Review: Renthal's New Revo-F Flat Pedals

Feb 15, 2024
by Jessie-May Morgan  
photo


Renthal are expanding their range of touch point components, launching their very first pedal; the Revo-F. Better known for their motocross and mountain bike cockpits, Renthal are now looking to convince flat pedal enthusiasts with what they describe as a dual-concave profile.

Depending on where exactly you measure, a concavity runs from front to rear, as is fairly common, but also left to right. And, in both axes, it's the shape of the pedal body itself that delivers that profile, not just differential pin heights.

Revo-F Details
• Weight: 492g (pair)
• Area: (L) 100mm x (W) 104mm
• Edge Thickness: 17mm
• Thickest Point: 18.5mm
• Axle material: Steel
• Pins per side: 10
• Pin height: 2.5mm to 5.5mm
• Color: Black or AluGold
• Price: $159.95 USD / 179.95 € / £154.95
• Sold with a one-year warranty
renthal.com
Priced at $159.95 USD and weighing in at 492 grams, the Renthal Revo-F pedals are far from being the cheapest or lightest option out there. But, as you can tell from the distinct lack of machining, weight was never really a priority in the design. Rather, Renthal wanted to deliver a premium pedal that offers outstanding durability, and that was easy to service at home, without the use of any specialist tools.

photo
Renthal opted not to machine away material from the leading edges, in order to reduce edges against which the pedal might get hung up on during a collision with a rock

Details

The Renthal Revo-F has a 6061 aluminum body, with a 100mm x 104mm platform that is 18.5mm thick at its thickest point, and 10 round, threaded pins per side. The pedals are supplied with all pins at their tallest effective height of 5.5mm. They are nicely adjustable, however; effective pin heights of 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.5mm and 5.5mm are possible by virtue of two pin length options and 1mm washers. The pins thread in from underneath, so adding a washer underneath the bolt-head reduces the effective pin height by 1mm. They have all encountered a spot of Loctite, and are well secured therefore. They also have a relatively large bolt-head that uses a 3mm Allen, making them less liable to rounding.

photo
The pedal body sits around 10mm out from the threaded portion, giving a wider Q-Factor than some. That could make it a good option for riders who find their heel catches on the crank arm occasionally, or rubs the chainstay

Internally, we have a full length chromoly steel axle with three outboard cartridge bearings and a IGUS bushing with a snap ring. Two smaller bearings are stacked with a larger one sat outboard, made possible by that chunkier bit at the edge. There's a full-contact lip-seal on the inboard side to keep water and dirt ingress to a minimum, and the end-cap also has a rubber O-ring underneath it that forms an additional barrier at the other end.

photo
Cartridge bearings support the outboard edge of the pedal
photo
A full-length axle improves the overall strength of the pedal; there is no rider weight limit

Servicing should be a straightforward affair, requiring only a 6mm Allen to remove the end-cap, and a standard 8mm socket to remove the retainer nut. From there, you can slide the pedal body off the axle. The bushing comes away with the axle. So, unlike some pedals (DMR Vault, for example), no specialist bushing removal tool is required. The bearings can be knocked out with an 8mm Allen and a mallet. The two smaller ones can be pressed in with the retainer nut, and the larger outboard one is pressed in with the end-cap itself.

Now, about that dual-concave profile.

Largely speaking, the Revo-F has a dual-concave profile. From left-to-right, the outboard and inboard edges of the platform is 18.5mm thick, while the central axle-housing section is only 14mm thick. Along that central portion, that gives a concavity of 2.25mm (per side). The pedal body is flat along the front and rear edges.

photo

The pedal body is concave in the fore-aft axis by virtue of the front and rear edges being 17mm thick, and the central portion being 14mm thick - that's a concavity of 1.5mm per side. We did note, however, that the fore-aft concavity is not consistent right across the pedal. That's because the outboard and inboard knuckles that deliver the lateral concavity sit higher than the front and rear edges. Considering the outboard edge alone, there is actually an ever so slight convex profile that the edge of your shoe will be subject to - but most of your foot will sit in the concave portion. I did wonder whether that raised portion could create a pressure point on the outboard edge of my foot while riding, but happily it did not.

