There’s no shortage of worthy flat pedal offerings out there these days, but, all the same, I was intrigued when Canfield Brothers rolled out a new model at the tail end of summer. At first glance, the new Crampon Mountain looks a whole lot like the company’s venerable Crampon Ultimate model. There are, however, several tweaks at play here that make this pedal deserving of a closer look. For starters, the Crampon Mountain sports thicker traction pins and a slightly wider platform than the Ultimate model, which remains in production. Moreover, the Crampon Mountain has new guts. Whereas the Ultimate rolls strictly on bushings, this new pedal features an outboard bushing and two, stacked cartridge bearings on the inboard side. Canfield’s goal? To create a “virtually maintenance-free” pedal.
Crampon Mountain Pedal Details• Patented convex shape
• 106-mm x 112-mm platforms
• 11 replaceable, dual-sided pins per side
• Axle: Chromoly
• Internals: Hybrid sealed bearings/DU bushing system
• Weight: 400 grams
• Anodized finish, available in 11 colors
• MSRP: $149 USD
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www.canfieldbrothers.com / @CanfieldBrothers
On the Trail The thing that most clearly sets apart Canfield Brothers pedals from those of competitors is their profile. Whereas most flat pedals today feature a slightly concave profile that's designed to cup and support your foot. Canfield has long gone the exact opposite direction, with a pedal profile that's slightly convex. The leading and trailing edges of the Crampon Mountain (like the Ultimates) are a mere 6 millimeters tall. The pedal grows thicker (not surprisingly) at the axle; here, you're looking at about 10 millimeters of height. No matter how you slice it, the Crampon Mountain is one seriously slim chunk of metal. Canfield claims that their patented shape (and, yes, it's actually patented) offers superior grip over a traditional concave shape.
Is that so?
It's hard, if not impossible, to attribute a pedal's grippiness to any single element of its design. There's a surprising number of factors at play here, including the number of traction pins, the height of traction pins, the shape of traction pins, the distribution of traction pins, platform shape, platform length, platform width... I'm sure I'm leaving all manner of things out of the equation, but you get the idea--the amount of stickiness you feel on a pedal is a function of a whole mess of shit. So, I can't say with 100 percent, lab coat-wearing, test tube-juggling confidence that the grip I felt was all a matter of the pedal's convex shape. I will say this, the grip is quite good, though I wouldn't classify the Crampon Mountain as super sticky. Both Specialized's Boomslang and Race Face's Atlas (two models that come to mind) offer a more tenacious grip. I
can, however, say that I prefer the feel of a concave platform. I never slipped a pedal because of the Crampon Mountain's unique profile, but I simply feel more...I guess "settled" or "planted" would be the word I'm looking for here. It is, however, a fairly subtle distinction.
Returning, for a minute, to the subject of traction, it's worth noting that the pedals come out of the box wearing 10 pins per side. You can add an eleventh pin in the center of the pedals, which I experimented with. I prefer having that eleventh pin in the mix, but I am also biased towards getting as much grip from my flat pedals as humanly possible. If you are running shoe with a particularly soft rubber compound or you simply want to free up your feet more easily, you can stick with the stock 10-pin configuration. The pins are dual sided, which means that when you do eventually mangle one, extracting it from the pedal body will require neither vice grips nor cursing. Nice.
The thing that truly sets the Crampon Mountains apart from a lot of other thin pedals is that they truly don't smack into shit as often as most other pedals. You can argue, of course, that pedal strikes are all a matter of operator error; that the pedal doesn't smack into things by itself, instead
you are the one smacking it into shit. While there's some truth in that statement, there are also a hell of a lot of bikes rolling down the pike these days with very low bottom brackets and, well, sometimes you want as much margin for operator error as possible. The Crampon Mountains give you that margin. It's noticeable. While I invested some virtual ink a few paragraphs ago into noting that I prefer the feel of a concave platform, there's no doubt that the convex shape lends a helping hand in creating the pedal's pancake-thin leading edge.
As for durability, I've been riding the Crampon Mountains for three months, so it's too early to weigh in on that attribute. Given the mix of bearings and bushings, Canfield Brother's claim of improved durability over their bushing-only pedals is more than plausible. True, Canfield added almost sixty grams to their basic design by adding those stacked bearings, but for the same amount of money, you get a pedal that doesn't require seasonal rebuilds--something worth its weight in gold to me.
Pinkbike's Take | Looking for a razor thin pedal with good grip? The Crampon Mountain is a solid option. Canfield Brothers already had a time-proven design; this model simply ups the durability factor and adds a bit of extra real estate for your feet. - Vernon Felton |
MENTIONS: @CanfieldBrothers /
@vernonfelton
For 2017 we are introducing two new models: Overhaul and Warren T
I would really like to see them come out with a Crampon Ultimate XL with more surface area and pins. I think that would be the next best thing to the Ultimates.
Trying to parse this...the fact that you don't have to service these each year is worth 60g in solid gold to you? So about $2500?
And what did the Canfield Brothers do to you to incite your unfounded negativity?
My reasoning for this - all clipless pedals are pretty thick and most of the worlds fastest seem to have little problem with that and you see very few pedal clip to otb incidents, most just dent the pedal, tweak an axle etc.
I ride both clipless and flats and I know from personal experience there's far more clearance with clipless. I'm way more cofindent to keep pedaling over rough ground and that's on a hardtail with 305mm bb height.
Wide flats are very prone to pedal strikes,esp. when the bike is leaning.
Width is also something that this kind of convex pedal wont help with as it is still as wide as any other flat pedal so cornering stikes will be the same.
I just cant help to think that a 5mm reduction (vault is 17mm, canfield 7mm so 5 mm thinner each side) is really enough to make a real world difference and that a lot it is due to platform size and edge shape but if it has worked for your riding that is what counts at the end if of the day!
Confidence pedaling over rough ground couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact your feet aren't constantly moving (one of the most notable benefits of clipless over flats IMO)? Either way, there are so many variables in that situation that it's impossible to isolate pedal thickness.
Beyond an as yet undefined point, ultra thin pedals seem a bit of a gimmick to me - but they do look awesome, so fair enough.
I got your back. Even though it wasn't a great one.
I used to ride SPD since 1991 and started to ride flat pedals some years ago, got that Boomslang and used with 5/10 is almost like been cliped in, never lost the pedal. Bent one of them after a nasty crash with a big tree and I am so in love with that pedal that I bought another pair of Boomslang.
They tend to be much better with regular Freeriders which tend to wrap around and grip the pedal more effectively whereas Impacts kind of float and skitter over the top of the pedal. The downside to this 'wrap' is it leaves your toes more vulnerable to getting crushed as I've learned the hard way.
Neither grip as well as the RF Atlas, but the lack of bearing bulge is appreciated as is the thinness with a sub 13" BB.
Still looking.
I have a pair that I use for dh and trail, theyve been bombproof.