Yes, it has shin-destroyingly long pins, but the new Race Face Turbine pedal uses more than spiky bits to keep your foot from coming off.
Some people (guilty) think that a glued-on feeling only comes with clipless pedals, that flats can’t deliver that. To which, Race Face answers hold my beer.
By combining a dual concave design with tall (but adjustable) pins and a low-profile design with no bearing bump, they’ve made a flat pedal for people who don’t want clipless but do want their feet glued to the platform on rowdy terrain and big jumps. They call it “Locked-in Flats” and here’s how they do it…
Compared to their footloose and fancy free Atlas pedal, which has milder concavity and smaller pins for riders who like to dab and dance as they shred the descents, the new Turbine pedal is for riders who step on and don’t want their feet to move.
To do this, they combined 11 pins with a dual concavity machined into the platform. There’s a big 3mm concave dip in the middle (compared to 1.2mm for the Atlas), and it’s concave in both fore/aft and inboard/outboard directions. Your shoe sinks into the pedal as you press on it.
That means it also helps you climb, since you can pull through a little more on the down stroke when pedaling. And you’re less likely to get bucked off when hammering through rough sections.
Which is why they went with a smaller inboard bearing. This eliminates any bearing bump or bulge, which lets it have a narrower Q-factor for a more natural pedaling feel and better biodynamic.
They spin on an inboard bushing and outboard bearing. That doesn’t sound like much, but they tested them to 1,000,000 rotations, had no signs of wear, and then gave up because they didn’t want to run down the testing machine. And, like all of Race Face’s products, they have a lifetime warranty, soooo…do your worst.
The design is a bit narrower at the back, wider at the front, to mimic the shape of your shoe’s soles and provide solid support. Because that shaping is reversed on the bottom side, it’s narrower where it’s more likely to strike the ground, and angled to help deflect off rocks, roots, etc.
The pedals come with four spare pins and 44 pin washers, letting you reduce pin height by up to 0.8mm, which, um, isn’t much. But it’s something.
Other specs include:
- 6061 machined aluminum body
- 20mm max thickness (excluding pin height)
- 115mm L x 110mm W
- Black, Silver, Kashmoney, Purple, Orange, Red, Blue
- Rebuildable / Servicable
- 419g / pair
Available now, MSRP is $180.00 USD ($220.00 CAD / 199 EUR SRP / $295 AUD)