Of course, the presence of the pins negates all of this somewhat. On the pedal as supplied, the central pins sit lower than the fore and aft rows of pins in the stock configuration, and that concavity can be maximized by making the central pins even shorter.

photo
Credit: Finlay Anderson

On Trail Performance

For context, my shoe size is a UK 5 (EU 37, US 7). I tested the Renthal Revo-F pedals exclusively using my go-to shoes; the FiveTen Freerider Pro. With that combo, all ten pins see some action on the sole of the shoe, albeit some of them are right on the edge. Riders with smaller feet may want to consider a pedal with a narrower platform (like the Crankbrothers Stamp 1 Small). I get on well with them myself, but there's no hard and fast rule when it comes to pedal size.

photo
Credit: Finlay Anderson

I spent most of the time riding the pedals with the pins set up in their stock configuration, with all ten at the tallest height of 5.5mm. Despite the presence of that raised outboard knuckle, I don't really feel it on the trail. Weighting the pedal, I can't detect the central axle-housing portion of the pedal under foot, indicating that the pressure is going almost exclusively through the platform's tall pins. The foot pedal connection has been acceptable for the most part, but I don't get the locked-in feel that I am accustomed to with the Crankbrothers Stamp 1 pedals - the pins of which are a couple of millimeters shorter. On some particularly high-speed, rough sections of downhill track, I did feel my rear foot start to creep forward on the pedal, which was a little unsettling.

I changed up the pin heights. My experience was much improved by running the rear row of pins tall (5.5mm), with the center pins a 4.5mm, and the front row at 3.5mm That makes some sense to me. If I look at the wear pattern on the bottom of my soles, wear is always worse in the spot where the rear row of pins sits, indicating these are the ones doing most of the work in the grip department. This is what I settled on, and I spent the rest of that particular shuttled-assisted session having no qualms about the foot-pedal connection.

Switching the orientation of pin heights, such that the tallest ones were in the front and the shortest ones were in the rear, led to a very poor experience where my foot would regularly disconnect from the pedal and creep forward.

photo
Credit: Finlay Anderson

Durability

I have all of 12 rides on the Revo-F pedals thus far, all of which have been in wet, muddy conditions. As you can see, the pedals have been smacked into rocks on a handful of occasions, with no ensuing drama. I'm pleased to report they are still spinning freely and no play has developed. Looking again at the internals, there is some discoloration of the grease on the inboard side evidencing minimal water and dirt ingress past the main seal, but further along the axle, the grease looks as fresh as ever.

photo

Servicing should be a straightforward affair, requiring only a 6mm Allen to remove the end-cap, and a standard 8mm socket to remove the retainer nut. From there, you can slide the pedal body off the axle. The bushing comes away with the axle. If successful (as it was upon disassembling a fresh pedal), no special bushing removal tool will be required. The bearings can be knocked out with an 8mm Allen and a mallet. The two smaller ones can be pressed in with the retainer nut, and the larger outboard one is pressed in with the end-cap itself.

Unfortunately, on disassembly of the used pedal, the bushing did not self-extract as intended - it and the snap ring are still lodged inside the pedal body. Thus, a bushing removal tool will be required in this case. We reached out to Renthal on this issue:

"The issue with the snap ring is not something we have seen with any pre-production prototype or production test pedals, during the whole R&D and testing process. During the extensive field test period, we regularly had the riders send the pedals back, so we could disassemble them and examine the internals, before fielding them back out again. All these pedals disassembled as intended." - Renthal.

The pedals will be sent back to Renthal for inspection, and an update will be provided thereafter.





Pros

+ Good scope for adjusting pin height to suit different preferences
+ No rider weight limit

Cons

- On the higher end of the price scale
- A bit on the heavy side
- May be too large for riders with feet smaller than US 7





Pinkbike's Take
bigquotesThe Renthal Revo-F flat pedals are a robust option that prioritize durability and performance over weight, and they offer nice adjustability with different pin heights. In terms of traction, my experience is that these are adequate for general trail riding, however, there are grippier, more concave options out there. 
Jessie-May Morgan


