This is a ultimate guide to help you choose the best BMX pedal for you. In this article we cover Plastic, Alloy and Race as well as Park/Street, Junior pedals - and Old School pedals as well for good measure!
Pedals are one of the three important contact parts on your bike, other others being your grips and seat of course, so it's critical that these feel right. They are also probably one of the first items you will upgrade on your new bike to make it your own.
Pedal Thread 1/2" or 9/16"?
All bikes with a 2 or 3 piece crank use 9/16" pedals, so that's all mountain, road, hybrid, BMX race bikes etc - and most modern BMX bikes. Entry level BMX and many old school bikes and beach cruisers use one piece cranks so need 1/2" thread. If you do have a one-piece crank and you are upgrading to a 3 piece you will need new (9/16") pedals.
Plastic vs Alloy
Plastic pedals are cheaper and are (a bit) less painful on your shins than alloy pedals with pins, but they are less durable and the pins wear and become slippy over time so need replacing.
How to fit my pedals?
Don't forget to use grease in your bearings and your pedal threads when installing cranks (if you ever want to get them off again). And a pedal spanner for fitting your pedals. See our article about pedal fitment here.
A Note About Plastic Pedals and Warranty
Plastic/Nylon pedals are not guaranteed against breakage. If you are looking for a more durable pedal, we'd suggest alloy instead.
Plastic Pedals
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Colony Fantastic Plastic
Getting on a bit now, but this is still our best-selling pedal, so why change it? As you may have noticed a lot of pedals use similar bodies with different logos from the Taiwan Buyers Guide, usually made by Wellgo or VP. Not these, this design is all Colony and totally unique. They have a slim body thats is wider on the inside giving you a larger surface area. The latest versions add coloured spindles that you can match with other parts on your bike. They are also the #1 choice for many flatlanders as well, like Jason Forde. Loose ball and affordable.
Material: Nylon/fibre mix.
Weight: 376g / pair.
Bearings: Loose ball.
Best thing about them? The unique body the shape, give them a try.
2. DMR V6 Nylon Pedals
An affordable plastic pedal, based on the new-shape alloy V8 which in turn is a cousin of the pedal that started it all - the original Shimano DX.
Material: Nylon mix.
Weight: 327g / pair.
Bearings: Dual DU bush system (no bearings).
Best thing about them? We love the colours and the bush system.
3. HT PA03A Sealed Bearing Nylon Pedals with Replaceable Pins
The snappily-titled HT PA031 may sound like an all-in-one printer, but it's a new type of hybrid pedal that uses a plastic body but with replacement steel pins like you get on alloy pedals. There are 8 pins per side and you can remove them on one side, or run less if you prefer, pins are what wear usually on plastic pedals so these are a great idea. They also have sealed bearings, if this were a CNC alloy pedal with these features it would be £100 or more. Large (105 x 107mm) platform and concave parallelagram shape and some nice colours to top it off.
Material: Glass reinforced nylon.
Weight: 345g / pair.
Bearings: Sealed.
Best thing about them? The pins! The large body! The Sealed Bearings!
4. Odyssey Twised PC Pedals
Launched back in the 80's, the original Odyssey Twisted PC pedals were rediscovered by a new generation of riders in the 2000's and they are still going strong today in their original form and in limited edition colours now and again. They also come in 1/2" for one-piece cranks and have since spawned a Twisted PC Pro version.
Material: Nylon composite.
Weight: 414g / pair.
Bearings: Loose ball.
Best thing about them? Cheap, dependable, limited edition colours.
5. BSD Safari Pedals
These Reed Stark-designed pedals from BSD have been a best seller since day one for us. Reed had been talking about this pedal idea since he joined BSD. He noticed that when a bike falls, the corner pins on plastic pedals often grind down and break off. The Safari pedal is designed with extra pins in these high-impact areas to ensure it stays grippy even after severe abuse, 20 pins each side in fact, so out-pinning all competitors! If weight is an issue for you, they are a big heavier than most modern PC pedals.
Material: Nylon composite.
Weight: 414g / pair.
Bearings: Loose ball.
Best thing about them? Cheap, dependable, limited edition colours.
Alloy Pedals
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Snafu Cactus Sealed CNC Alloy Pedals
Pretty crazy how many of these we sell of these, it seems like every Park rider out there is running 'em. The Cactus is our best selling high-end alloy pedal, made from extruded and CNC-machined 6061 T-6 alloy, it has sealed bearings and weighs just 336g a pair. Also comes in a Junior version (great for little racers), a Wide version (maybe more suited to MTB) and a new Nylon Sealed version.
Material: CNC 6061 alloy
Weight: 336g / pair.
Bearings: Sealed.
Best thing about them? Super smooth, light.
This article is being written as we go along - so please check back for the latest updates!