Pedal recommendations for my Atlantis

[Ted]

Hey all, I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations they’re willing to share for flat pedals. I built my Atlantis last year with MKS XC III’s. The build quality and bearings are amazing IMO. Surface area is good. And they are even light to boot! But the lack of pins just doesn’t provide enough grip.

Ideally I’d find something equally nice from a build and finish perspective, silver or grey, in a new-school MTB shape - square and concave. I've seen pics, but I don't have makes or models.

Without being able to find this ideal pedal, I’m about to order a pair of MKS pretzels. But I figured I’d ask here first in case anyone knows of something that would fit my ideal better. Thanks! 

Ted

[Glen]

I replaced the VP-1s on my Atlantis with the Simworks/MKS Bubbly and absolutely love how they feel under foot. I have not ridden them in the wet so I can't comment on how well they will grip when wet. https://www.sim.works/collections/simworks-by-mks/products/bubbly-pedals 

[Brian Turner]

I’m a fan of VP pedals, and especially the thin profiled VP-59s… but if you were not fond of the VP-001, then the 59s may not have enough pins for you either. What about the versions of Grip Kings (Gammas) that have removable pins?

Brian
Lexington KY

[Ron Mc]

I can't make a specific recommendation for the bike, but footprint and bottom bracket clearance are important.  A big footprint is easy to place your feet, but too wide can be dangerous for pedal strikes and sprained ankles.  

My Raleigh International has the lowest BBC, and needs narrow to avoid pedal strikes on turns - might be too narrow for many, but I like the footprint on DMR V2 magnesium pedals.  

My CX frame with big BBC has the biggest footprint, Race Face Atlas.  

Fitting up my Mercian KOM, and needing thin for the frame fit, I found my favorite footprint in NC17 Sudpin III.  

They have a reputation for beastly long life, with 3BB in the spindles.  

I liked these enough to use them again on my most recent Roaduno (StarBike order from Germany, DHL and online import duty payment).  

[Gabe]

I have big feet so I like the deity deftraps. The screws and the large platform provide great grip and they have fun colors. They ARE big so pedal strikes could be an issue as i found out with a merlin roadbike... (when I caught a pedal coming out of a corner and lifted the bike off the ground.) 

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[Kim H.]

I highly recommend MKS Gamma pedals with the side extensions. You can buy the extra pins for more grippiness if you chose. RBW sells both.

Kim Hetzel 

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[Dan]

Go with the Pretzels! You won’t be disappointed. 

I have them on my Appaloosa and they are the most comfortable and good looking pedals I’ve used. Plenty of grip. My wife also loves them and has them on both her bikes. 

I also have the XC-IIIs on another bike and while they’re great, the Pretzels are another level of grip and comfort. I get the occasional slip in the wet with the xciiis but never on the Pretzels. 

[Richard Rose]

So many great pedals. Love my Simworks Bubbly but not very grippy. Ok for casual stuff. My DMR Vaults are superb. Large & comfy, very grippy with 5/10’s or Birkenstock’s. I have them on my Gus. On a bit of a budget? Kona WahWah2 composites. Lots of colors, large & sticky. Favorite composite pedal.

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 27, 2026, at 4:52 PM, Ted <sewel...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Aaron Morris]

I have a pair of HT PA12A that have a lot of grip without being huge MTB pedals. Not close to MKS as far as looks but I like the contrast on my Clem

Looking forward to trying out these new MKS pedals on my Tumbleweed https://www.mkspedal.com/?q=en/news/node/486

[Scott Garrison]

I have the Crust Northbank in silver on my Sam and really like them. They're pretty modern looking though so may not be the best "look" fit for a Rivendell. https://crustbikes.com/products/crust-pedal 

[Nick A.]

I originally started with MKS Lambdas on my Atlantis, but found that I got hot (numb) spots on longer rides. So, I switched to the Velo Orange Sabot pedals (now discontinued?) and love them. My Roadini has the MKS Gordos, and those are great too. My basket'd New Albion Privateer that i ride around town daily has some nice pinned flat pedals from a'zon and they're super cheap and comforable too. All silver, btw.

Nick in Falls Church VA

[Eric Karnes]

Lots of great options already. Another vote for Diety Deftrap, which I bought on the recommendation of (and from) Analog. Very grippy, good value, great for big feet,  and so far I haven't had any pedal strike on my (62cm) Rambouillet...

[Menos Joven]

I would second idea of affordable or dare I say not exorbitantly priced quality pedals available on Amazon unless you need brand name.  I got the color, size & # of pins I wanted with triple cartridge bearings that look and feel of excellent quality for less than 25 bucks. Not worth the extra 100 for name brand imo.

