Race Face Aeffect Pedal - Review
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Race Face's Aeffect pedal is light enough to satisfy the trail bike rider, but built tough to take on DH riding.
Race Face Aeffect Pedal
Race Face's new Aeffect pedal is designed to be an all-rounder, a pedal that's light enough to be installed on a trail or all-mountain bike, but with enough strength to handle some rough and tumble DH laps. The pedal's body is constructed from 6061 aluminum, and spins on a chromoly axle with the help of a bushing located at the end closest to the crank arm, and a sealed cartridge bearing at the other end of the spindle. There is a grease port that can be accessed by removing a 2.5mm hex bolt from one end of the spindle, although disassembly is easy enough that we'd be more likely to pull the whole pedal apart before using this feature. Traction is taken care of by 10 hexagon shaped pins on each side of the pedal, and the pins thread in from the underside to help make replacement easier. The Aeffect's platform measures 101x100mm, and the thickness ranges from 15 to 16.9mm, giving it a very slight bit of concavity. Our test set of pedals weighted in at 356 grams, and are available in black, blue, and red. MSRP: $119.99 USD. www.raceface.com
There are a few scuff and scrapes, but the pins are all hanging tough, and the pedals spin like new.
Pinkbike's Take:
Race Face Aeffect Pedal
Race Face's new Aeffect pedal is designed to be an all-rounder, a pedal that's light enough to be installed on a trail or all-mountain bike, but with enough strength to handle some rough and tumble DH laps. The pedal's body is constructed from 6061 aluminum, and spins on a chromoly axle with the help of a bushing located at the end closest to the crank arm, and a sealed cartridge bearing at the other end of the spindle. There is a grease port that can be accessed by removing a 2.5mm hex bolt from one end of the spindle, although disassembly is easy enough that we'd be more likely to pull the whole pedal apart before using this feature. Traction is taken care of by 10 hexagon shaped pins on each side of the pedal, and the pins thread in from the underside to help make replacement easier. The Aeffect's platform measures 101x100mm, and the thickness ranges from 15 to 16.9mm, giving it a very slight bit of concavity. Our test set of pedals weighted in at 356 grams, and are available in black, blue, and red. MSRP: $119.99 USD. www.raceface.com
Pinkbike's Take:
 | We've been thrashing on the Aeffect for over three months now, and in that time period they've been subjected to all sorts of trail conditions, plowing through everything from thick mud to several inches of slushy snow. They've remained free of any side-to-side play for the entire time, and they still spin just as freely as as the day they were installed. When we pulled the axle out of one pedal to examine the internals only a small amount of dirt had managed to make its way past the seal closest to the crankarm, an impressive feat considering how much grime they'd been exposed to. On the trail, the traction provided by the Aeffect's hex shaped pins was excellent, and they proved to be quite resilient, with all of them surviving the test period. The only small gripe we had was that at times the pedals felt a little narrow in width, without as much support for the outer edge of the foot as we would have liked. The pedal platform measures in at a fairly standard width of 100mm, but since the pedal's design places the body nearly flush with the crankarm, the area that's usable without having your foot rub against the crank is actually smaller. Another 10mm or so of width would make them feel even more secure when bouncing through rock gardens or other chunky bits of trail. Overall, as their first foray into the pedal market, Race Face has produced a solid entry, a reliable, smooth spinning option with plenty of grip and a reasonable weight. - Mike Kazimer |
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161 Comments
on a side note, wellgo's now come with replacable pins, and are actually pretty grippy.
i understand clip ins being dear but a block of metal with a few holes in it? nah
On the Race face web site. The pedals are 375 grams
Cheers!
But as far as pedals go...100 g....eh, depends on what you're doing. On a road bike? Yes. Trials bike? Yes. DH bike? Probably not.
rupinart is correct in rotating mass making a huge difference in how a tire performs. For that matter we are talking about outer rotational mass. This is the most crucial area on a bike to save weight.
How much extra energy does it take to accelerate an extra pound of outer rotational mass over a 30 kilometer trail that has numerous climbing/downhill sections?
Why? I might be a hidden climbing super talent (doubt it), 1x10 means HAVING TO haul ass at a climb, whereas with a granny you can ride at a lower pace (seems plausible in some cases), uphill speeds are lower making other factors than rolling speed matter more comparatively (dunno, I suck at maths).
Another point, I once heard a quote from a famous road cyclist: racing never gets easier, you only get faster. I think the same could apply to climbing, regarding bike setup: even on the lightest bike you'll suffer on the climbs, the only difference with a heavier/otherwise less suitable bike is that you'll reach the top a few seconds sooner. Which for me isn't worth the fun you lose when mounting pure XC/trail tyres.
But at $120...f*ck that
You can get way better pedals for less
These are some pedals that are 400g or less
Cheap options
1 Wellgo MG-1 also very cheap
2 Nukeproof Neutron (i believe they are around 400g) cheap on chain reaction
3 Wellgo CNC Platform B143 384g $64 on chain reaction
Expensive Options
4 Straitline AMP 336g
5 All of the HT component pedals are sub 400g
you asked for 3 i gave you 11( 7 from HT and the other 4)
Wellgos MG-1 is magnesium - one serious hit on a rock and it is kaput! And the B143 is hideous, despite it being aluminium.
As for the HT pedals, you've got to pay minimum 100 euros to get a set of pedals below the 400g mark.
And the Straitline - dude, come on, you were dared to name pedals below the 400g mark and on the same money, not twice the amount.
From what you've said, there's only one pedal that goes near the RF Aeffect - the B143. And it's hideous, as previously mentioned.
I use Saints, ~490g, but tough and reliable (ours have been battered), with replaceable thru-pins, super grip, less than £40. No brainer.
If weight is no consideration, i can advice on the Tioga MX1 pedals - 40 to 50 euros, around the 450g mark, bigger platform than the Saints.
There you go!
superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=42&products_id=866&osCsid=9rdsabukbsf62ifvor9984udu4
By the way, Atomlab pedal bearing/spindle engineering is absolute garbage. Aren't Nukeproof nearly identical?
Nukeproof Electron pedals
Super cheap and sub 350g!
I have had a pair for over a year and they are still going strong!
I've been running my Deity Nylon's since last season and I ride mostly AM with some DH and DJ thrown in the mix. They aren't the type of pedals that will spin for hours if you slap them, but you can get a few rotations out of them that way. They're way more durable than you would believe, and aside from breaking off a pin and getting numerous gouges in them from rocks they still work just as good as they did when I bought them. At $48 they're the best pedal you can buy imo.
And before you neg rep me, I went through and owned 3 sets of point 1 podiums (insane grip and thin, sucky bearings and $$$), dmr vaults (vague feeling and lackluster grip), kona wah wahs and two different versions of ht nano series.
If I was buying again, definitely only the last two mentioned as both were under $50 and never gave me trouble.
I think the other part of the answer is there's nothing wrong with it the way it is now. The SPD system does its job really well, IMO. Aside from weight weenies, nobody's really clamoring for the hottest SPD pedals out there because functionally the Deores work exactly the same as the XTRs, aside from weight and maybe bearing life. Another company could come along and engineer a pedal lighter than XTR, but feature-wise I don't see how it could offer anything that Shimano doesn't already have. Big resource investment for a product that won't really be able to differentiate itself from the competitor.
www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Race-Face-Aeffect-Platform-Pedals-Black-MTB-DH-AM-9-16-/261422167064?pt=US_Pedals&hash=item3cddf9b418
Or, is this one of the PB April 1st leftovers.......
That's a no-brainer in my world...