Pedals are a very personal thing on bikes, and mountain bikers often times like prefer platform pedals that involve no clipping in. This is good for downhill and trials riding – as opposed to trail riding where riders typically want that clipped in feeling. Regardless of the system, most pedals are the same in that these are built around a sturdy axle.
But does it have to be that way? In other words, why can’t flat platform pedals in fact be actually flat? And not just flat but thin as well? To date the thickness of platform pedals has been determined by the thickness of the axle, which is where the Tioga ZEROaxle MT-ZERO comes in. It is ultra thin because it essentially loses the axle, with the result being a pedal that is just 7mm thick, making it the world’s “thinnest dual-concave mountain bike pedal.” And it is concave, so instead of the thickest part being the middle, it is actually the outer edges that are 7 mm, with the inside being just 4 mm thick, with the weight being just 450 grams or 15.87 oz.
Instead of an axle, the pedal is attached to a crankset via a bolt assembly, which utilizes sealed cartridge bearings that allow the pedal to rotate, and differ from traditional cartridges in that these are twice as large and thus withstand five times the dynamic load. That is important as the as the load is of course not spread along an axle and instead is concentrated at the bearings. The new news is that the bolt assembly or platform can be replaced individually, so if one part breaks users won’t need to buy a new set of pedals. But at just $99 (MSRP), the pedals are a lot of value for something so thin.
Tioga Official Website
[Via Gizmag: Tioga releases ultra-thin axle-less mountain bike pedal]