Tectonic Components Launches New Made-In-USA Altar Pedal
PRESS RELEASE: Tectonic Components
After several years of prototyping, testing, and refinement, we are excited to launch our first product, the Altar platform pedal. We set out to build a pedal that would thrive in demanding conditions, with a focus on grip, durability, and ease of service. Proudly made in Durango, Colorado, the Altar pedal was designed for rock-strewn mountain summits, rowdy backcountry singletrack, crushing laps in the park, and hiking freeride lines in the desert, and will excel wherever the riding puts a smile on your face.
Details
-110 x 120mm platform size
-15mm thick
-330g / pair
-Carbon fiber-reinforced nylon pedal body
-Patent-pending, hardened Hitachi steel traction pins
-Stainless steel spindle
-Full cartridge bearing system
-Made in USA
-$199.00 USD
After experimenting with a variety of materials, we landed on carbon fiber-reinforced nylon, a thermoplastic that exceeds the strength of aluminum while also being more inclined to glide over rocks, rather than sticking or catching. Filled with long fibers, our tooling optimizes their orientation and flow throughout the injection molding process for excellent mechanical performance. The Altar offers a quiet, damp ride and a feathery weight of 330g for a pair.
Footprint
Measuring 110mm (W) x 120mm (L), the Altar's generous platform size delivers sublime grip and power transfer, you are assured a reliable foothold even in those moments where foot placement is less than perfect. There is 2mm of dual concavity for the best ride feel, and the center of the pedal body is a slim 15mm.
Grip
Our patent-pending traction pin design features a dual-sided traction pin fixed by a side-loading bolt. This design allows for painless and quick replacement of damaged traction pins, and because there are no threads in the pedal body, a truly mangled pin will never make replacement impossible. We make these from hardened Hitachi stainless steel for the best in durability and profile them for optimal traction, while still understanding that these front-line parts need to allow for easy replacement for a long service life.
We set out to build a pedal around a durable, easily serviced bearing layout, arriving at a system that uses four cartridge bearings per pedal. These run on a heat-treated stainless steel spindle, with additional sealing elements for the best longevity. When the time comes, the pedals can be easily rebuilt with common tools.
The Altar pedal is available now. For more information or to purchase, visit tectonic.bike
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Member since Oct 9, 2020
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I bet you have overpriced plastic all over your bike. and don't get me started on eyewear!
But really...it looks like a solid design.
Just one pair of injection molded plastic pedal for the price of 4-10 from other brands?
Seen from Europe it's made in a first world country overseas just like something from Taiwan.
It all used to be made here.......
Aside from that, what's your point? How does this have anything to do with my initial statements other than an attempted jab at the US? I know we suck in a lot of areas and have a long ways to go of course but my initial point wasn't about standing on some 'Merican pedestal.
I was simply attempting to point out it's not a negative thing when US made products are slightly more expensive than their overseas labor counterparts because they're more expensive for a good reason: paying humans actual living wages. Just because some businesses can't manage to do this properly, or parts of this country have issues, doesn't mean you can't be positive about businesses that can or make an attempt at it
Goodr makes sunglasses that are 25-35$
There is no struggle, merely greed. Just like the cost of these plastic pedals
Injection molding is highly automated and cheap for large quantities, regardless of where it is done.
There is just no reason whatsoever why they should cost as much as they do. Just marketing bulls*it.
True - But as a new company its unlikely they have the large quantities part covered yet and its very likely the injection mould cost a bloody fortune to get them started.
I actually run a small boutique automotive part company where and I design, manufacture, and sell my product. My aluminum molds costs are 4x more than overseas, and my part runs costs are nearly 10x, and my paint/finishing costs are even more. Cost is partially because it's local American plastic part molding manufactures I work with and partially because it's short runs (1,000) vs 100s of thousands of runs for other brands. From the looks of this pedal brand's website, this definitely has the vibes of a one man army doing short runs with local Colorado plastic molders and cnc shops haha! Which is still rad, imo.
