The Greatest Mountain Bike Flat Pedals of 2024

The most effective mountain bike flat pedals will aid you really feel assured by offering nice traction, predictable mobility, and a supportive platform to journey on. A poor pedal selection could cause your ft to slide round, including threat to each journey.

As one of many contact factors between you and your bike, pedals are a seemingly easy however essential element for stability and management. Like your grips or your saddle, pedals play an vital position in how you’re feeling in your bike – your ft might be on the pedals for practically all your driving time, so it’s key to seek out the proper flat pedals that be just right for you, your footwear, and your driving type. And, as a result of most mid to high-end mountain bikes don’t include pedals, you’ll must discover a pair.

Whereas most pedals share the identical fundamental design, there are various refined variations that affect the texture. Small modifications within the measurement, form, and profile of the platform, or the kind of pins and the way they’re patterned, can have massive impacts on how properly the pedals be just right for you and the way secure you’re feeling on the bike. Because of the wide selection of aesthetics, colours, and platform varieties obtainable, pedals are additionally a comparatively low-cost strategy to customise your bike and add some private aptitude.

We spent months testing 13 of the highest pedals obtainable throughout all worth factors and analyzing them primarily based on the platform (measurement, form, pin format, aesthetics, and end), traction/grip, mobility (repositioning the ft), serviceability, and weight. The precise set of pedals for you relies on your foot measurement, the footwear you journey in, the terrain you journey on, and your driving type, however we’ve chosen our favorites general and people who excel in particular methods like traction, mobility, innovation, and worth primarily based on these classes.

Our high suggestions are listed beneath, adopted by the very best of the remaining, that are all nonetheless worthy selections. To match the fashions we examined at a look, take a look at our comparability chart. In the event you need assistance deciding what to purchase, check out our shopping for recommendation or our FAQ part for solutions to frequent questions.

Editor’s Notice: This Information was up to date on June 26, 2024, with new content material that was initially posted on our sister website, BikeRumor.com.

The Greatest Mountain Bike Flat Pedals of 2024

Better of the Relaxation

Comparability Chart

How We Examined the Greatest Mountain Bike Flat Pedals

Our biking editors have been reporting on the most recent biking information, expertise, and merchandise for over a decade. Our staff is made up of passionate riders who span all disciplines of biking and have their fingers on the heart beat of the business. For our purchaser’s guides, we’ve sought out certified people to check and assessment merchandise facet by facet to type the idea for our comparisons and suggestions.

Our mountain bike flat pedal assessment writer, Paul Clauss, is a proficient mountain biker who has been driving virtually his complete life. Hailing from northern Vermont, Paul has nice entry to high quality, technical path driving with ample roots and rocks that make for nice flat pedal testing situations. He’s a mechanical engineer with expertise working with 3D printing and CNC manufacturing processes on quite a lot of merchandise, together with bike frames and elements. This background provides him distinctive perception into bike elements and applied sciences and a very good means to tease out the refined efficiency variations between the merchandise he assessments. On this position, Paul will get to mix his discerning tastes and love for writing into detailed opinions that may hopefully aid you discover the very best merchandise in your wants. Along with pedals, Paul has additionally just lately examined the finest flat pedal footwear and dropper seatposts, together with various different product classes.

After scouring the marketplace for the very best mountain bike flat pedals obtainable in 2024, we rounded up a various choice of 13 fashions for side-by-side testing and comparability. Every mannequin was examined in situations starting from moist to dry with equal elements climbing and descending. Typically, fashions have been swapped out mid-ride for back-to-back comparability. A pair of well-broken-in 5 Ten Freerider Professional footwear was used with all the pedals examined for consistency on Paul’s Santa Cruz Bronson and Chromag Wideangle hardtail mountain bikes. Every mannequin was judged on various efficiency traits, together with platform, traction/grip, foot mobility, serviceability, and weight to find out our favorites.

Shopping for Recommendation: Tips on how to Select the Greatest Mountain Bike Flat Pedals

With regards to selecting a pair of mountain bike flat pedals, there are plenty of choices. Particular person preferences and desires differ, in fact, however fortunately so do the pedals we examined. As one in every of your key contact factors on the bike, there are just a few variables to think about to assist choose the very best flat pedals for you.

Platform Measurement

Your shoe measurement and pure tendency in the direction of in/out-toeing will contact numerous dimensions and shapes of platforms in a different way. When you have very massive ft, you’ll doubtless profit from the help offered by a bigger platform, whereas a smaller platform may match higher for smaller-footed of us. In the event you like to hold your ft off the surface of the platform, pentagonal or rectangular shapes might give higher help for the surface of your foot than a hexagonal form. In case your ft are sore after driving, think about how your foot engages the pedal if you find yourself in your pedaling place on the bike and search for a measurement and form that optimizes help all through your foot.

Pedal Sizes

It stands to purpose that folks with smaller ft might not want the identical measurement platform as these with bigger ft, so some flat pedals are provided in numerous sizes with the objective of offering choices for various foot sizes. A number of manufacturers, like Crankbrothers and Wolf Tooth, provide their pedals in each small and huge sizes. For instance, Crankbrothers recommends the small model of their Stamp 7 pedal for riders with shoe sizes between 5 and 10 US, and the massive model for riders with footwear between 10 and 15 US. Wolf Tooth has a to-scale printable measurement comparability on their web site, which riders can use to find out the very best match of the WaveForm pedals for his or her shoe’s soles. Different manufacturers make quite a few fashions that usually have different-sized platforms for a similar purpose. Like anything, it comes down to private desire.

