The best mountain bike flat pedals will help you feel confident by providing great traction, predictable mobility, and a supportive platform to ride on. A poor pedal choice can cause your feet to slip around, adding risk to every ride. While most pedals share the same basic design, there are many subtle differences that impact the feel. Small changes in the size, shape, and profile of the platform, or the type of pins and how they are patterned, can have large impacts on how well the pedals work for you and how safe you feel on the bike. Due to the wide range of aesthetics, colors, and platform types available, pedals are also a relatively low-cost way to customize your bike and add some personal flair.

As one of the contact points between you and your bike, pedals are a seemingly simple but critical component for stability and control. Like your grips or your saddle, pedals play an important role in how you feel on your bike – your feet will be on the pedals for nearly all of your riding time, so it is key to find the right flat pedals that work for you, your shoes, and your riding style. And, because most mid to high-end mountain bikes don’t come with pedals, you’ll need to find a pair.

We spent months testing 13 of the top pedals available across all price points and analyzing them based on the platform (size, shape, pin layout, aesthetics, and finish), traction/grip, mobility (repositioning the feet), serviceability, and weight. The right set of pedals for you depends on your foot size, the shoes you ride in, the terrain you ride on, and your riding style, but we’ve chosen our favorites overall and those that excel in specific ways like traction, mobility, innovation, and value based on these categories.

Our top recommendations are listed below, followed by the best of the rest which are all still worthy choices. To compare the models we tested at a glance, check out our comparison chart. If you need help deciding what to buy, take a look at our buying advice or our FAQ section for answers to common questions.

Editor’s Note: This Guide was updated on June 26, 2024, with new content that was originally posted on our sister site, BikeRumor.com.

The Best Mountain Bike Flat Pedals of 2024

Best of the Rest

Comparison Chart

How We Tested the Best Mountain Bike Flat Pedals

Our cycling Editors have been reporting on the latest cycling news, technology, and products for over a decade. Our team is made up of passionate riders that span all disciplines of cycling and have their fingers on the pulse of the industry. For our buyer’s guides, we’ve sought out qualified individuals to test and review products side by side to form the basis for our comparisons and recommendations.

Our mountain bike flat pedal review author, Paul Clauss, is a talented mountain biker who has been riding almost his entire life. Hailing from northern Vermont, Paul has great access to quality, technical trail riding with ample roots and rocks that make for great flat pedal testing conditions. He is a mechanical engineer with experience working with 3D printing and CNC manufacturing processes on a variety of products including bike frames and components. This background gives him unique insight into bike components and technologies and an excellent ability to tease out the subtle performance differences between the products he tests. In this role, Paul gets to combine his discerning tastes and love for writing into detailed reviews that will hopefully help you find the best products for your needs. In addition to pedals, Paul has also recently tested the best flat pedal shoes and dropper seatposts, along with a number of other product categories.

After scouring the market for the best mountain bike flat pedals available in 2024, we rounded up a diverse selection of 13 models for side-by-side testing and comparison. Each model was tested in conditions ranging from wet to dry with equal parts climbing and descending. Often, models were swapped out mid-ride for back-to-back comparison. A pair of well-broken-in Five Ten Freerider Pro shoes was used with all of the pedals tested for consistency on Paul’s Santa Cruz Bronson and Chromag Wideangle hardtail mountain bikes. Each model was judged on a number of performance characteristics including platform, traction/grip, foot mobility, serviceability, and weight to determine our favorites.

Buying Advice: How to Choose the Best Mountain Bike Flat Pedals

When it comes to choosing a pair of mountain bike flat pedals, there are a lot of options. Individual preferences and needs vary, of course, but thankfully so do the pedals we tested. As one of your key contact points on the bike, there are a few variables to consider to help select the best flat pedals for you.

Platform Size

Your shoe size and natural tendency towards in/out-toeing will contact various sizes and shapes of platforms differently. If you have very large feet, you will likely benefit from the support provided by a larger platform, while a smaller platform may work better for smaller-footed folks. If you like to hang your feet off the outside of the platform, pentagonal or rectangular shapes may give better support for the outside of your foot than a hexagonal shape. If your feet are sore after riding, consider how your foot engages the pedal when you are in your pedaling position on the bike and look for a size and shape that optimizes support throughout your foot.

Pedal Sizes

It stands to reason that people with smaller feet may not need the same size platform as those with larger feet, so some flat pedals are offered in different sizes with the goal of providing options for different foot sizes. Several brands, like Crankbrothers and Wolf Tooth, offer their pedals in both small and large sizes. For example, Crankbrothers recommends the small version of their Stamp 7 pedal for riders with shoe sizes between 5 and 10 US, and the large version for riders with shoes between 10 and 15 US. Wolf Tooth has a to-scale printable size comparison on their website, which riders can use to determine the best fit of the WaveForm pedals for their shoe’s soles. Other brands make numerous models that often have different-sized platforms for the same reason. Like anything else, it comes down to personal preference.