And yeah, totally spot on. The shipping fees for importing materials, as well as mailing out orders to people is definitely more than people realize for small brands moving small inventory numbers. From my experience, after all shipping, product packaging, hardware, cost for manufacturing each set of pedals, cnc stuff, bearings, etc, I would be surprised if they are even close to $100 in profit per set of pedals.
Spindles could cost more if they are being machined in-house or a speciality fab shop…don’t know the flavor of stainless steel (if it comes with a brand name it’ll be more pricey) so… $5 per spindle?
Bearings off the shelf, pins are special but small. Not big drivers.
Then assembly and labor, domestic will add up especially if not optimized for quantity. I bet you’re right that they are still making a benji in profit, so good for them if the market responds favorably to that price for the product.
How’s my math?
Note that i'm not slamming the product. The pedals are probably quite nice and i like the idea of the two part pins.
But even a second-rate company like Sixpack can make composite pedals in a first-world country at half the price of these ones:
www.sixpack-racing.com/en-GB/products/pedals/flat-pedals/millenium-cf
I don't really get why people are such cheapskates on flat pedals. They are one of your few contact points to the bike and all you have to control the back of the bike. They have to be very strong and you want them to spin smoothly and efficiently.
If you think of it like buying two front hubs then the price really isn't THAT bad.
Let's say it was 50,000 for investment for starting this business for them. Which is being cheap. Tooling, prototypes, failed designs, failed molds, all the cnc work put into the pins stuff, website promo media stuff, the list goes on. At $100 profit a pedal, that's 500 pedals sets to break even. I'd be curious about their numbers after a year. All this chat about this makes me want to see PB do an interview article about the process, journey, and maybe shed light on the price thing. That'd be cool right?
No Bearings means oversize stronger axles, an the bodies are like tanks, super deep concave.
I mean, how fast does a pedal need to spin?
(No criticism or sarcasm, genuinely interested in your opinion)
Can't expect someone who rides an xc hardtail to be into this kind of thing but it's not "retarded" it's radical and I for one like it when my feet stay on as I'm hurtling though the air. Your just not the clientele my friend.
Sure if doing proper DH stuff they probably not quite up to it I haven’t heard of any ‘exploding into a thousand pieces’ before.
Triggers are just horrible on Glocks, and you have to dump so much money into them for it to be a good pistol for target shooting.
I understand that they have other use cases in burgerland, where reliability and being foolproof might trump comfort.
The cure for high prices, is high prices.
I thneed these pedals, but cutting lose $200 for pedals is a bit much.
If the steel spindle version was $100 and the Ti version was $200, then we’d have something to work on.
Q: why no internal : central pins?
Q: why no tapered leading edge for deflection? Especially with a larger then most platform.
Q: does the plastic body have a replacement warranty?
I’d love a response, with these questions answered I’d likely be a potential customer.
In addition if these are concave then they are a 17mm wide pedal? With a 15mm central thickness…?
Good work trying something new! Good luck.
The Deity Tmac and Pembree pedals seem very well liked and are the same.
We offer a one-year warranty, and lifetime crash replacement at cost. Although, we haven’t had a broken pedal body yet in three plus years of testing, I can’t say the same for more than one pair of cranks they were attached to in that time.
If your pedal body is the strongest element, why not make a big outlandish lifetime warranty? It’s more a sales generator than a real need for the consumer… I know friends with a bike shop say they have only ever had to organise a couple of break replacements for WeAreOne rims, yet the majority of riders that are unlikely to cause a break anyway are attracted to the brand by the warranty. (and those riders that broke them are pushing stupid hard so to have them riding them is almost free PR).
I’ll check out your Int shipping costs and check my build budget, im convinced by the design.
Also, for a young company like this that doesn’t know how many people will game the system, true (acceptable use) lifespan of their product, and have the headcount to run the program, offering that could bankrupt them right away.
I’m in the market for new pedals. These would absolutely be on my short list if they had either 1) a lifetime warranty or 2) hundreds of positive reviews over many years of service.
