Two Plastic Pedals Reviewed by Top Member Reviewer and Jenson USA Award Winner 4

Every month we award the Top User Reviewer with a little prize. This month Jenson USA pitched in another $100 gift card! Vital member FilipK took home top honors with his reviews of two plastic pedals:

HT Components PA01A Flat Pedal - MSRP: $55

The Good: Platform shape. Decent traction. Cheap. Light. Reliable enough. Simple to rebuild.

The Bad: Short in length. Basic seal.

"I pretty much learned how to ride on these pedals, and only recently after 8 or so years, I started to be really conscious of their limits. The market seems to only now realize plastic pedals, while not as bling off the store shelf can be as good, if not better than their aluminum counterparts. Lighter, better looking when smashed, cheaper, and if they have the right shape, as this one does, equally good in performance. Well, HT knew this for a while and luckily me too.

Riding trail and enduro bikes, used with shoes like the 5.10 Freerider, 5.10 Sptifire, Specialized 2FO 1.0, and for quite some time Vans Atwood, I rarely lacked grip. But you can probably guess by my footwear choice that all-out grip and locked in feeling is not what I am after. I would sum it up by saying that repositioning my feet on PA01A doesn’t take a second thought, but making it through really choppy rock gardens with a foot still in the same place definitely did take conscious thinking. Limits come mostly from their size, especially front to back length, which can make softer shoes wrap around the pedal to an uncomfortable extend and affect blood circulation. This could be felt under sustained heavy pedaling or sustained heavy descending (men's foot size: US - 11, EU - 44.5).

Long term, I only managed to break the body of their cheaper sibling, the PA12A, but I've also seen local riders huck themselves at a FMB Bronze event on these without and issue. After my incident, I still trusted the PA01A with a season in the rocky southwest of the US. Single bushing and two ball bearings are easy and cheap to rebuild without special tools, but for a price. I forgave myself for just letting them struggle under my feet for years with the occasional re-lube. And they still work...

For a beginner or a person with smaller feet, this is all the pedal you will likely need. The only downsides are the dated platform dimensions and rather primitive seal, so if you ride in particularly dusty or wet environments, you might look elsewhere." - Read more»

DMR V6 Flat Pedal - MSRP: $19.99

The Good: Very low price. Comfortable shape. Easy on the shins if concerned.

The Bad: Quality matches the price. Pins and bearings don't last long.

"What brought me to this pedal is its very promising shape. The prolonged platform, rounded edges, and deep center section doing its best concavity impression. Looking pretty much same as a DMR V12, which is the father of “almighty” DMR Vault, it must be good. And I’m happy to report it really is. Very comfortable, and in the dry quite confidence-inspiring. Unfortunately, plastic pins that are part of the mold are only good for dry weather trail riding or leisure riding on the streets. Any aggressive riding, whether in natural or concrete jungle, will grind or break the pins immediately and eat quickly into the body itself too.

But the real downside of these pedals is the internals. Not really rebuildable, with no protection for the elements, the bearings are notchy when new but become loose and worn very soon.

Just like I intended, these are good enough for a beater commuter or occasional pump track rig. But for a trail bike, they are only good as a quick band-aid or the first pedal for someone who is new to the sport and scared of metal-pinned shin shredders..." - Read more»

Shop HT and DMR Pedals at Jenson USA

Want to be in the running for July's award? Review the components, apparel, or bikes you ride in the Vital MTB Product Guide and keep an eye on the Top Reviewer leaderboard. We'll announce the winner in early August.