best quality flat pedal?

ive got the hopes. Had a few years of abuse and ive grooved channels in them from rock striked / worn the colour off them abd smacked them on allsorts. they still work fine with no servicing!

however they arnt as grippy as most others. With 5:10s this isnt an issue but it is with my new AM7’s

they dont ride as nice as the superstar ones imo.

The saints are nice too but not that nice.

Fancied the syntace Titans but apparently they fall apart,

Ashy,
I’m running them on two bikes.
The big bearing and its seal were the weak point that gave me a few problems with crap getting in on the first set. Eventually lead to big bearing failing.
When I replaced the bearings and seals at about 1 year, I rebuilt with marine grease and periodically use the end-cap as a grease gun to purge more marine grease through the axle and bearings. It works a treat. Negligible play in the replacement bearings since (about 18 months since rebuild).

Since bought another set of Titans for another bike and adopted the same regime from new. Zero problems thus far. 😀

Afternoon All

Gamut UK here, we’ve been following this thread with interest and thought it worth chipping in a few of the things that have been posted about the new Podiums. (Apologies in advance for length)

I was ready to buy a set of podiums til I walked into my lbs and there was a set being brought back a week after being sold for warranty. Left one had 1/2 inch of lateral movement, despite axle nut being tight, right one bearings were as rough as a badgers.

We have to hold our hands up to this, due to a miscommunication at the factory a few of the initial batch were incorrectly assembled and sent out with less than the required 3 outboard bearings. Frustratingly when turned in the hand they felt fine and so were able to pass QC checks but when actually ridden they developed play almost immediately as the end of the axle wasn’t fully supported.

So far we’ve had 7 pairs worldwide identified with this issue and all the pedals we’ve had reported have been replaced quickly and FOC.

Were they the new ones, by Gamut, or the old Point One versions? I had the latter, and they weren’t great in terms of durability, but I’ve just seen the Gamut ones are redesigned.

The Gamut versions may look similar but in reality they don’t share a single component with the old Point 1 versions. Everything’s been tweaked.

If you fancy giving the podiums a go drop your LBS a ring and ask them to contact Madison for a loaner pair to try.

If you have any other questions about them feel free to ask on here, just be aware that we may have to go back to the two guys who run the show over in California for some answers and it’s 5AM over there right now so bear with us.

If you fancy giving the podiums a go drop your LBS a ring and ask them to contact Madison for a loaner pair to try.

cant beat that………a supplier/manufacturer willing to do that.
top marks gammut

@gamutuk – how do the new versions differ form the old in terms of bearing size?

I had the old ones, and the 3 bearings in the end were so ridiculusly small that they literally turned to dust after a short period of use, and the races were impossible to extract afterwards.

New ones have a similar design with three small bearings – and to my eye, there doesn’t seem to be much more space in there for larger bearings – how do the sizes compare?

No worries, pedal shape is a massively personal thing and we appreciate that the Podiums are hardly a ‘budget’ item so it’s understandable that some people will want to try them first.

Note that Gamut isn’t a huge outfit so we only have a few demo sets, if this gets super popular after us posting it on here there may be a bit of a wait whilst we get them back from the current holder.

EDIT: honorablegeorge, we know that the bearing arrangement has changed and that we’ve had very few issues with the Gamut ones so far, but we never dealt with the the Point 1 versions so for the exact technical details of what’s changed I’m going to have to wait for Gamut HQ to wake up, I’ll post here when we have a full response.

Ashy – Member

HT AE01s etc bearing design is crap

It is, but you can just discard the bearing entirely, and replace it with a wee stack of washers of the right height. The bearing and spring that they use as standard must make for easier first assembly but it’s useless in the wild.

This doesn’t fix bushing play obviously- unless the play is coming from a lack of control on the axle.

I’ve got a set that I’m running to death, might need to investigate replacement bushings.

The bushings are goosed. The tool costs £100. It’s the bushings that have died. As you predicted they would when I was asking about buying them!!

@Gamutuk. Awesome post. That’s me convinced. Ordering a set now!

@Ashy, I bet you can bodge them out… Might have a go at mine next time I’m bored.

Indeed Ashy, think I’m gonna try a pair too.

Have a pair on the way 😉

@ Northwind, once these Gamuts have arrived I’ve got nothing to lose so can have a proper go at them!
Chris

Nukeproof Electrons fan here,

Strong, light, grippy.

Did have some Hope F20’s, lovely to look at, hold, marvel at but not as grippy as I’d have liked.

So – these are the old, ridiculously small bearings – http://www.gamutusa.com/point-one-podium-pedal-bearings/

And these are the new ones. I can’t help thinking that the new ones will suffer the same issues because of the same issue – ridiculously tiny bearings.

http://www.gamutusa.com/podium-pedal-bearings-new-version/

So – the old ones were unshielded bearings with no supplementary seal.
New ones are shielded bearings with a supplementary seal.

Size isn’t everything…. 😉

Nice and informative Gamut, my old man bought a set…they’ve been fine so far 🙂

Good customer service that. I love companies that are open with their customers!

Morning All

Got a response on the outboard bearings from California overnight.

The bearing issues on the old Point 1’s weren’t really due to the size of the bearings, it was down to contamination, the actual body of the pedal wasn’t hugely well sealed and when dirt got in there the unshielded bearings inside tended to eat themselves in relative short order.

