ANVL Tilt Flat Pedal

Transition’s young house brand ANVL has been making quality components for a few years now, but it’s fair to say that the original version of the Tilt flat pedal was not much to write home about. Fast forward to 2018, and a brand new version is set to ruffle some feathers, thanks to smart design and an aggressive price point. We've had a pair out on the trails for about one month now, and we’ve been quite impressed so far – read on to find out more.

ANVL Tilt Flat Pedal Highlights

• 105mm x 105mm platform
• Chromoly spindle
• Full CNC 6061 alloy body
• 2 oversized outboard sealed bearings / 1 inboard DU bushing
• 17mm thick body
• Pins: 10 replaceable, 9mm set screws
• Color: Grey, Orange, Black, Blue
• Weight: 405 grams (pair, verified)
• MSRP: $99.99 USD

Initial Impressions

The new Tilt pedal takes inspiration from some of the best flat pedals currently on the market, but with an identity that remains its own. The pedal body is machined from a block of 6061 alloy, with a mix of smooth edges and CNC tooling marks that gives it a “polished industrial” look. The edges are moderately chamfered to help the pedal slide over obstacles, with a generally open design that should help clear mud easily during the wetter months.

At 105x105 the platform is a little bit smaller than some of the pedals we’ve been testing lately, while the Pin-To-Axle number remains a highly respectable 110mm.

In terms of measurements, ANVL has managed to squeeze out a lot of usable real estate without going overboard on the dimensions. At 105x105 the platform is a little bit smaller than some of the pedals we’ve been testing lately, while the Pin-To-Axle number remains a respectable 110mm. The body offers two millimeters of concavity front to back and side to side, which becomes six when you factor in the pins. To allow you to easily compare the new Tilt with the rest of the contenders featured in our big Flat Pedal Face Off article, here are the full measurements (we've been told the final production version will ship with 1.5mm longer pins than our test sample, add that number where necessary):

How did ANVL manage to optimize the PTA while keeping the overall platform size in check? By placing the pins quite close to the edges, which allows them to provide a fairly wide effective footprint under the shoe without having the pedal stick out too much on the sides. To make sure the pedal is still strong enough in these critical areas, they’ve left a lot of material directly under and around the pins.

In terms of hardware, the new Tilt spins on a chromoly axle with two outboard bearings and an inboard DU bushing. This is a proven design that should bode well for overall longevity, although we wouldn’t be surprised to see the DU bushing develop a bit of play after a while as that is often the case with this particular component. To help avoid premature wear, there is a rubber axle boot that sits up flush against the pedal body to prevent dirt and water from getting into the pedal from that side. The pins are simple set screws – great for grip, sometimes tricky to remove if you snap one.

On The Trail

Since the pedal body sits away from the crank arm, installing the new Tilt pedals requires nothing more than an 8mm allen key and you’re good to go. From the get go, it became obvious that the Tilt offers lots of grip and a very positive feeling underfoot. Set screws make great pins, even when they are relatively short as they are here, they always seem to manage to dig in and hold on (as mentioned previously in the article, the production version of the pedal actually ships with 1.5mm longer pins).

The generous amount of concavity on offer lets the sole sink into the pedal and allows the pins to really do their job, while the thin profile means that your foot is never at risk of rolling the pedal.

The overall shape of the Tilt is confidence inspiring, and it’s easy to place your foot in a comfortable spot. The generous amount of concavity on offer lets the sole sink into the pedal and allows the pins to really do their job, while the thin profile means that your foot is never at risk of rolling the pedal. Being just a little bit smaller than the pedals we’ve been testing most recently required some adjustment, but it didn’t take long for our foot placement to become second nature again.

With a relatively compact overall profile and a well-designed shape, we’ve found the Tilt helps us sneak through tight spots where bigger platforms would sometimes seem to get hung up. We also found that it works quite well even when you get your foot placement wrong. Overall, comparing the new Tilt to the top contenders in our Flat Pedal Face Off feature, we’d give it a grip score of 9 which would see it make its way into the top-5 based on the rest of the numbers. Since this is only a First Ride test, we reserve final judgement until we’ve been able to test the Tilt for a longer period of time and in different conditions, but it definitely seems that ANVL got this one right. Cherry on the cake: at $99.99, it's among the least expensive pedals of all the front runners.

Things That Could Be Improved

As we mentioned before, set screws make great pins when it comes to grip, but the front loading design means it can be difficult to remove damaged or snapped pins. We’d also like to see a few spares included in the box, it’s always nice to have them on hand if something should happen.

Long Term Durability

This is just a First Ride type of review, so we will need to come back to this section after some more time on the trail. For now, we will say that the hardware design choices seem solid from a durability point of view, and the overall shape and form of the pedal body inspire confidence for the long term.

What’s The Bottom Line?

Flat pedals keep getting better and better, which makes it harder and harder to challenge for the top scores. ANVL has done just that with the new Tilt, presenting a thin and wide pedal that offers plenty of support while keeping both the overall external dimensions and the price tag in check. The concave design generates plenty of grip, and the bushing/bearing-based design should stand up to abuse. One for the short list, especially if you want maximum platform real estate but tend to smack your pedals into obstacles a lot.

More information at: www.transitionbikes.com.

About The Reviewer

Johan Hjord - Age: 45 // Years Riding MTB: 13 // Weight: 190-pounds (87-kg) // Height: 6'0" (1.84m)

Johan loves bikes, which strangely doesn’t make him any better at riding them. After many years spent practicing falling off cliffs with his snowboard, he took up mountain biking in 2005. Ever since, he’s mostly been riding bikes with too much suspension travel to cover up his many flaws as a rider. His 200-pound body weight coupled with unique skill for poor line choice and clumsy landings make him an expert on durability - if parts survive Johan, they’re pretty much okay for anybody. Johan rides flat pedals with a riding style that he describes as "none" (when in actuality he rips!). Having found most trail features to be not to his liking, Johan uses much of his spare time building his own. Johan’s other accomplishments include surviving this far and helping keep the Vital Media Machine’s stoke dial firmly on 11.

Photos by Nils Hjord and Johan Hjord