[Joe Bernard]

I like the metal Deitys, use them on my Clem, refuse to use any other pedal. 

https://analogcycles.com/products/deity-black-kat-pedals

[Tom Powell Davies]

Another vote here for the MKS Pretzels. I have them on all my bikes! They are super grippy, have a nice wide platform, and look a lot better than adding the side extensions to the MKS gamma for the same effect (IMHO, sorry Grant!)

There is a nice review of them somewhere on the path less pedaled if you fancy seeing what they look like.

Happy pedalling! 

Tom

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[der_amerikanische_freund]

I also built my Atlantis with MKS XC-III pedals and whilst I also think the built quality and looks are excellent, I wasn't too happy how they felt under my feet, not so much its grippiness but mainly its platform surface - I wanted a larger platform area. For now I have gone back to my cheap composite One-Up pedals but if I had to choose MKS again I would definitely go for the Pretzels. 

With regards to the Gammas, it seems there is consensus about how good a pedal they are, but there is something in their shape (without the side extensions) that doesn't convince me, I don't think my wide feet would be properly supported by them.

[Conway Bennett]

I have mks gamma pedals that I took off of a bike I recently purchased that I have no use for if you were interested in purchasing used first.  I'd sell them for half of retail.

[Sally Bidleman]

A vote for Yoshimura Chilao pedals (maybe 3 votes since I have them on 3 bikes including Platypus!)...

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[Dave White]

I have the same Simworks/MKS pedals and they're great, wet is fine too.

[Maximillian Jansen]

I've got VO Sabots on my Privateer that I love. I'm bummed they discontinued them. 

[John Paz]

Not new school but this is what I use and it’s great

Grip monarchs + pedal extension 

Appears to be wider than pretzels but not much

John

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[Laing Conley]

My pedals of choice these days are the Grip Monarchs (and Kings) with side wings and full pins, must have at least 7 sets of them in various colors and Panda Adnap pairs, not the lightest pedals out there. I have become quite proficient in drilling and tapping them. The Monarchs are thinner, but the Kings are concave. Second most common are Diety TMACs in purple, orange and platinum. I have Chromag Scarabs in polished silver on my Custom. I think my favorite pedals for looks are still the Speedplay Drilliums on the Gus Boots Wilsen. I have the MKS Gorditos on my Guv’nor and the purple MKS XC IIIs on my purple ROADUNO.  Note that I wear EEEE width shoes.  Clips-ins are not even an option for me.  

For barefoot riding, the half century old Phil Wood platform pedals cannot be beat.  

Laing Conley 

Delray Beach FL

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[David Hong]

I love Chesters and have them on all my bikes. I've bought more expensive flats and always end up catching and releasing because I prefer the affordable Chesters. 

[derek zeitel]

I wear a size 12 and like a large, thin pedal and, crucially, do not like to feel the pedal spindle underfoot. No raised spindle on the pedal platform. My favorite pedals are DMR Vaults in polished silver. Tons of grip, great support and look simple & clean to my eye. Below are Vaults on my since-sold Krampus, logos buffed off.

I recently picked up a pair of Spank Rainer Spoon pedals in polished silver that will be installed on my current Susie build. Have no experience with them but they tick the boxes and look great, buffed the logos off these as well ;)

Derek Z

[Nick Payne]

A bike that we keep for the use of visitors has a pair of Nukeproof Electron flat pedals on it. I've used them myself in the past, but these days only the visitors use them. The pedal body is some sort of plastic composite, you can add or remove the gripping pins as you want, and the bearings seem good quality and have held up without problem for the 15 or so years the pedals have been installed, though because the pedals are now only used by visitors, they haven't had all that much use.

Nick Payne

[Mathias Steiner]

I can't believe we have a page's worth of pedal recommendations and the word "reflector" is not to be found.
Didn't Grant just post something about pedals and throw in how he only rides with reflectors anymore?
That should be true for anyone who rides in traffic at all, at least outside of the summer months.

I have a pair of thin, metal, reflector'd pedals that came on a mountain bike I'd bought for a specific purpose. I moved these from bike to bike, they were especially welcome on a 650b conversion, and somehow worked great with the running shoes I use for riding...I forget the name but it doesn't matter, they're not available. I've searched high and low.

These came up in a search today; never heard of Rockbros, but I think I'm going to give them a try:

[R. Alexis]

Like seeing and pulling up all the variety of pedals you all are using. I am using the following pedals. 

Rivendell Grip King/MKS Lambda, on my Bontrager Race single speed currently with Rivendell Pedal Wings. Bought two sets on Rivendells preorder. Still have a set in stash. Like the way they fit on that bike. May take the wings off it. They are good, but my feet are not really that wide and I was fine with using the pedal as is. Was using some rebranded VP 747 pedal on that bike prior that I swapped out the 1/2" spindle for 9/16" that I salvaged from some mangled nylon pedals off my brothers bike. Those pedals worked well also. 

