Nukeproof Release Updated Horizon Sam Hill Flat Pedals - Core Bike 2020
Nukeproof have released an updated version of Sam Hill's signature Horizon pedal, based on a prototype he has been testing throughout the 2019 season.
The current pedal was originally designed as a downhill pedal for Sam when he was still on the World Cup circuit. Nukeproof spotted that Sam's mechanic was filing down the edges of it for his enduro racing so they then wanted to create something more enduro friendly for their customers too. It ended up not being as simple as just shaving the same material off the production pedal and they actually had to re-engineer and reinforce the areas that had been slimmed down to keep the stiffness and power transfer from the old model.
Jacy Shumilak's handiwork on the old pedal.
The filed down version of the current pedal Sam was using vs the shape of the new pedal
For the rest of the pedal, it was important to keep it as similar as possible for Sam so the pin positioning and concave platform are exactly the same. Losing the material has saved the brand about 23 grams, which wasn't their intention but it's definitely not going to hurt.
If they're good enough for Sam...
The pedals will be available at the end of February and will retail at £84.99. A version with a titanium axle will also be on its way and will cost £159.99.
The pedal coming to life.
Updated Horizon Bars
Nukeproof have also applied some small updates to their Horizon carbon bars. They believe that a 9-degree back sweep and a 5 degree upsweep are the perfect dimensions for a bar, however they realised that riders were losing reach because of it. To compensate for this, the bar now features an offset that reduces the bar arc by 10mm as you roll it.
The bar is made of 2 separate carbons. 3k is used at the end of the bar, where impacts are more likely, while UD carbon is used in the rest of the bar to allow Nukeproof to tune the ride characteristics. Particle paint is also applied so you don't have to use carbon paste.
You now also have more options than ever as Nukeproof have introduced a 35mm clamp size, offer 12, 25 and 38mm rise options and 780mm or 800mm widths (800mm only for alloy.)
Carbon bars - £109.99
Alloy bars - £59.99
Other new bits
Nukeproof are really starting to branch out their product line and it won't be long before they're able to build a complete bike. At this show, we saw new headset cups, bottom brackets, chainguides, valves and a tubeless repair kit.
More colours have been added to the line of titanium coated headsets Nukeproof released last year. Top headset cup - £29.99, bottom headset cup - £29.99
They are now using that same technology in their bottom brackets and are confident enough to give customers a 2 year warranty. Bottom brackets - £59.99 (24mm, 30mm, GXP press fit, GXP, 24mm press fit, DUB BSA & DUB press fit options all available)
Tubeless repair kit - £19.99
Valves - £15.99
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BUT they didn't solve what has been the main drawback for me, which is that the outer pins are just grub screws and not through-pins. They got torn off a little too regularly whereas the front and back pins shrug everything off and I've never had to touch them.
My next set of pedals will be through-pin only for that reason.
So you want to tell me, that a 1 or 2 mm thinner pedal will bash MUCH less than the old one?
If you're looking at how high is your pedal from the ground or how much clearance you have, aka "passive riding", it doesn't change much.
so any case of pedal strike appearing when you are not in control of your feet's position won't disappear.
But, if you're looking at how much do you have under the sole preventing you to have a good "proprioception", and how much you have to raise the foot to avoid any contact, aka "active riding", then each mm can make a difference.
Second, if the pedals were 2mm thinner, it would me a 1mm ground clearance gain
Third, it's obvious any gain makes a difference, even a 0,5mm gain would avoid some pedal strikes. But the bigger the clearance, the broader effect it will have.
I can guarantee the pedal / crank / frame all flex far more than 1mm in use, its just not going to make a real world difference.
The real change to the pedal is the different shape which Jacy used to file into the old pedal, that's about it - unless that's whats being discussed here and not the drop in height of just 1mm per side?
Thought experiment: If you swap pedal bodies to the spindles and go from (side view) -> /=o=/ to -> \=o=\ , would that encourage dropping heels and increase pedal clearance on the lower back edge of the platform?
I was just questioning the whole 1mm / 0.5mm thing.
Interesting one though - people absolutely love the Deity T-Mac and that has almost no offset to the pedal, its completely square, I wonder how much worse it would be in this situation.
I'm not going to argue with Sam Hill on this one, but for the most of us, it's just cosmetics.
- the axle seal is just awful. I need to reposition it into place almost every ride.
- I'm size 12, on 5 10 Impacts to make things worse, so real estate is at premium. The MK1 platform size is ok, but sits so close to the crank that I end up never using a good part of it. They could keep the same dimensions but increase the axle length a bit. Like Burgtec does
A less extreme version of this:
s14761.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/END-035-Pedal-Vergleichstest-MTB-Flat-Test-Review-058-600x400.jpg
That said, the internals on mine are holding remarkably well. The bearings are on the opposite side of the crappy seal so I guess dirt and water have a hard time reaching there. In 1,5 years I had them come loose once, just had to torque everything correctly and apply a drop of threadlocker as per Nukeproof's instructions, never happened again
So I this situation, worst case some people might be experiencing some avoidable internals deterioration, best case it is hampering the durability potential of the product
Now gold, gold is impossible to match, new bike has 5 shades of gold ano., as cool as the gold brakes are, I regret my color choice, should have gone orange again.
I'll get another brand next time.
If the bar is rolled enough to mitigate the "lost reach" from going from 8 degree sweep to 9 degree, them it's (obvi) not going to have 9 degrees back sweep and quite a bit more than 5 degrees upsweep. If 9 degrees is too much, and you like 7 degrees, just get a different bar!
Still the wording is weird: "reduces the bar arc by 10mm as you roll it"
If there is an offset, rolling the bar turn some the offset into a rise or drop... Think that's what they mean? But it's same with the rise: rolling the bar turns some of the rise into offset to front or back.
I guess Nukeproof will have a press release soon with more details to explain it better.
It’s the same story here
I use the NP Horizon Comp and Neutron plastic pedals. Can't see what benefit alloy will offer me over plastic for my riding and they're a fraction of the price.
Although they don't bring out the inner-magpie in you like the shiny ones do.
I cracked my plastic Horizons on a fairly mundane rock strike. The theory of plastic pedals gracefully sliding over rocks didn't happen for me. Alloy Horizons (the replacements) have been flawless.
Remember you are comparing flat pedals from quirky small/medium brands to clipless from a manufacturing giant like Shimano.
I wouldn't be surprised if global sales of the XT Trail SPDs and the M530 would be bigger than all the of Nukeproof, Chromag, Burgtec, One-up etc flats combined.
SO if you got a good deal, you´re probably better off with your purchase over the new ones.
So, either the info was changed as it was incorrect or I got confused.... probably me.