Which pedal is right for me?

So, you’re looking for a fresh set of pedals.  Naturally, getting a set of Chromag’s will ensure you are getting some of the best quality pedals on the market today.  But which ones are right for you?  What are the features you need to consider, and how do you narrow down your choices?   Here’s a breakdown to help you decide.

Intended Use:

While each of our pedal designs is driven by a specific type of use (IE, dirt jump, all mountain, or DH), they are all quite versatile in application.  The key thing is that the pedal fits your feet and has the features that most match your needs.

Size:

Size is the most obvious way to connect yourself to an appropriate model.  The size of your feet is likely to be the primary factor, however there could be other reasons.  A larger pedal can dissipate pressure, provide some room to move around on, while a smaller pedal will have more clearance to avoid foreign objects and may be less prone to pedal strikes. 

Shape/Width:

Nuances in pedal shape can form your choice.  If dirt jump and slopestyle tricks are your thing, you may prefer the narrower stance of the Contact and Pressure pedals as these are oriented closer to the crank allowing the riders ability to contact (pinch) at the crankset.  If you are a trail or DH rider, you may prefer the Scarab or the Dagga.  These models are oriented further away from the crank, providing a wider stance, offering stability.
You can read more about Q-Factor and Stance here.

Price:

There are some cost differences in pedals and budget may be a determining factor.  Our Synth, composite pedal is made of injected composite material and is the most affordable model.  Our Dagga pedal features a forged body, extensive CNC machining, the most traction pin placement options and a polished finish.  Cost is determined by materials, complexity of design, and finish.

The Models:

Which model is right for you, your riding style, your environment, and your budget?  Have a look below to see the breakdown of each Chromag Pedal.

Scarab – All mountain/Enduro

The Scarab is our original pedal.  It's an ideal size for riders with foot size men’s 7-11, women’s 8-12.  It's made of 6061 aluminum alloy and features our standard adjustable pedal pins with multiple installation holes for tuning the grip, or simply as alternate options when threads get damaged.  It's a common choice for all-mountain trail riders, freeride, bike park, and DH riding.  The Scarab features detailed machining, and a bridge on each side, which adds an additional placement point for a traction pin.  Scarab’s are machined to provide ‘Real’ concave shape in the surface of the pedal and has a noticeable ‘in-the-pocket’ feel when stood on.  It has a polished finish and comes in multiple anodized colours.  It comes loaded with 20 pins per pedal with up to 40 placement options.

Key takeaways:

• Large size
• Versatile – good for most riding
• Lots of traction pin options

Contact – DJ/Freeride/All mountain/Enduro

The Contact body shape is slightly narrower in outside width and extends closer toward the crank.  It was designed with input from Brandon Semenuk and the body design is intended to compliment dirt jump and freeride, where the rider wants the feet to be positioned closer to the crank allowing the rider to ‘pinch’ the cranks for extra control, especially when hands are off the bars.  The narrower size also compliments riders with smaller feet, while adding some clearance to reduce pedal strikes in tight trails.  The Contact is made from 6061 alloy, features standard adjustable pedal pins and alternate machined holes for traction pin placement.  The Contact has a machined, concave surface and it is finished with sandblasting giving it a matte appearance.   It is ideal for riders with mens: 5-10, womens 6-11 size feet and works well for all types of riding including all-mountain/enduro, freeride and DH. 18 pins per pedals with up to 26 placement options.

Key takeaways:

• Moderate size
• Good for Dirt Jumps
• Economical

Synth – All mountain/Enduro/DJ/Freeride

We introduced Synth to offer an affordable composite pedal that could be used at a high level with a relevant body shape (many composite pedals are small, thick, and with poor traction!).  Its body shape is a blend between Contact and Scarab models and is suitable for many types of riding including, dirt jump, all-mountain, and freeride.  It features the same high-quality axle system and traction pins as our other models.  The composite material does not have quite the ultimate impact strength of our alloy models; however, it can often perform well during impacts, as the body material tends to graze off rocks and concrete with less friction. 

Synth pedals are ideal for riders with: men’s 5-10 size feet, women’s 6-11 size feet. 18 pins per pedal.

Key takeaways:

• Lightweight
• Versatile size and shape
• Economical

Dagga – DH/Freeride

The Dagga was designed with input from aggressive DH style riders.  It's meant to be our biggest, baddest pedal with a focus on DH and Freeride, however it does also suit all-mountain and enduro riders who have larger feet, or want lots of grip!

The Dagga is the only pedal in our lineup that is made with a vertical forging, giving it a solid perimeter, as opposed to the hollow profile of our other alloy models.  This makes it very impact resistant.  It features extensive machining, with 24 pins per pedal, structural bridges, and extensive chamfers and undercuts for weight reduction.  It comes in a polished finished in several anodized colors. 

Key takeaways:

• Extra large size
• Extreme traction with many pin placement options
• Good for All Mountain, Freeride, DH
• Extra tough

Pressure - DJ/Freeride/All mountain/Enduro

The Pressure is designed with input from Brandon Semenuk.  Like the Contact, the Pressure is conservative in width, creating outside clearance and orienting the riders feet closer to the cranks, however it has one of the longest overall lengths in our lineup.  This increases the length of surface contact between shoe and pedal which helps to spread out the pressure on landings and impacts.    Like all our models, it features a concave platform.  The Pressure has 18 traction pins per pedal, and up to 30 placement options in total.  It is ideal for riders with mens size 8-12 or women’s 9-13 feet. 

