Best Value Flat Mountain Bike Pedal

Thinnest Profile Flat Mountain Bike Pedal

Mountain biking is not the cheapest sport. In fact, you could say that it is not a cheap sport at all. However, while mountain bikes and mountain bike components can get obscenely expensive, a lot of really good gear can be had for a fraction of the price of the most expensive options. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to flat mountain bike pedals. And in a category where the budget options can go toe to toe with their more expensive counterparts, there is no better value than the OneUp Components Composite pedal.

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See Our Best Flat Mountain Bike Pedal Review!

Grip

We raved about the grip of the Race Face Atlas pedals. If that is what you want, but you want it for less than $50, then look no further than the OneUp Composite pedal. 10 pins screw in from the backside of the OneUp Composite.

These pins are long and sharp, and they do a great job whether they are digging into the sole of a shoe like the Five Ten Freerider or slotting into the deep grooves of a shoe like the Shimano GR9. The pins are situated with nine around the outside of the pedal and only one in the center. This helps to create a more concave feel in a pedal that is actually convex.

If you are looking for a budget pedal on which it is easier to adjust your feet, then you might be better served by the Race Face Chester. If like me you value the most locked in and solid feeling that a pedal can offer for rowdy and rocky descents, then the OneUp Composite mountain bike pedal strikes a balance between value and grip that is unrivaled by any flat mountain bike pedal on the market.

Platform

In the grip category, the OneUp Composite pedal is much like a budget alternative to the more expensive Race Face Atlas. That trend continues here in the platform category. With a platform that measures 115mm x 105mm, the OneUp Composite pedal features the largest platform of any pedal in our review, even besting the Atlas by a few millimeters. Combined with its ultra grippy pins, its large surface area makes the Oneup Composite pedal one of the most confidence inspiring pedals in our review and a great choice for those with larger feet.

The downside of composite pedals is that they tend to be thicker than their more expensive aluminum counterparts, and that is true in the case of the Oneup Composite. The front and rear edges measure 13.3mm, while it measures 18mm at the axle. Personally, I don’t think that shaving 2mm off of the center of each side of a pedal is worth spending three times as much on it, particularly when the thicker pedal comes in at a lighter weight, offers best in class grip, and is much less jarring in the case of pedal strikes. However, there will be those who disagree.

Finally, the wide platform of the OneUp Composite pedal is extremely open. This means that there is almost no place whatsoever for mud to cake on, making it a great choice as a winter pedal or for those who live in rainy climates.

Weight

Pedals might be the only mountain bike component where the budget options are actually lighter than the “premium” options. With a weight of 360g, the OneUp Composite mountain bike pedal is as light as all but the lightest aluminum options. In fact, it was only beaten in the weight category by our top aluminum flat pedal, the Race Face Atlas.

Durability and Servicing

The pins of the OneUp Composite screw through the entire profile of the pedal, rather than only screwing through half of the pedal via an offset like those on the Race Face Chester. This should make them more solid and less likely to deform, or strip out of, the plastic in which they are anchored.

The OneUp composites are easily serviceable, using the same internals and replacement kits as more expensive OneUp pedals. However, they do not ship with extra pins.

The Bottom Line

If you can’t already tell, we absolutely love the OneUp Composite pedal. It offers the rock-solid traction that I crave coming from clipless pedals. That is backed up by a large platform that will catch your feet on the off chance they get loose and provide all the platform that riders with large feet need.

At only $49, I think the OneUp Composite pedals might offer the best value to performance ratio of any product that we have ever reviewed. It is one of the few products for which you could legitimately make the argument that it is not only as good as, but better than, the premium options at two and three times its price point.

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