eXotic Alloy Flat pedals review

eXotic offers a fine set of no-nonsense alloy flat pedals that deliver on performance and are great value. At this price, there is little to moan about, but some slight improvements such as longer pins would make these outstanding.

Built from 6061 Aluminium extruded body, with a CNC machined Cr-Mo spindle with twin sealed bearings, they are 17mm at the highest point. The pedal platform measures a reasonably large 94x95mm - which for my size 9 feet offered heaps of pedal to stand on - the pins are replaceable and with 10 per side, they strike a nice balance for grip, but if you break one off, you may be pushed to get the rest out as they rely on an Allen key to be undone. They spin on twin sealed bearings.

The faces are slightly concave, although the spindle area raises a little, and perhaps sacrifices some of the grip so your foot doesn’t sink so far down. Looks wise they are quite industrial and not especially refined - this has only a small bearing on the performance, as on the odd time I clipped them on rocks and so on, a slightly smoother edge could help them slide a little more, as opposed to a solid clout.

The standout is obviously the price, and the level of performance as well - you’d be hard pushed to find much to grumble about, and I’m being picky on the pedal catching. They are a simple construction, so should be simple enough to pull apart and get new bearings in. I found the rubber shield on the inside moved off at times towards the cranks - which is less than ideal, as it adds an ingress point for all that trail muck.

Out on the trails, I rarely slipped a foot, and the decent size platform offers ample area to get your feet in position, I rode with different types of flat soles and obviously the stickier soled shoes worked better, but even with a stiffer and harder sole, there is a decent enough amount of grip.

I’d like to have seen some longer pins offered for a really aggressive pedal, as leaves or mud did at times cover the pins if it got super mucky.

They feel robust when you stomp on them and there is no feeling of flex, just a stable decent sized platform - the CrMo spindle takes care of that, and with a weight of around 430g they aren’t too hefty, but not so light I’d have concerns on their strength. They may not have the flowing and fancy CNC machining of more expensive pedals, but for the price, and with the other colour options (blue, gold, green, orange, pink, purple, red, white and yellow) you’ll be hard pushed to find anything better.