Key takeaways:

• Moderate width but distinctly long
• Good for DJ, Freeride, AM
• Several traction placement options

Radar – Kid’s

The Radar is our high-performance kid’s pedal and features our smallest platform. It features all the quality components of our larger models including an alloy body, G3(F1) axle and seal system.  It is machined from 6061 aluminum with a concave platform and has 16 traction pins per pedal with 22 placement options.  Radar’s typically fit kid age range 4-8 years old.

Key takeaways:

• Small size
• High performance

Pilot and Pilot BA – Clip-in All Mountain/Enduro

The Pilot series is our clip-in pedal.  It utilizes an SPD compatible cleat/binding system built into our unique platform designs.

Pilot – Features one of the longest platforms on the market for clip-in pedals. In testing, we discovered that this improved traction and grip when the rider had to stand on the pedal but didn’t have time to get clipped-in.  It features 8 pins per pedal with adjustable height via the installed washers.

Pilot BA- The BA is one of the widest AND longest platforms available and this helps to add outside support underfoot.  They complement high impact riding where the rider wants additional support in situations like hard cornering and drops.  The Pilot BA features 10 pins per pedal with 12 placement options.

Key takeaways:

• Lots of platform
• Adjustable traction
• SPD compatible

More:

If you’ve made it this far, and are still interested in the finer details, we’ve saved the extra info for those who want all the technical details. 

Pedals are assembled from a list of critical parts that must work repeatedly under huge loads, thousands of cycles and sudden impacts.  It takes a lot to make a pedal that stands up to it all.  Here’s why Chromag pedals are a level above the rest:

Axles, bearings and hardware – The G3/F1 system.

You can find the G3/F1 axle system in all our pedals and while there is variation in axle length, bushing style, and hardware sizing, all pedals include the same high-quality materials, bearings and sealing system.  All Chromag axle assemblies are fully serviceable, require normal/common tools, and can be easily worked on by any competent mechanic.  It’s one of the most reliable pedal assembly systems on the market!  Our service guide and video can be found here.

The Axle:  All Chromag pedals feature a version of our G3 or (shorter)F1 axle which is made from high strength, hardened Chromoly alloy.  The axle goes through an extensive fabrication process including forging, CNC, Heat Treatment, and precision grinding.  It is a key feature in the G3/F1 system as the finish, accuracy, and strength are key to the performance and reliability of our pedals.  *Note: Radar and Pilot pedals use a shorter axle.  We call this ‘F1’ purely to identify the different length.

The Bearings:  All Chromag pedals feature a sealed precision bearing, paired with a low friction bushing.  The bearing is a large 14mm sealed bearing, providing long wear life and secure positioning.  The bushing is a low friction, polymer-based insert that is pressed in place.  We have found this combination to be reliable and durable, while spinning smoothly and freely. 

Sealing:  Outside contaminates are a key threat to the internal system and can greatly reduce the wear life of the pedal.  We use a double seal system which includes an internal conical seal, plus an external seal that is sandwiched between the axle and the pedal body.  It is extremely effective and in normal riding conditions, fresh grease can be found inside a pedal after many months of use. 

Traction Pins. Chromag traction pins are custom designed and manufactured specifically for our pedals.  Our pins are loaded from the backside, making them easier to remove and replace when damaged.  A unique feature is the installed washer which can be removed or added, to adjust the pin height.  For extreme traction, we make the ‘Dagga’ traction pins which have an extra grippy tip.  Pins are sold separately, and some can be mixed and matched across our models.

Materials. Chromag pedal bodies are made in either aluminum or composite materials.  We use 6061 aluminum for its balance of strength and fatigue resistance.  Our composite pedals are made from nylon with glass fiber reinforcement added. 

• Alloy pedals are durable, stiff, and can withstand hard impacts. 
• Composite pedals offer affordability, while being light weight. 

 Body Shape. Chromag pedals all feature consistent design characteristics.  These include:

• True Concave:  We’ve gone to a lot of trouble to shape our pedal bodies with a true concave surface.  By arranging our axle and bearings, and carefully machining or moulding our pedal bodies, each of our pedals features an unmistakably ‘in-the-pocket’ feel. 
• Parallelogram Profile:  In profile, our pedals are a classic parallelogram shape.  This allows the pedal to easily ‘flip’ into place when stood upon and can limit awkward edge-landings when a rider removes and replace a foot on the pedal.
• Multiple pin holes.  Most Chromag pedals include the unique feature of multiple pin holes.  A rider can customize the traction pin layout this way.  As pedals constantly see rock and other foreign object strikes, pins and the threads they are installed in can become damaged over time.  Additional pin holes can provide second (and third) options to keep pedals functional and increase their useable lifespan.

We want to hear from you!

Its our job to answer your questions and help you find the products that fit your needs.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team with any questions.

We also greatly appreciate product reviews. We read every single one, and not only does it provide real world feedback, but it also helps others find their perfect parts.

You can check out our entire pedal line here, or check out this handy diagram below to identify which side is which!