Bearings and pins are wear items and can be purchased relatively cheaply on tectonic’s website. I’m fine with that.
No axle is un-bendable no matter what the material, no body is impervious to crash / impact damage, fatigue breaks parts after years and years and thousands of miles of use.
Personally I think offering a lifetime warranty would be ridiculous which is likely why hardly anything comes with one.
I mean say after 5 years the body develops a crack (no huge crash) after being ridden for thousands of miles - would you expect this to be covered as a manufacturing defect or would you say this is to be expected due to fatigue?
If parts and bikes lasted forever they would be inevitably worse to ride, heavier, less functional etc - we have to strike a balance, there is sustainability and then unrealistic expectations of engineering and fatigue resistance.
When you consider that some of the other premium-priced pedals are either heavier, smaller, manufactured offshore, or all of the above - then these look pretty competitive in the high end pedal market. The only thing unproven is whether the bodies will hold up as long as aluminum.
Not much to complain about here IMO. If I could justify it, I'd be ordering a pair tonight.
As far as convexity is concerned -- the shoe contacts the pins... as long as the pins/surface int he middle is lower than the ones that the front/back, it's concave - regardless of the appearance of the body. In this case it's concave only because there are no center pins, which to me means less grip...
Convex pedal bodies still feel different than concave ones regardless what the marketing says about 'effective concavity.' I don't like them myself, but it's nice that a wide range of options exist so every rider can find what they're looking for. I also have a preference for no center pin but again that's just a feel thing.
In one of the other comments Tectonic said they think the pin will break before damaging the pedal body, but that'll be proven/disproven over time!
I'm less enamored after seeing the axle bulge you brought to my attention but I still think these pedals will be well-liked by those who buy them...
Good platform size/shape? Check
Good pin system/layout? Check
Good bearing system? Check
Concave? Check
Plastic bodies that slide off rocks better? Check
I cannot see anything I don't like, these are at the top of my 'next pedals list' now, as a serial pedal killer (every pedal I've ever run has had snapped axles at some point, I've smashed platforms too) the price does make me pucker up a bit bit they're only about the same as my previous top choices diety tmac and chromag dagga.
• Made in Germany
• Carbon fibre reinforced polyamide
• Net size: 105 x 114 mm
• Height: 18.5 mm center (15 mm leading edge)
• Weight: 350 g
• Thermo-chemically tempered CrMo axle
• Recycled carbon fibres from industrial waste
• RRP: 89.95 €
I have some questions on the hardened pins though. Why do the hardening process? What is the net benefit? Is the ideal failure mode to have the pin shear off or is bending what you were going for?
Do you remember the name by any chance? Id like to chk em out
must be sum new space age stuff @ctd07:
As someone with large feet (15uk, 16us) who appreciates plastic pedals hanging up less on rocks, and kills bearings/bushings in pedals pretty quickly, these have actually gone to the top of my list, ahead of the similarly priced dirty tmac and chromag daggas that were previously there. The pins being hardened may stand a chance of lasting more than a few rides, and super easy to change if/when they do get mangled.
yoshimuracycling.com/collections/all/products/chilao-performance-bicycle-pedal-yoshikote
I don't race so I don't care about really care about weight, but whatever works for you.
like that in the 2nd hand market, theres no fffking way I'm gonna spend 200 of any nations currency on pedals
" Well I'm not sure it's fair to compare new with 2nd hand. You only got those items so cheap because someone else paid full price and took the depreciation hit."
I'm more pointing out my tight arse spending perspective with regards, I only buy new wear parts, chainrings,
tyres, pads, cassettes, seals etc everything else will be someone elses unwanted : )
Tectonic: Here ya go!
Pinkbike: Not like that....
They aren't noisy (there's a low bar) and they make your feet wet.........TAKE MY MONEY!!!
Perfect size, smooth bearings, good pin length.
