Review: Sixpack Skywalker Flat Pedals

In Issue #113 of Singletrack Magazine, we tested 17 different pedals as part of our Flat Pedal Group Test.

Sixpack Racing makes a lot of its own CNCed components in house. The Skywalker is the brands flagship pedal, and as such packs in a lot of features with a premium price. The most distinctive feature is the exposed axle, with a sealed compartment at each end for bearings. Those cutouts on the centre of the axle help bring the weight down to 378g, which with a 110 x 110mm platform size, is some serious bang for buck compared to everything but the skinniest of pedals we have on test.

Save for access to the axle end cap, there are no horizontal cutouts through any part of the body, giving them an exceptionally solid feel. Finish is very good, with some tool marks visible but they’re so fine you won’t feel them with anything but your fingernail. The anodising also seems to be harder than on most pedals, barely wearing off at all so far on even the most exposed points.

The exposed parts of the black axles have picked up some scratches, but this doesn’t affect performance and is purely aesthetic. I also found that, when stamping on them in really wet weather, my shoes could sink so far into the open cutouts that they made an amusing squeak against the axles at a certain point in my pedal stroke; again though, not something that affects performance.

The body design is interesting, and has one of the major factors that will decide whether these are for you or not: the bearing bulge at the crank end. Within it is a large bearing, which will push your shoe outward that extra half inch. Accordingly, and unlike many flats, the inner corners of the body are also brought quite far out from the crank. Between that and the axle bulge, effective platform width is around 80mm front and back, and about 100mm at the axle.

These measurements mean they’re not just for giant feet. I found them comfortable in size 9.5s, but I reckon they’d be fine a few sizes above or below that. Slight rounding keeps the corners out of the way, and pins under your shoe. The non-cutout sections of body over the axle are dead level with the front and back edges, and with long pins plus large cutouts there’s plenty of space for your shoes to settle into.

The pins are steel, torx socket cap through pins with a slight hole in the tip to increase grip. They’ve held up well, with none coming loose and only one showing a slight bend. Overall, grip is very good. I think it was only on one wet ride that I found my feet occasionally unstuck on ratchety climbs, but that’s not been a consistent behaviour of the pedals and was probably more down to tiredness.

In a few months these pedals did everything from freezing cold weather, through mud cataclysms and dusty paradise rides, performing flawlessly throughout. They still spin exactly as they did out of the box, with that very slight resistance that keeps a well serviced pedal where you left it instead of letting it spin wildly.

Overall

These are a premium pedal, and it shows in their finishing and durability. They’ve not annoyed me once in any respect, and they have a good amount of grip. Like most good design, they’re fit and forget.

Review Info