tags:
Big Sky, MT, United States |
teton tested |crampon |canfield |big sky bike test
Canfield's paper-thin, wide, and convex Crampon pedals are the bee's knees for flat riders. Ryan Dunfee photo.
I've played around with a number of different flat pedal options over the years, and mostly opting for larger surface areas and lots of pins to keep me glued down without the benefit of a clipless, well, clip. Other than that, I haven't stressed too much over them.
But Canfield's paper-thin pair of Crampon Ultimate flatscame on the Riot test bike they sent along for our Big Sky Bike Test, and the feeling of these little slices of aluminum made a significant enough difference in my ride quality that I had to place a last-minute call to Canfield HQ right before the 4th of July holiday–they were no doubt busy loading booze, fireworks, and bikes into the back of pickups–in order to convince them to let them take them home for one of those long term reviews every industry hack likes to take advantage of in order to improve their gear quiver. They're really good.
Thin and wide has been the design du jour for today's flat pedals of late, and the Crampon Ultimates tested here are right in line with that trend, weighing just 345 grams (or 16 ounces, or just really light if you can't picture what those former two values actually mean in real life), slimming down to just 6 mm thick at the edges and 10 mm thick in the middle, yet splaying out to 105 mm by 105 mm on the surface.
The long and plentiful pins, with 10 to a side, are easily accessible by allen key from the flipside of the pedal without having to disassemble the pedal, which is a nice side benefit of these thin, single-piece foot holders. In addition to the pins, ridges machined into the pedal provide an additional degree of grip.
Note the thinness and patented convex shape. Oi! Ryan Dunfee photo.
Canfield claims the real secret sauce with their Crampons is the patented convex design (see above) that matches the shape of the foot and supposedly keeps you as close to the spindle as possible while providing a more natural feel that cuts down on that dreaded flat pedal dead spot at the bottom of the stroke.
At $150 per pair, they are not cheap, but in line with what most dentists are paying for high-quality flat pedals these days.
On The Trail
The clear, unquestionable amount of grip makes for relaxed ripping. Ryan Dunfee photo.
As I mentioned before, the Crampon Ultimates were impressive enough after a first ride that I went from "Oh, sweet, there's already pedals on this test bike!" to "Holy shit, what are these pedals??" The difference really has been noticeable. However ridiculous it may sound, the thinner profile made me feel that I was lower on my bike as well as feeling more "in" the bike, which is the best description I can give for riding the Crampons.
My legs felt more relaxed, especially in the harrowing rock gardens us flatters tend to roll into while praying that we don't get bucked off our pedals. The grip was better and clearer, and although I tend to bounce towards the outside edges of the pedal as I roll down the trail, I kept looking down to find my feet exactly where I'd left them, on the meat of the pedal like they're supposed to be.
Given I have barely any feeling in my feet due to a spinal cord injury suffered years ago, it's hard to say what the difference in feel was with the convex shape of the Crampons, but given that I'd run pedals that were just as wide and with as many pins before and not felt as secure, there's gotta be something to it.
I can't say that I can noodle out whether or not the dead spot was smaller during pedaling, but I did feel more relaxed and able to give 'er on steep, technical uphills, not being so worried as to keep constant pressure on the pedal surface.
The Bottom Line
When you're up there, you'll be thankful you won't be thinking about slipping off your pedals. Jon Grinney photo.
While it may seem preposterous to spend $150 on a pair of flats when there's so many easily-attainable pedals at lower prices, the nice thing about investing in a good pedal is that you will get the benefit every single time you ride and on every bike. And the Crampon Ultimates offer well more than enough of an improved ride quality to justify throwing down the extra tip money for them.
Light, wide, thin, and uber grippy, they build confidence and comfort and provide more of that natural feel you probably felt as a kid on your clapped-out BMX bike when your brain was never giving two shits about what pedals, rims, or tires you were running. The convex shape is an interesting feature, too, and the cumulative result is a pedal that gives, calmly, an outstanding degree of grip while making you feel, again, more "in" the bike.
Of course, if the $150 aluminum Crampon Ultimates aren't rich enough for your blood, you can always thrown down an extra $50 and lose 60-ish grams with the magnesium version of the pedal. But then you must really be a dentist ;).
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About The Author
stash member Ryan Dunfee
Former Managing Editor at Teton Gravity Research, current Senior Contributor, current professional hippy at the Sierra Club, and avid weekend recreationalist.