Here’s three sets of pedals the Dirt crew have been hammering

It was only when I picked these up off Ed H’s
desk that I realised they were pretty special
and a hell of a lot lighter than they looked.
“Dog ‘em on your bike” Ed said, so I did. I was
a bit suspicious as to why he would pass up the
opportunity to run such a fine pair of pedals
himself…until I remembered he’s one of those
clipped in kooks.
Anyhows, I think a lot of
thought has gone into these Superstar pedals
and the results are for all to see – simple lines,
neat seals, slim profile, subtle graphics, perfect
coverage area for normal feet and just the right
amount of pins in all the right places. I’ve run
these now on my Meta 4X for three months in
all conditions and they’ve held up beautifully.
The main pedal body has taken a fair few knocks
and the magnesium alloy seems to scuff and
dent as oppose to scratch, scrape and snap like
other pedals have in the past.

They come in
at 320g (with the mud you see above) for the
pair, which is a load lighter than any pedals
I’ve had before, and they’ve still got fully sealed
replaceable cartridge bearings and a strong Cr–
Mo axle. They’ve got a subtle concave profile to
them which feels great, and I’ve not had to touch
them on the maintenance front, no stickiness,
no squeaky bearings and no baggyness. They
are as solid now as they were three months
ago, and I can’t see that changing anytime soon.
Great pedals for sensible money. JG

Price: £59.99
Superstar Components 01522 705 121
Superstar

We might as well get it out the way now…I’m
not cool cos I ride clipped in. Anyway, now
that’s over and done with I can tell you why
I love these pedals. It’s simple really, they
just work perfectly and they last for years.
I’ve tried pretty much every other make of
clipless pedal out there, but every time I come
back to these.
When they first changed to the
plastic cage I was a bit worried that it was a
bad move, but the fact is they last better than
the old aluminium ones. These pedals are also
much better in the mud than the old designs
thanks to the cleat being suspended in mid air.
I think the main thing I missed when using
other pedals was the adjustable tension, I like
to run them super stiff so there’s no chance of
accidentally coming out.
Even running them
like that I find they’re one of the easiest pedals
to clip in and out of, I just can’t fault them. Of
course I wouldn’t complain though if Shimano
were to make them a bit lighter. EH

Price: £59.99
Madison 0800 1300 598
shimano

So lets begin with “Why?” Why buy these? OK
well I’ve been riding a fair amount this season,
a mixture of tests, trail features, downhill,
events…the kind of stuff you do for a bike mag.
I can go back over a year to when I first used
them in Finale, Italy. Since then they have
travelled everywhere with me.
They have
hoofed into Schladming root and clunked into
Californian gold. They always seem clean, their
thin profile always effectively displacing the
crap. Their slim line structure also appears
to avoid collisions, and the thin pins (all
replaceable) are the correct height for good
contact. “What the hell you doing with those
Kona pedals?” people always ask. Well they
work and they seem to have lasted amazingly,
they don’t rattle and they’re the right price. I’m
trying to hammer them but don’t seem to be
doing a particularly good job. SJ

Price: £60
Contact: Paligap 01179 823 673
paligapltd

downhill mountainbike pedals tested in dirt magazine