I don’t know about solved but looks like it’d be better. Less of the spindle area is raised & two more steel pins per pedal.
Even if not, a thinner pedal w/ some high spots & more/longer pins would be preferable to a thicker pedal IMO. There are other all metal equally thin pedals that don’t have those high spots, although usually $100+
Follow-up review
Just wanted to leave a follow-up on this review. Doesn’t seem like a year has gone by already!
Anyway, I can’t recommend these pedals anymore. Here’s the deal:
If you look at the picture, you’ll see that the end cap is kind of out at the end of a point. At some point I must have banged the pedal on a rock (not an unusual thing to happen) and broke off the cap. I tried to get a replacement, but no response from anyone that I asked.
Also, the design is such that there are no bearings, the tapered body of the pedal just fits closely onto the tapered axle spindle. Not that unusual for these really slimline pedals, but there is just a nut at the end of the spindle, which tends to work its way off after a while. And it’s not easily re-tightened – I had to custom-rework a nut driver to fit down into the spindle cavity.
So that’s about it. They are relatively low-cost pedals with high-end features, but with the design shortcuts and poor customer support, I can’t recommend them. I still have them on my uni, but I’ll be replacing them soon.
Cheers!
VP Harrier Pedals
I decided to replace the Origin8s with a pair of VP Harrier pedals. They have the same very-slim profile (12mm) as the others (which I liked), but have other features that looked good.
– The pedal/axle attachment is protected
– they have a REALLY wide footprint (120mm)
– they’re light weight (362g per pair)
– re-build kits are available for them
I got them for about $80 from ebay, so they’re in the ballpark with other mid-priced pedals with similar features.
I’ve gone on a couple of muni rides with them so far, and so far I like them. The large platform was the biggest selling point for me, I hate starting off and then having to stop and start again because of bad foot placement. These are big enough that that hasn’t happened (so far). If you have big feet (I wear size 11 five ten Impacts, so they’re big but not enormous) you might want to give these a try.
The pins are good, they provide good grip (and they’re replaceable).
They come in three colors – black, red, and silver. I got the red ones. They’re pretty snappy.
I don’t do big drops, so I can’t comment on overall strength. It looks like they were going for light weight with this design, so if you’re a “three-foot dropper,” you might want to stick with the beefier ones.
(As always, YMMV.) Cheers.
http://www.vp-usa.com/vp-harrier/
Since this pedal thread came up I guess I will ask a question here on a problem I have been having for a while. MY left pedal is out of balance and that is the one I bring my foot up to from the ground when I mount. My right is already on the pedal so I always called it a right footed mount. Both static and rolling.
These are the stock metal pinned pedals that came on all my nimbus uni’s. All the reflectors came off many UPD’s ago. It wants to go vertical on me no matter what I do. It is clean and mud free.
On one hand I think it has been good for my mounting by causing me to be able to position the pedal on the fly so to speak. But lately I have been trying to improve the control of my mounting by practicing mounts straight into idles, hops and still stands (really more like slight pauses) to get better control when mounting for Muni and trials. I think it would help if I could keep the pedal parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular to the ground.
The only thing I can think of to do is to start drilling some small holes on the side that wants to go down until it levels out. Any ideas?
Most quality aluminum flat pedals have bearings that are slightly sticky because of the seals and never really become loose enough to always be in the same position. Its probably better just to get used to mounting with your pedals in whatever position its in but it sounds like a fun experiment to drill holes or even weight to make it always parallel to the ground. Worst case senario your out a $20 set of pedals.
I agree it has made me better by having to deal with it, but I think I will try to do a static balance like we do on our slotcar armatures just for the heck of it.
I’ve been experimenting with a couple of new pedals lately. I had some cheap pedals on my muni which had developed lots of play. They were completely unserviceable (bodies riveted onto the axles) so they needed replacing.
I picked up some OneUp Composite pedals to replace them.
Pros:
Cons:
I tried the OneUp pedals on my 36er as well, expecting to like them enough to ditch the stock Nimbus (AKA Wellgo B108) which I’ve been running for the last couple of years. I don’t mind the Nimbus pedals, but I would find that my feet would slowly migrate around over the course of a multi-hour ride. Also, although they allow easy servicing by using loose ball bearing, they then shoot themselves in the foot by having a plastic dustcap which needs to be pried out with a knife to actually access said bearings. Finally, I wanted to see if a slightly wider platform would help with comfort over longer rides.
Anyway, the OneUp pedals were a no-go on my 36 due to the convex shape. I just wasn’t confident that my feet weren’t moving around without frequently looking down to check.
So I ponied up and picked up a pair of DMR Vaults for my 36er. They felt like a bit of an expensive gamble but it turns out they actually ride quite nicely.
