Tioga MT-Zero Platform Pedal and Psycho Genius Venture DH Tire - Eurobike 2011
Tioga has been working nights and Sundays on two radically different downhill concepts that are sure to rock the status quo. The first shot over the bow is the MT-Zero Pedal first featured in Pinkbike earlier this Summer. Less than ten millimeters thick and cast from chromoly steel, the MT-Zero places the sole of the rider's shoe nearly on center with the pedal axle. Actually, the Zero doesn't have a true pedal axle. The pedal platform is cantilevered from a stub-shaft that rides in a single ball bearing.
Tioga's clever design took a year to perfect. Reportedly, the machining tolerances required to manufacture the steel housing that threads into the crankarm on one end, and supports the bearing and all of the pedal's bending moments on the other end. Tioga MT-Zero pedals sell for $99 USD in black or white. Weight is reported to be only 135 grams a pair.
Tioga MT-Zero Pedal
![MT Zero Pedal]()
Tioga MT-Zero Pedal is only 7 millimeters thick in its center-section. The pins are replaceable through the back side of the platform, and the super-low foot position it offers stabilizes the foot while riding choppy trails.
Tioga Psycho Genius Venture Tire
![Psycho Genius Venture DH tread]()
Triangular tread blocks are thinned at the tire crown to keep the Psycho Genius Venture tire rolling fast on pedaling sections.
Taking the lead from its Psycho Genius all-mountain/XC tire, Tioga put in a year's development to translate the shape-shifting triangular tread block design of the original into a viable downhill racing tire. The Psycho Genius Venture's large-volume, 2.5-inch casing provides a tactile feel where traction is delicate, while sturdy edging tread blocks are designed to bore through loose topsoil and find traction for cornering. Tioga gave the Venture a low, fast-rolling center tread with widely-spaced triangular blocks, split three ways with deep grooves engineered to distort under driving and cornering pressure. The grooves cause sections of the tread blocks to lift, which offers up extra edges when the tire is hard pressed for traction.
![Psycho Genius Venture sidewall]()
The cross pattern molded into the Venture's casing adds a degree of side-wall protection for the tire.
Tioga says that in spite of the fact that the Venture downhill tire benefits from knowledge garnered during the original Psycho Genius development, it took four molds and a year of testing to get its performance tuned to perfection. To maintain the tire's supple, fast-rolling feel, the Venture's side wall casing is molded with a cross-hatch rubber pattern that adds a degree of abrasion resistance without robbing the casing's flexibility. Tioga says that it is presently working on a large-volume 29er version and a 2.35-inch sized Venture for 26-inch all-mountain use. Psycho Genius Venture tires will hit the stores around December 2011.The weight is coming in at 830 grams, while the MSRP has yet to be fixed.
Tell us what you think of Tioga's Psycho Genius tires and that thin-profile MT-Zero platform pedal design.
Tioga's clever design took a year to perfect. Reportedly, the machining tolerances required to manufacture the steel housing that threads into the crankarm on one end, and supports the bearing and all of the pedal's bending moments on the other end. Tioga MT-Zero pedals sell for $99 USD in black or white. Weight is reported to be only 135 grams a pair.
Tioga MT-Zero Pedal
Tioga Psycho Genius Venture Tire
Taking the lead from its Psycho Genius all-mountain/XC tire, Tioga put in a year's development to translate the shape-shifting triangular tread block design of the original into a viable downhill racing tire. The Psycho Genius Venture's large-volume, 2.5-inch casing provides a tactile feel where traction is delicate, while sturdy edging tread blocks are designed to bore through loose topsoil and find traction for cornering. Tioga gave the Venture a low, fast-rolling center tread with widely-spaced triangular blocks, split three ways with deep grooves engineered to distort under driving and cornering pressure. The grooves cause sections of the tread blocks to lift, which offers up extra edges when the tire is hard pressed for traction.
Tioga says that in spite of the fact that the Venture downhill tire benefits from knowledge garnered during the original Psycho Genius development, it took four molds and a year of testing to get its performance tuned to perfection. To maintain the tire's supple, fast-rolling feel, the Venture's side wall casing is molded with a cross-hatch rubber pattern that adds a degree of abrasion resistance without robbing the casing's flexibility. Tioga says that it is presently working on a large-volume 29er version and a 2.35-inch sized Venture for 26-inch all-mountain use. Psycho Genius Venture tires will hit the stores around December 2011.The weight is coming in at 830 grams, while the MSRP has yet to be fixed.
Tell us what you think of Tioga's Psycho Genius tires and that thin-profile MT-Zero platform pedal design.
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Chromo is stronger than alu, thats why the axles in your current pedals are made from it (and they are probably not much thicker than 10mm thick either). Chromo also bends before it snaps unlike alu. These will be stronger than all these magnesium pedals that you all seem fine with but i keep seeing destroyed. Big bearings are also better than than small bearings, this is not a hard concept to grasp. So your pedals that have run fine on tiny brearings will continue to run fine on a bearing over twice the size.
fInally tioga isnt going to spend two years developing a pedal that snaps after a run and means you can sue them for injuries, the flypaper pedals have never broken, not a single pair, and they where 3 mm thick too, i'm sorry, but pinkbike can all be so bloody ignorant and stupid sometimes.
but seriously, how can you tell how thin a pedal is other than the crankarms feeling a tad shorter or longer whatever the case may be. To me it's all about pin placement and number, shape of pedal body followed by rotational feel.
These pedals may weigh 135 grams and ( they look like it), they probably will retail here for close to $135 and I bet they last about 135 seconds on a DH run.