Q-factor

You may also want to consider the Q-factor. Q-factor refers to the width of your stance on the bike – technically it is the distance between the pedals at the outside of the cranks. Depending on how close the inner edge of the pedal platform sits in relation to the outside of the crankarm can change the effective q-factor in your normal riding position. If you have wide hips or tend to take a very wide stance, a wider q-factor may be more comfortable. If you ride bulky shoes or a frame with large chain stays or seat stays, a wider q-factor can help you reduce rubbing your foot on the cranks and frame. 

Profile: Concave vs Convex

You’ll also want to consider the platform profile – flat pedals may be concave, convex, or flat. Like anything else, preferences vary, but most riders prefer one or the other. Concave pedals are thicker at the leading and trailing edges and thinner along the axle. This creates a depression in the middle of the pedal for the sole of the shoe to sink into. Examples of concave pedals include the Deity TMAC, Chromag Dagga, Race Face Atlas, and Nukeproof Horizon Pro Enduro, which also happen to be some of the grippiest models we tested.

Convex pedals are slightly thicker at the axle and thinner at the leading and trailing edges. This has the opposite effect of concavity, as it promotes the shoe’s sole flexing slightly over the pedal to achieve maximum grip. In general, we’ve found that the convex design allows for somewhat easier foot mobility, as the pins are easier to release from the sole of the shoe when repositioning. Both the OneUp Components Aluminum and the PNW Loam Alloy have convex profiles.

Perfectly flat profiles are somewhat rare, but the unique Pedaling Innovations Catalyst is an example.

Traction and Grip

The traction provided by a pedal depends on the platform size/shape/profile, the pin layout, and the type of pins. Pin height and placement vary across pedals – some rely on pins placed around the perimeter, and some include central pins. Some pedals allow you to adjust the pin height by adding or removing washers while others do not. The combination of these different platforms and layouts changes how much effort you need to spend keeping your feet on the pedals while riding rough terrain. The rubber compound and tread design of the soles of your mountain bike shoes is also a factor when it comes to grip.

The amount of traction you want from a pedal depends on your riding style and preferences. While a super grippy pedal might be great for riding fast downhill trails, it might be very sensitive to foot position and grip so well that it is difficult to reposition your foot – there are pedals that provide too much grip. The right amount of grip is individual to the terrain you ride and your riding style – if you find yourself struggling to reposition or rotate your feet regularly to feel like you are in the right spot on the pedals, you might want to try a pedal with a bit less overall grip but with a pin pattern, profile, and shape that allows for better mobility and is less sensitive to foot position. Riders coming from clipless pedals will want to pay special attention to rotational float if they are interested in a flat pedal that feels similar to clipping in.

Serviceability

Any time you ride your bike, your pedals put in some serious work. Not only do they support much of your weight at virtually all times, but any time they are spinning, the internal components like bearings and bushings are doing their job. Given their location at the end of the crank arms, under your feet, and close to the ground, they may also be subjected to impacts with trailside obstacles. Hard impacts can damage pedal pins, scratch the pedal body, or even bend the spindles. Despite being a sealed system, water and dust from the trail can make their way into the internals. Of course, how often you ride, how you ride, the terrain where you ride, and the weather conditions in which you ride will play a role in how quickly wear and tear occurs on your pedals.

Fortunately, most quality flat pedals are designed to be serviced fairly easily to keep them running smoothly. Basic service procedures generally only involve a few simple tools to pull the spindle from the pedal body for simple cleaning and regreasing. Most brands sell bearing and bushing replacement kits and spindles so you can rebuild your pedals should something bend or wear out. Spare pins are often, but not always, included with new pedals so you can replace damaged ones or those that have fallen out, and replacement pin kits are inexpensive and typically easy to find. Typically, you can find an instructional video to guide you through the process. That said, if you are unsure of your mechanic skills or don’t have the tools to do it yourself, most good bike shops can service your pedals for you.

Value

Compared to many other things in mountain biking, pedals are a relatively inexpensive component. And that’s a good thing since you can’t ride a bike without them. Still, the models we tested vary in price pretty dramatically from $55 up to $200. It will depend on how much you ride and how much abuse you put them through, but it’s fair to expect that a pair of pedals should last a couple of seasons or longer if taken care of properly. Not surprisingly, the more expensive models are typically made from higher-quality materials and they generally offer higher overall performance than the least expensive options. If you ride every day and have specific performance expectations of your pedals, then it’s probably best to spring for a more expensive pair to meet your needs. If you ride less frequently, less aggressively, or simply can’t justify shelling out the big bucks for the high-end models, the less expensive composite options still perform admirably at a fraction of the price.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mountain Bike Flat Pedals