Pros:
Cons:
Although I’m being quite harsh on the Vaults, they would be my pick if I had to chose one since they just ride so nicely. That said, I do wish there was a concave version of the OneUps available (or a version of the Vaults which was plastic, less blingy, cheaper and with wrench flats ;)).
DaUniGuy,
Leave the pedals alone.
The pedals aren’t the problem.
You said you wanted to learn better control, so do it.
If your pedal goes vertical at rest then when you mount just come in with a slight toe push before you step down on the, now flattened, pedal.
If you don’t think that this is possible then try just stomping the pedal down. Your foot will flatten the pedal and force you to make an adjustment after for proper placement. After a bunch of these mounts, I guarantee you will learn where to place your foot for an efficient mount.
Oh ya… start switching sides to mount so you don’t have a weak side.
When I first started practicing jump mounts, I made sure to adjust the pedals so they were parallel to the ground. Then I got lazy and stopped doing it. Since then, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a mounting mishap resulting from a funny pedal rotation. However, there’s a big caveat: I don’t use really aggressive pins on my pedals. I might be more cautious about mounting into the exact right position if I knew I’d be kind of stuck in it. Mounting onto the edge of the pedal probably won’t change the position of your foot by more than an inch for most pedals. In general, I think it’s easier to err on the side of landing the foot too close to the toe. Repositioning the foot feels sketchy after mounting closer to the heel.
I pretty much had this experience too. I used to stand there setting the pedals up ‘correctly’ before mounting, which felt a bit dorky and took a lot of time. Now I just jump on and cross my fingers, and it’s not failed me yet. The only time I’ve given it an ounce of concentration was when I used toeclips, and even then the motion of mounting pretty much always flipped the pedals the right way anyway 
Basic plastic pedals without pins. Made by Wellgo, also available from Qu-Ax and Impact.
Nothing fancy but I like them. I use these on my trials uni, which I use for learning new skills. I wouldn’t use them for riding any great distance.
I bought to go on my 26" general purpose uni. I chose them because they were cheap and had purple axles. Turns out they’re terrible pedals.
They have plastic pins, but also a large axle bulge which means you can’t really engage with said pins. As a consequence they’re always slippery. Doubly so when wet.
As well as being slippery their small size and axle bulge also makes them uncomfortable. I retired them after a few rides.
These are replacements for the Colony pedals on my 26er. Compared to the Colonies they’re larger, feel much tougher, have decent (plastic) pins, minimal axle bulge and are much more purple. Plastic pins, so still not super grippy in the wet, but I wanted “tame” pedals on this unicycle.
I haven’t used these long term, but so far these seem like a good option if you want a large, plastic, well made pedal but without metal pins.
Identical to the basic plastic version but with steel pins. Similar to versions by Qu-Ax and KH (the KH ones are polycarbonate rather than nylon).
I used these on my 36er for a few years and overall they’re decent pedals with a good amount of grip. I ended up retiring them because I found them annoying to maintain.
My goto 36er pedals. Nice size. I find I have a really nice connected feeling with the unicycle.
Great grip with the right shoes, however the pins are quite fat so with the wrong shoes they can feel a bit squirmy. Also the seals on the axle always look like they’re falling out, but they haven’t given me any trouble.
I like everything about these pedals except the shape. They’re convex, so if you ride on the balls of your feet then you never quite feel locked in. I originally bought these for my 36er but really didn’t like the feel, so moved them to my muni. I didn’t mind the convexity so much for muni, but still, they never felt quite right.
Silly name, great pedals. These are my current muni pedals, replacing the OneUps.
I really like these. They are large, with just a little bit of concavity. They’re grippy and really really comfortable. These pedals, combined with a soft saddle and a 3" tyre make my muni feel like riding a cloud.
As well as running these on my muni I’m also trialing them on my 36er. Somehow they make the 36er feel lighter, although because there’s a lot of grip I do find I have to watch my foot position so that I don’t hurt my knees over longer distances. Still evaluating them on the big wheel but they may just manage to dethrone the Vaults.
There is a metal version, the TMac. I’m curious to try it, but it’s several times the price of the Deftrap so I’m not sure I ever will.
Interesting how your conclusion on what you like looks rather similar to what I like.
I still currently ride the Nukeproof Electrons (original) on my Muni, and plastic pinned pedals from almost identical moulds from other companies on my 36er (such as the Savage Components Slim Jims, but I bent the axles on a pair of these).
I hate the Nimbus pinned pedals though - to me they feel horrible to ride on and have almost no grip side to side, so as soon as your feet start to move they’re off.
I have a strong preference for concave pedals, so I suspect I wouldn’t get on with the axle bump on the Electrons. A shame, as they’re cheap and there are options for both plastic and metal pins as you mention.
I’m also curious about some of the Shimano flat pedals, eg the PD-M8140. I really like Shimano pedals - they use loose ball bearings and are really easy to service. I also love the way you can replace the grease by using the housing to generate hydraulic pressure.