Q-factor

You might also need to think about the Q-factor. Q-factor refers back to the width of your stance on the bike – technically it’s the distance between the pedals on the outdoors of the cranks. Relying on how shut the internal fringe of the pedal platform sits in relation to the surface of the crankarm can change the efficient q-factor in your regular driving place. When you have large hips or are likely to take a really large stance, a wider q-factor could also be extra snug. In the event you journey cumbersome footwear or a body with massive chain stays or seat stays, a wider q-factor may also help you cut back rubbing your foot on the cranks and body. 

Profile: Concave vs Convex

You’ll additionally need to think about the platform profile – flat pedals could also be concave, convex, or flat. Like anything, preferences differ, however most riders favor one or the opposite. Concave pedals are thicker on the main and trailing edges and thinner alongside the axle. This creates a melancholy in the course of the pedal for the only of the shoe to sink into. Examples of concave pedals embrace the Deity TMAC, Chromag Dagga, Race Face Atlas, and Nukeproof Horizon Professional Enduro, which additionally occur to be among the grippiest fashions we examined.

Convex pedals are barely thicker on the axle and thinner on the main and trailing edges. This has the alternative impact of concavity, because it promotes the shoe’s sole flexing barely over the pedal to realize most grip. Basically, we’ve discovered that the convex design permits for considerably simpler foot mobility, because the pins are simpler to launch from the only of the shoe when repositioning. Each the OneUp Parts Aluminum and the PNW Loam Alloy have convex profiles.

Completely flat profiles are considerably uncommon, however the distinctive Pedaling Improvements Catalyst is an instance.

Traction and Grip

The traction offered by a pedal relies on the platform measurement/form/profile, the pin format, and the kind of pins. Pin peak and placement differ throughout pedals – some depend on pins positioned across the perimeter, and a few embrace central pins. Some pedals will let you regulate the pin peak by including or eradicating washers, whereas others don’t. The mixture of those totally different platforms and layouts modifications how a lot effort you must spend conserving your ft on the pedals whereas driving tough terrain. The rubber compound and tread design of the soles of your mountain bike footwear are additionally an element relating to grip.

The quantity of traction you need from a pedal relies on your driving type and preferences. Whereas a brilliant grippy pedal is likely to be nice for driving quick downhill trails, it is likely to be very delicate to foot place and grip so properly that it’s troublesome to reposition your foot – there are pedals that present an excessive amount of grip. The correct amount of grip is particular person to the terrain you journey and your driving type – if you end up struggling to reposition or rotate your ft usually to really feel like you’re in the proper spot on the pedals, you may need to strive a pedal with a bit much less general grip however with a pin sample, profile, and form that permits for higher mobility and is much less delicate to foot place. Riders coming from clipless pedals will need to pay particular consideration to rotational float if they’re excited by a flat pedal that feels much like clipping in.

Serviceability

Any time you journey your bike, your pedals put in some severe work. Not solely do they help a lot of your weight at nearly all occasions, however any time they’re spinning, the inner elements like bearings and bushings are doing their job. Given their location on the finish of the crank arms, below your ft, and near the bottom, they might even be subjected to impacts with trailside obstacles. Exhausting impacts can harm pedal pins, scratch the pedal physique, and even bend the spindles. Regardless of being a sealed system, water and dirt from the path could make their manner into the internals. After all, how typically you journey, the way you journey, the terrain the place you journey, and the climate situations during which you journey will play a job in how rapidly put on and tear happens in your pedals.

Fortuitously, most high quality flat pedals are designed to be serviced pretty simply to maintain them working easily. Primary service procedures usually solely contain just a few easy instruments to drag the spindle from the pedal physique for easy cleansing and regreasing. Most manufacturers promote bearing and bushing substitute kits and spindles so you possibly can rebuild your pedals ought to one thing bend or put on out. Spare pins are sometimes, however not all the time, included with new pedals so you possibly can change broken ones or people who have fallen out, and substitute pin kits are cheap and usually simple to seek out. Usually, yow will discover an educational video to information you thru the method. That mentioned, in case you are uncertain of your mechanic abilities or don’t have the instruments to do it your self, most good bike retailers can service your pedals for you.

Worth

In comparison with many different issues in mountain biking, pedals are a comparatively cheap element. And that’s an excellent factor since you possibly can’t journey a motorbike with out them. Nonetheless, the fashions we examined differ in worth fairly dramatically from $55 as much as $200. It should rely on how a lot you journey and the way a lot abuse you set them by, nevertheless it’s truthful to anticipate {that a} pair of pedals ought to final a few seasons or longer if taken care of correctly. Not surprisingly, the costlier fashions are usually comprised of higher-quality supplies, and so they usually provide increased general efficiency than the least costly choices. In the event you journey each day and have particular efficiency expectations of your pedals, then it’s in all probability finest to spring for a costlier pair to satisfy your wants. In the event you journey much less incessantly, much less aggressively, or just can’t justify shelling out the massive bucks for the high-end fashions, the inexpensive composite choices nonetheless carry out admirably at a fraction of the value.

Regularly Requested Questions on Mountain Bike Flat Pedals