You don't have to imagine! thats right come on down to Durango Colorado, where we've got bulges for miles. 330g bulge sold separately, terms and conditions apply, patent-pending
Also, I just got some nuke proof pedals for £22......
You'd have to be a proper flag waving, golden eagle owning, trump supporting, lunatic to pay 200 for plastic pedals.
Made in America: Chris King, Industry Nine, Onyx, Project 321, White Industries, Hadley. Most of the best hubs come out of the US. Nothing shoddy about US made bike parts.
In MTB it doesnt make sense as most people dont hold onto bikes long enough to justify those prices.
Based on NZ prices, the onyx vesper hubs are like crazy 900$ EACH thats more than a quality wheel set thatll last untill theres a new standard.
The onyx hub makes sense to just buy a Rear hub and keep it and swap between new bikes, however its still a 900NZD hub that doesnt offer any performance gains over a quality hub from any other brand.
in this case, This pedal set isnt worth 200USD, infact i dont think its worth even 150, maybe 120 at max.
The idea is price vs price, american made just cant compete in price brackets, Anything is good quality overal if built in america but you pay for it in MTB anyway, the same as any other brand - however, in other sports, Many things are made in america and they are shod quality.
Onyx sprag clutch based hubs, in my opinion especially the classic, have some pretty material benefits. The largest of which is the fact you would need to be as big as an African elephant to turn a clutch over. I have put several people on them who have destroyed "bombproof" hubs like DT 350's and that was the end of their hub shredding track record. Onyx Classic and Vesper hubs are also the lowest drag hubs put there, and you' even find university level white papers (Duke University) with a study on it to prove it. Some may also that that is a pretty worth while benefit. They are generally lower maintenance as well, and still look fresh inside long after you've had to service other hubs several times over, more often than not.
But again, you seem very biased. I think you need to step back and recognize that just because they are not attractive to you, doesn't mean they aren't attractive for other people. I build a lot of Onyx hubs, and I can tell you that many people see the value in them.
Im going to come out an say it: i have the money to buy whatever products i like regardless of price.
Again, "not worth it" in YOUR opinion. And your opinion really only matters to you! Though you bought 3 of them, so I am not sure I believe you any more lol. They were clearly worth buying 3 times over for you!
My four sets of Onyx are working wonderfully. Similar to the 5 or 6 sets that came before them. And similar to the 100 or so sets I have built for other people. Not a single complaint among the bunch. There are many more people who ride Onyx one time and will not ride anything else after; that is very common. I have built half a dozen sets for people this month alone, and more than half of those are for people who are buying their second, third, and even fourth set. I have never once had someone come back with even a complaint on Onyx hubs, let alone tell me they were not worth the expense. So I would say your opinion is a bit of an outlier.
And fortunately when you are done hitting yourself with the proverbial Onyx hammer, there are a load of other hubs for you to buy and complain about.
To later find out that the most expensive doesnt mean the best by any stretch. - the vespers are the only real option for silent hubs so what choice did i have then?
I dont think silence was worth the $900. Look its all good if you guys cant afford the most expensive things, im lucky enough that i can and i have done but again, many items including these are not a 900$ item.
Privateer, im not reading your wall of text, because itll be dribble.
I own a business that makes high end auto equipment in the USA, Theres a line between "made in america" and "quality & made in america" Then throw in the "Made in america +300% Price."
but hey what would i know, only been in the MTB industry and Automotive industry on a production scale for the last 30 years lol.
But hey what would I know, I only build hundreds of wheels a year, and serve a good many large guys who eat freehubs and engagement mechanisms for breakfast!
This Onyx tangent has gone on and on unnecessarily. If you feel you have more experience on the matter, we will defer to you - fill your boots man. The whole point has been that many remarkable hubs come out of the US. If you disagree, you are certainly entitled to your opinion! There are plenty Japanese and Chinese hubs (many of which are also fine) for you guys to ride - have at it.
*("Dual concavity"=bearing bulges on both sides, i.e. in reality they're convex, maybe flat at best)