VP-707 on my 1994 Bridgestone MB-1 retro ride. These pedals were originally on my first nice bike, a 1986 Mongoose ATB. The outside of the one piece pedal body broke when I was commuting on it when i took a spill on the ice. Tried trimming off the remaining part and clipped the end off the other side to even it out. Tried riding the pedals and the non support of the end put strain on my foot. Got a replacement VP 747 pedal cage from VP, swapped out the original on the 747 I had for the new ones, drilled out mounting holes in the 707, carefully reshaped the 747 cage around the 707 body and mounted the cage with stainless steel machine screws. The pedal work and feels wonderful again. 

Redline BMX platform pedal front and rear on Gary Fisher Gemini tandem. Looks like a rebranded VP platform pedal. Got them from the remains of a bike shop I used to work for. Again, swapped out the 1/2" spindle for 9/16". Seems to work fine on that bike for the handful of riding I have done on it. I think I have the same VP branded ones on my Schwinn High Plains Aluminum, again with spindle swap out. 

Velo Orange Sabot pedal with Mt Zefal half clips on OX Brand Ti Cruiser 29er. Got used from iBOB listmember. I liked the looks of this pedal and wanted to delve into a bigger platform with clip that move the foot a little more over the spindle. Really like the support of these. 

TruVativ Holzfeller on a Trek 930 tig welded steel bike. Bike built a few years ago to with parts laying around. Pedal is supportive and grippy. Probably my first time on a pedal with threaded bolt grip pins. 

Bontrager/Trek LIne Elite on Trek 520 Disc flat bar 29er build. These pedals are supportive and grippy, despite a corner of one of the pedals being broken. 

Some Cannondale branded nylon platform pedal on the Santa Cruz High Ball.

Waiting for use, Origin 8 Rascal XL. A warranty replacement for an Origin 8 Citadel pedal.

Rest of the bikes are using quill pedals, Suntour XC-Pro, VP cartridge bearing, possibly a Wellgo cartridge bearing quill pedal. Those are using clips and straps or half clips of some sort or other. 

I would really like to try the Sim Works by MKS Bubby pedals. The Taco pedals also look interesting. Liked seeing and pulling up all the other pedal options that people are using. Some I have never heard of before like the Yoshimura and Outlier that came up when I went down the rabbit hole. Was wanting a White Industries Urban platform pedal as a U.S. made pedal for my Waterford 1400 mountain bike build that inadvertently turned into a mostly U.S. component build with the King headset and hubs, King standard and Iris cages, Control Tech seatpost and canti brakes, Thompson stem, Jones ti H-Bar with J bend, Paul brake levers and shifter perches. The White Industries pedals and Bruce Gordon Half clips seemed to be a go, but was not sure for this bike. Not crazy about the sharp, bolt pin type pedals. Fear of getting mangled by the pins on a misstep gives me reservation. Only reason I have the ones with those that I do is through getting them with other things. The Velo Orange Sabot pedal pins seem more approachable with its less agressive pin style. 

Thanks for the new food for thought on pedals. 

Reginald Alexis

[Ted]

I am floored by the responses to this post. I can't thank you all enough. This group has an amazing membership.

I am equally floored at how so so many fantastic options are in here that completely flew under my radar. My internetting skills are evidently getting pretty rusty. I'll blame it on being a newish dad.

The Yoshi's particularly caught my attention and sent me down a serious rabbit hole on pedals, then materials sourcing and manufacturing location. What a privilege it is to be able to indulge in such things!

I've just placed an order for North Shore Billet Daemons. Simple aesthetics, silver, square, good grip. Materials primarily from the US. Machining and construction in Canada.

https://northshorebillet.com/en-ca/products/daemon-pedal?srsltid=AfmBOoqX_0ZNQCyktVXDL8lkS8zW3E6JdV7UmIs-0Yl78feqIDFwkzum

Can't wait to see these on the Atlantis.

Thanks again everyone!

Ted

[Ron Mc]

Ted, if you had asked before '21, my answer would have been Blackspire Sub420, also once made in Canada.  

They went out of business with the failure of international post.  

https://www.cyclosphere.com/us/blackspire-sub420-alloy-pedals.html

A couple years ago, I was happy to snag this AA7075 Blackspire 28T granny ring NOS on ebay.  

[Joe Putnam]

Glad to see so many options here. I have been interested in Pretzels and they seem to have a lot of love here. To the OP: I just did a long ride on a pair of MKS Allways and they are amazing. Super grippy and comfortable for 14 straight hours in the saddle (with a few breaks haha). Seems you may have already found a pair to try, but if they don't work out, give the Allways a look!