Over the past few months, HT sponsored athlete and 2x World Cup Overall winner Aaron Gwin has been teasing his social media followers with rumors of a new pedal.
This rumored pedal is the first clipless MTB product for HT and it’s already racked up a world cup win at the season opener in Pietermaritzburg.
There are only seven prototypes in the world and Gwin has three of them. He began testing the pedal in January. The company is still in the process of developing the final shape of the platform, but their main focus is ensuring the mechanism works flawlessly.
In addition to the prototype clipless pedals, HT was also showing off their staggering array of flat pedal offerings. They have several different options for almost every price point and they’re all available in a myriad of colors.
Like any cyclist, there’s always the option we can afford and the option we lust over. New for 2014, the ME02T falls squarely in the latter category. Designed to be as light as possible, these ultra thin pedals grace the scale at a mere 200g.
The extruded and CNC’d magnesium platform is 95x96x17mm (although the center is only 14mm wide) and spin a on a CNC machined titanium axle. In this configuration, the pedal retails for $300 and has an upper rider weight limit of 85kg (187 lbs).
For the clydesdales in the crowd, they also offer a cromo axle which pushes the weight up by 50g to 250, but does not have a weight limit. This configuration will only set you back $190. And before you go complaining that they won’t hold up, we’re told this is Lopes’ favorite set of pedals for dirt jumping.
Across the HT Product line, you’ll notice that all the pedal names begin with either an AE or ME. The AE stands for aluminum, while the ME indicates a magnesium pedal body.
The ME03 pictured above has a slightly larger platform and one additional pin than the feathery light ME02T we were initially drooling over, but is slightly heavier at 218g. Swapping out the Ti axle brings total weight up to 260g. Price for the gucci Ti version? About three Benjamins.
With a similar platform design but a more reasonable price tag, the recently released AE05 pedal has a revised bushing system for better durability and a reinforced pedal body so that the pins can’t strip out the threads.
The pedal also has taller outside edges than some of it’s siblings, which helps with traction.
Weight is just 360g and you can pick up a set for $160.
A little bigger, a little wider, and a little more unusual than anything else in the product catalog, the HT KA01 is the signature pedal of elite US downhill racer Kevin Aiello.
Aside from its distinct appearance, what sets this pedal apart from the rest is the large outside edge. While many manufacturers have heavily chamfered edges to reduce pedal strikes, this model embraces the square platform to offer more leverage on the outside of the pedal for cornering.
