Mountain Bike Action recently put together a mountain bike flat pedal shoot out article. They took seven flat pedals and rode them all to see which ones they thought performed the best. The Spank Spike came out the winner, which personally doesn’t surprise me considering the pedals they tested it against. I would have picked a whole other batch of pedals for a test which would have included some domestically produced offerings from the likes of Point 1 Racing and Twenty6 Products. Check the review to see how their tests turned out.
What I look for when choosing a flat pedal:
- Pin Length – Are the pins short or long? Longer pins tend to give better traction, especially on the outside with the inside pins being a bit shorter. Gives the pedal an even more concave feel.
- Pin Type – Are they the standard screw type or more like a conical/needle shape? Sharper pins give better traction but can not be as durable. Also steel pins are more durable than aluminum.
- Pin Removal – Look at how the pins are inserted into the pedal. Will they be easy to remove if damaged? *Tip: In order to not damage the pedal body pin threads try cutting off the top of a bent pin with a set of diagonal cut pliers before removing it. Then remove the rest of the pin.
- Concave – Concave pedals feel much better under foot and let your shoe settle lower in the pedal for better riding position and traction.
- Thickness – Thick pedals are more likely to hit rocks while riding than thinner pedals. Especially important to think about this if your bottom bracket is low.
- Platform Size – How big is the pedal platform itself? More platform allows for greater foot movement/adjustment and more confidence while riding.
- Pedal Shape – Does the leading edge of the pedal have a flat angular face or is it rounded off or chamfered. The leading edge can glance of rocks more easily if it is angled or rounded off vs a blocky angular face.
- Weight: If weight isn’t a big deal to you I’d focus on the other aspects of the pedal. I tend to look at more lighter weight options myself.