Point 1 pedals that didn’t get contaminated often lasted for years, by spreading the load over three outboard bearings the smaller bearings were able to handle the forces just fine so long as they were kept clean.

To improve matters the new Gamut versions have a purpose-made outboard seal on the pedal body as opposed to the old ‘bolt and O-ring’ arrangement Point 1 used. Sillyold man is also correct in that as a second line of defense the outboard bearings now have their own seals as well (see the difference between the old Point 1 and new Gamut bearings in the pictures you posted).

As with all things it’s a compromise, we could use bigger outboard bearings but then the pedal would either have to be notably thicker and heavier or have a bulge in the middle of the platform which would feel horrible.

The other option would have been go down to use an outboard bushing, which would be cheaper but they have their own issues and are certainly no better at handling contamination.

So, whilst bearing life is a tricky subject as the same product can last for years under one rider and mere months under another, we feel that we have managed to meliorate the bearing issue as far as practically possible whilst preserving what made the Podium so good in the first place, i.e. thinness, feel, grip and low weight.

If the worst comes to the worst, our bearing kits are just £14.99 and thanks to Madison they’re available from pretty much any bike shop in the U.K.

Cheers, appreciate the answer. A friend already took the plunge so I’ll see how he goes – I did like the old pedals a lot.

Are the new outboard bearings retrofittable to the old pedals? They’re still int he shed somewhere……

One month in on my gamuts and they’re really good. You really appreciate the extra bit of clearance from the thin profile. They’re so grippy too. No noticeably play or grittiness in them and them seem some awful conditions at home and in the tweed valley

Just to say, I’ll be needing new pedals pretty soon when my RSP FTWS die, as there’s no rebuild kit (or at least, RSP ignore all questions about rebuild kits and I can’t find one on sale). And because of these last few posts i’ll almost certainly get the Podiums. Cheers Gamutuk, top stuff!

Just goes to show how far good customer service like this goes. At least 3 pairs look to have been ordered off the back off GamutUk’s posts. Looking forward to receiving mine! £89.99 at Freeborn at the moment…

Crank brothers 50/50 on two of my bikes , saints on another both spot on.

I almost missed that post 😆

Are the new outboard bearings retrofittable to the old pedals?

Yes, but the inboard (big) bearings and the seals aren’t.

I think all these top of the line pedals should come with a rebuild kit as standard – it’s one thing when your £100 pedal develops play prematurely but then you’ve got to shell out extra and go through the hassle of ordering the kit – also why make all the bushings and dust caps etc non standard ? I want to go into my lbs and pick up the parts ..

@GamutUk. Still waiting on my pedals from ubyk. They’ve said they’re waiting on a shipment from you guys,….

I can’t really fault my ss nanos, had them a little while now, nice big platform which I thought would be a problem but hasn’t been.

I just used the small pins, and i generally ride with walking boots with chunky soles, they just don’t slip off. For the money, no complaints.

I suppose the platform could be a built a bit lighter, certainly for my use but they have a titanium axle option.

Yeah, I’m impressed that after three winters my nanos are still running just right. Not as grippy compared to others, I might put longer pins in them.

Needing a heat gun to service the Titans was a bit annoying, but apart from that they’re not difficult to work on.

robhilton off here sent me some straitlines to try out. used em for 2 weeks so far. seem spot on. nice big platform for my size 12 plates.
and one thing i like is that they dont spin freely if you get what i mean.

For quality, what about the Twentysix Predator

Slight thread hijack,apologies ton,grahamdcd,I like the look of the catalysts,are they available in this country,or did you get them sent over from the states.

thejesmonddingo: I ordered them from the first batch of 500 about a year ago direct from US. Don’t think they’re available over here so not great but if you’re familiar with James Wilson’s opinions on flat pedals ie supporting your foot arch front & back then definitely worth a try.

Saints get my vote.Comfy,solid build quality and adjustable pin heights with the included washers.Best pedal i’ve used in ten years! So nice to have your foot stay where you want/need it to be when the going gets a bit rough/loopy.

I like the idea of a catalyst pedal, but they are too narrow.

Anybody tried the Alpkit pedals?

Rather than start another new flat pedal thread………..

Are my MX30’s still decent by modern standards?

Rode flat pedals in anger for the first time in about a decade yesterday, on a pair of MX30s that must be at least a decade old. They felt fine but slippier than I would have liked (using AM7 shoes fwiw). Is a modern middle of the range pedal likely to be a noticeable improvement, or do I just need to get myself used to the feeling of flats again?

Good chance the pins on those 10 year old pedals have seen better days, I’ve a pair of Superstar Nano’s ye can have to try them if ye want. If they suit you, paypal me a tenner or summit and keep them, Doug.

AM7s are not the grippiest shoes, that may be your problem rather than the pedals. I have got used to my AM7s less than spectacular grip but once they are worn out will not be buying the same again. I’m using them on Superstar Nano X pedals.

MX30’s are okay, but the platform is quite small. Should be grippy enough though unless as above the pins are damaged.

i second the issue with the am7 (however i prefer the shoe to five ten vxi impacts) they can be quite slippy when wet / muddy especially.

moving from hope f20 to superstar nanos recently ive noticed a marked improvement in grip however!