The newer ones do have a slightly slimmer centre profile (as shown in the top image), which almost makes them slightly concave side to side, but not really front to back.
What shoes do you ride with?
Northwave Tribe for most riding. Freeriders for muni.
The Deftraps are nice because they have no bumps or anything. Just a slight bit of concavity and the pins.
So, coming from an MTB and street trial background I’ve had my share of different pedals used as well.
Currently on my 19" trial uni I use the Reverse Escape pedals with Adidas Original shoes.
On my Street Uni I use the Impact All Bran pedals with Nike Air Jordan 1 Mid shoes
On my 27.5" muni I use Nukeproof Horizon Pro’s with Adidas / Fiveten Sleuth’s
On my 24" Muni I use the Crankbrothers Stamp 7 small with Adidas / Fiveten Sleuth’s
I’ve also used Nukeproof Neutron Evo, Hope F20 and a bunch of others in the past on my bikes as well. But I’m still trying to find the perfect balance between feel, grip (wet and dry) and durability…
I pulled my DMR Vaults off my 36er the other day (to try out the Deftraps) and noticed they’re feeling a bit crunchy. Opened them up and the grease around the inboard bushing is all black and gritty. I’m going to clean them up and get them going again, but that confirms my suspicious that the seals on the Vaults are pretty poor.
Here’s what I’ve tried and what I’ve liked best to worst.
Crank Brothers Stamp7 Large. I’ve got these on my Nightfox and they are great. They have a larger platform than most pedals and are lightweight and thin. They’re extremely grippy, so once you’ve got your foot where you want it they’re great. Trying to move your foot can be tricky however. They’re also a very expensive pedal.
Mzyrh with 18mm Ergotec extensions. These are a cheap off brand pedal that seem to be pretty decent. With pedal extensions on I like them. Without the extensions I find they position my feet too close to the zero q cranks on my quax. Unfortunately Ergotec extensions cost more than the pedals. My first set of cheap extensions broke after a month of use. These are reasonably grippy, but still pretty easy to shift your foot around on. I think this is due to the pins being located near the spindle rather than the edges of the pedal. These have taken a fair amount of abuse and have held up fine.
The next three could be considered a tie considering how similar they are.
Nimbus with steel pins. I don’t really care too much for these. Like the Mzyrh they’re a little too narrow for my wide paddle feet. They also have good grip, but I find it harder to shift my feet on them while not feeling as well supported and locked in as with the Stamp7’s. I find that when I try and move my foot backward with these that the pedal frequently flips over and I end up riding on tip toes.
Nimbus with plastic studs. These are the same as #3 only minus the metal studs. Grip is poor, but shifting your foot around is much easier with them.
Quax with plastic studs. Except for the logo, these are identical to the Nimbus pedals.
Hope F20 – I have several pairs of these on both unicycles and bikes. These are my latest acquisition – the blue goes nicely with the KH blue and the blue Hope brake rotor. These have pretty aggressive pins and hold your feet very firmly, a downside is that they can also mess up the back of your leg pretty badly 
Pros:
Cons:
I’ve been testing the Shimano PD-M8140 pedals on my 36er for the last few weeks. I think I’m going to keep them.
Previously I was using DMR Vaults, which I like from an ergonomic point of view, but they are frustrating in some ways. In particular the bearing tension is not adjustable, so if they develop play (which mine have) then there’s no way to get rid of it. The seals are also pretty poor, which has been a common complaint among many people for years.
Anyway, the PD-M8140:
They use cup and cone bearings so are fully adjustable. Like most (all?) of the current Shimano pedals the axle and bearing assembly unscrews from the pedal body in one piece, allowing easy service and bearing adjustment.
This also makes for easy regreasing without any need for bearing adjustment - remove the axle, wipe the inside of the body clean, fill it with fresh grease and screw the axle back in. Hydraulic pressure forces the new grease through the bearings and pushes the old grease out in one go.
They come in two sizes. I have the large, which I find very comfortable underfoot. They have a slight concave shape with no axle bulge.
The come with two lengths of pins, so you can tune the grip to your preference.
They take an 8mm Allen key, which is helpful for removing stubborn pedals.
They’re a bit heavy, at least in the large size. The small ones are comparable with other alloy pedals. I personally don’t think the weight is significant.
The grip is a bit less than the Vaults.
The multitool which I keep in my riding pack doesn’t have an 8mm Allen key on it.
The biggest con IMO - removing the axle from the pedal body requires a special tool. To be fair, it is the “standard Shimano pedal tool”, which is pretty easy to come by, but I wish it was a normal hex nut like on some other Shimano pedals. Realistically I’m only going to be needing this every year or so for servicing. Still, it’s annoying.