One with the sitting plank on top of the log, and one underneath. If you let go of them both, the one on top of the log will tilt to one side, because its trying to balance on a point below the mass of the plank.
The one underneath the log if let go will no tilt either direction, because its hanging from a point where there is no weight above the pivot, so nothing is trying to fall.
The same principles from that apply to this, the slimmer the profile, the closer your foot is to the pivot point, meaning having your foot over one end of the pedal more than the other will have less effects on your riding, plus it means you're less likely to slip off as the weight of your foot is more centered and less likely to tilt either way under load. Ideally someone should make a pedal where the platform sits below the bearing/bolt, that would have the best stability of any pedal.
and wtf does gluing 5mm of rubber onto the bottom of your shoe have to do with this subject? Makes you feel 5mm taller? Cool, now take off your high heels , skirt, and wig and go ride your bike.
Here are the advantages (most are already mentioned)
Lowers your center of gravity
Extra pedal strike clearance
Less teeter totter effect (feet less likely to spin off the pedals)
Better ability to pedal through the dead spot on the top of your pedal stroke
Not saying that I want to try these pedals specifically but others like po1nt podiums or canfield crampons (I own both) are extremely well made pedals where you can feel the benefits the first time you ride them.
I never said anything about axles or outboard bearings.
Do you understand basic physics?
The seesaw with the board on top will tilt, because the weight of the see saw is above the pivot point, it can fall because it has potential energy. The one below has no potential energy because it is below the pivot point and cannot release any potential energy as it is already below the pivot point that is the fulcrum that holds the weight, and cannot put anymore weight below that pivot point, but one with weight above can.
woops
If you need anymore help visualizing it, than really think about how wearing a shoe with a thick soul (like a platform) would feel while riding compared to a low profile shoe (like a skate shoe).
It isn't hard you doubters. You just need to think about it.
I once bought 60,- euros Tioga pedals: they weren't light at all, they gripped worse than lubed dick, and I broke them after about 5 tot 10 rides... After this I lost all my faith in those new 'super-duper-tioga' pedals
The seesaw experiment might not work for him because the hot air in his head is offsetting the weight of the seesaw.
You're not quite right there, the example of the basket is to do with stable vs. unstable equilibrium. As a pedal is fixed on a central axis this is not a valid consideration.
I don't want to sound like a dick. But as a 19 year old Physicist at Oxford University, I am a kid, and I think I know everything about this particular subject xD
Reportedly, the tolerances... ? I think someone forgot to finish that sentence properly. I think the author/publisher (the person who clicks publish, dunno how it works for you guys) should read the article before commiting to it going public fully. Speaking from expirience (i'm writing for a local IT/tech site). Mistakes like that happen, yes, but they can be avoided by reading it again after it's written. And these mistakes are annoying for someone like me that has certain cases of self-diagnosed OCD!
Maybe the 135g weight is without the bearings.
Removing the spindle and bearings and thinning out the pedal is fine - the body can handle the stresses... The only question is, can that bearing withstand those forces (where they're at their greatest) and still spin smooth and tight and not fail completely?
Personally, i'm skeptical but intrigued... would be interesting to see the inside of that massive bearing housing. Looking forward to a long term test report on these.
HUH? What about the tolerances? Are they so huge the pedal is garbage? Are they so tight that it took years to get right and you should buy them? WTF?
On the other hand, thin soled shoes coupled with these pedals would be a great combo!
Bandwagon? Yes. I ride with a lot of guys and almost all of them wear 5.10s when they're standing around next to the pumptrack talking. It's a fact that while they might well be better than your average trainers, they're also five times the price and wearing them isn't going to turn a 2/10 rider into a 9. Practice is going to do that, and that's what we should all be doing instead of getting fat looking at 5.10 shoes on the internet. As for thick hobnail booties protecting your toes, I'd rather just not hit my toes on anything that might break them. This is made easier by bearing shoes that actualy allow me to feel where the pedals are.
I've got some 5.10 rock boots and they're pretty shit hot mind.
The cost is not an issue for me. I'm not made of money, but I do not feel bad at all pouring all of my disposable income into bikes, skis, snowmobiles, outdoor gear, etc. I'll will never own a new car, or a house, or have kids, but I have my priorities dialed. If I'm going to ride a $4700 bike, why would I skimp on a $100 pair of shoes. Come to think of it, all my shoes from dress to hiking boots cost more than $100 so I would actually rate the price of 5.10 riding shoes as average. By the way, I also have 5.10 Camp 4 hiking shoes that have lasted 3 years also. I honestly think that 5.10 is making the nicest, most functional, and most durable shoes available for my needs right now.
And as far as the toe incident. I was riding at Winterpark last year and came around a high speed berm really fast, then put my left foot out moto style. About 1/2 way through the berm, a big rock had come loose and fallen to the bottom of the berm. I jammed my toe right into it, and my stiff 5.10 toe box saved me from major injury.
A shitty looking product, as much engineering and time are put in it, is still and will always will be a shitty looking product.
- increases ground clearance (this is the biggest benefit in my opinion as pedal snags suck!)
- puts the foot closer to the axis of the pedal for better power transfer and balance (imagine the opposite effect of a pedal that was 6" thick... i.e. unstable)
I bet they are surprisingly strong, Fly paper has been making pretty much this exact pedal for years.
Years? How long do you actually keep your pedals or your bike? If it doesn't last for 40 years on daily riding it is utter shit. Part is light, they are thin, if they last a couple of seasons, decent. If they last a single day, well that blows. But secondly, if you are breaking so many pedals, you must have the shittiest line choice.
well said