position when standing and instead apply a rounded “seated” posture while standing they can’t maintain traction on the rear wheel when climbing. I can climb much better when standing, when I’m seated I feel like I’m fighting my front end from popping up. The steeper the climb the more the front end wants to wander so I stand up and get long which spreads my weight out and lets me keep the front end down and traction on the rear wheel. Core and hip strength play a big role because you can’t lean on the handlebars (we know that is bad body position) and you need all your weight on the pedals but without adequate strength in those areas you will lean into the handlebars to support your weight rather than using your core and hips to “suspend” you body over your bottom bracket.
And about clipless pedals increasing power…they do, but not how you want them too. If you have someone who has long, weak glutes and short, tight hip flexors (your average rider, in other words) they literally can not use their hips to pedal through the “deadspot” on the bottom. You attach their feet to the pedals so they can now use their already overworked hip flexors to pull through the top. It did not fix the problem, it simply made you more efficient with your dysfunction. In the face of that instant performance increase people stop there and really ingrain the “sit, spin and pull through” technique. They never really learn how to use the most powerful muscles in their body (the hips) to power through the bottom of the pedal stroke which, in my opinion, ultimately limits their development.
That is not an advantage, it is a crutch that results in an appallingly high rate of overuse injuries. There is absolutely nothing that you can do with clipless pedals that you can’t do just as well, if not better, with flats. This isn’t even taking into account how clipless pedals completely screws up the natural “rolling” motion the foot goes through. Your foot is designed to strike mid foot on the outside and roll into the arch and pushing through the center of the midfoot. This rolling action creates a natural screwing motion and avoids a linear up and down motion, which is how the leg is designed to work. By attaching the foot to the pedal at the middle-midfoot position you take away the entire roll action and place a crapload of stress on the knees and hips. 85% overuse injury rates don’t lie – something is wrong with clipless pedaling.
Just because you are on a bike doesn’t mean that everything we know about how the human body is supposed to power movement goes out the window. We were convinced not too long ago that running shoes were great and we now know that you try to improve on mother nature at your own risk. The more I look at it the more I’m convinced clipless pedals are worthless and screw your body up.
Anyways, just some thoughts…
-James Wilson-
Posted by | in Mountain Bike Cardio Training, Mountain Bike Injury Rehab, Rider Q & A | 12 Comments
Q: I need some advice. I have a tendency to bonk and hit the wall on rides and races beyond one and a half hours. I Bonk more than anyone I know. I’ve got a reputation for it among my riding friends and it’s become something of a joke. All my friends have stories of when they have bonked, but it only seems like it happens to them a couple of times in their lives. Why is it such a regular thing with me?
When I was in my early 20’s I raced sport class XC where the race times were all under an hour and a half and I never had a problem with bonking. I won quite a few races in sport class. In the last 5 or 6 years I’ve tried to move up a class to expert where the races are around the 2 hour mark and I’ve had a really frustrating half a decade. I’ve bonked out of more races than I’ve actually finished. I haven’t been able to get to a stage where I can steadily gage my results and see if I’m improving because I’m always pulling out of races. It sucks and I need to get the right strategy to move on.
Posted by | in Rider Q & A | 1 CommentMost of us are twisted in one way or another…and I’m not talking about anything that you might be involved in (that’s your business). What I am talking about is how your body holds itself. Whether you realize it or not your body is probably contorting itself in order to give you the illusion of being “straight”.
Here is what I want you to do. Go into a quite, darkened room and close your eyes. Keeping your eyes closed, start to march in place. Make sure that you are bringing your knees up to that the top of your thighs are parallel to the ground. Set a timer for 60 seconds and march until the timer goes off.
When you open your eyes see where you are in relation to where you started. Odds are pretty high that you will have turned significantly to one side. If this is the case, it indicates that your body is twisted.
When we take away the auditory and visual stimulus (which is achieved by the quite, darkened room) your body will start to show you how it really holds itself. Read more…
Posted by | in Mountain Bike Injury Rehab, Mountain Bike Strength Training | 5 CommentsThis past weekend I got to go to Sol Vista near Granby, CO for the annual Mountain Bike National Championships. I went to watch some of the riders that I have been working with show how all the hard work and training has paid off. While I’m stoked on how all of the riders who have been using my programs fared there were a few notable performances I wanted to highlight.
On the girl’s side, Jacquie Harmony scored a second place in both the 4X and DH races. Riding for Team Vixen, Jacquie started using the Ultimate MTB Workout Program this last off season and epitomizes the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed at that level.
The men’s Pro 4X final saw two MTB Strength Training Systems clients take first and second. Team Yeti’s Ross “The Crusher” Milan edged Team Gerinomo’s Brian Buell to take home the Stars & Stripes jersey. I’ve been working with both teams and Brian, who has been steadily rising through the Pro ranks, has been using my programs for the last few years. I’m really stoked for Ross, we had a talk at the beginning of the season about how hard it was to juggle being competitive while being a dad – glad that he is able to do both!
On the DH side of things the real drama was who was going to get second and how close could they could get to Team Yeti’s Aaron Gwin. Gwinny worked like a mad man this off season after tasting what was possible towards the end of last season and the work we’ve done, combined with his extra year of experience, has taken his riding to a level no on in the US can touch. He crashed hard in qualifying and worked his thumb so bad he thought he was going to need to tape his hand to the handlebars to he could hang on. Despite having to set the pace right off the bat and noticeably being in a ton of pain he was still able to lay down a 2:21 and win by 3.5 seconds.
Gwinny in the Hot Seat...for over an hour
However, the good news did not stop there. Tyler Immer is one of the up and coming Yeti riders who I met at the team camp and has been working hard using my DB Combos program to get in shape during the season…that’s right, he’s been using it during the season and improving rapidly because he did not fall back on the “I don’t strength train during the season” excuse. He railed down the mountain to a 3rd place finish, missing 2nd by a little over .2 seconds.
Gwinny & Tyler on the podium
So, on the men’s side, 2 of the top 3 finishers in both the DH and 4X use programs and strategies from MTB Strength Training Systems. On the women’s side we saw a double sliver medalist who also uses the same programs and strategies. I don’t think I really need to say much more…
Dual National Champs!
Congratulations to all the riders who competed this weekend, it takes a lot of guts to line up and lay it all out there. No matter where you placed or how you trained you have my respect.
-James Wilson-
Posted by | in Random Vids, Pics & Stories | No CommentsHere is a complete look at what exactly is Barefoot Pedaling, why experiencing a performance dip is common and why most of the advantages attributed to clipless pedals simply are not true. Enjoy!
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