Author Info:
jessiemaymorgan avatar

Member since Oct 26, 2023
52 articles

113 Comments
  • 144 0
 "There are no rider weight limits"
We'll see about that.
*eats another donut*.
  • 86 0
 name checks out
  • 24 0
 @bigtim: following, for the science
  • 71 1
 Oh boy.. another expensive flat pedal.
  • 9 1
 my thoughts exactly. I was hoping for something more affordable before I clicked, because Renthal cockpits are usually good quality and not overly expensive
  • 19 7
 @hardtailpunter: Good quality? Didn't they make those heavyweight stems that didn't properly fasten down? How do you mess up the one thing a stem has to do and what all stems have succeeded at for decades?
  • 7 2
 Possibly another expensive flat pedal from the Scada in Taiwan - they seem to make a huge number of the pedals on the market now if this is the case - It would have been nice to see a UK made product from Renthal.
  • 16 0
 @Ttimer: The "latest" Apex stem (or even the direct mount DH model) is really light, works well and look good. It's been like this for some years now. Never heard any issues with this.
  • 1 0
 @justanotherusername: must be, as i recently saw a picture of Scada's staff visiting Renthal.
  • 1 0
 @s7ngletrail79: hah, that would be it then.
  • 2 0
 @s7ngletrail79: where? Can't imagine there's paparazzi sat outside Renthal lol
  • 7 0
 @Ttimer: they only stem I have ever seen break is a Renthal
  • 4 2
 Yeah-bar is Deftraps. If your pedals aren’t at least that good, meh.
  • 1 0
 @Ososmash: I had a faceplate AND a body break on I9... Pretty disappointing.
  • 1 0
 @Ososmash: Same here, my Apex Stem had a small crack in it. But to be fair, it did not lead to failure.
  • 2 1
 @Ososmash: Thomson has entered the chat
  • 1 0
 @Ttimer: i dont know buddy. Ive had many renthal stems and never had that. also used renthal since 2000 while doing motocross so brand indentity is strong for many
  • 23 0
 "Sold with a one-year warranty". Dear Renthal, if you want to sell them in Europe, you'll have to extend to 2 years.
  • 6 0
 If you want them to sell anywhere*

How are they making claims of increasing durability at the sacrifice of weight, pricing it like that, then offering a wish.com warranty?
  • 19 2
 Are these UK made? - The axles look very much like the usual Scada Taiwanese type, if they are made overseas that's a hefty price-tag and a huge let down for me personally from Renthal.

I really hope a UK company that is famous for its in-house manufacturing hasn't decided to go elsewhere to get a product manufactured that people on their own shop floor could make instead.
  • 2 0
 The axle must be a new design in order to be able to pull the bushing out of the body. That doesn't mean anything about where it's made though
  • 2 1
 @AndrewHornor: Yea it doesn't look directly off the shelf, but pretty close to the usual Scada stuff.

By new design do you mean a small groove on the axle and a little clip to retain the bush - that's literally all it is.
  • 5 1
 @justanotherusername: the entire axle must be new as Scada don't have anything in their catalog that has anything like that combination of bearings/bushing - never mind the snap ring. That would mean bespoke forge tooling and machining fixtures, tolerancing etc etc. Not exactly a catalog part that so many brands do.
  • 2 7
flag justanotherusername (Feb 15, 2024 at 9:01) (Below Threshold)
 @lewisa10: Did you read the bit where I said ‘it doesn’t look off the shelf’ and just ‘pretty close to usual scada stuff’?
  • 5 1
 @justanotherusername: I also read 'that's literally all it is' - brighten up sunshine Smile
  • 3 4
 @lewisa10: I can’t read good so you are moody.
  • 11 0
 Idk I just don’t like that profile. I think it’s that hump on the spindle that bothers me for these pedals

I own several pairs of Sensus Crue. It’s hard to beat those pedal. Grippier than most and lighter weight than most. I’ve tried crank brothers stamp 7 and spank pedal. For the money, Sensus is the way to go. Tenet would be a close second.
  • 4 0
 I don't like the hump on the inside of some pedals, why would they think adding a second one is a good idea?
  • 3 0
 I just ordered tenets after years on oneup aluminum’s. Game changers
  • 6 0
 @pargolf8: i loathe the convex shape of the oneups. felt like u were literally standing on the pins. then went to the tenet omen v2s. holy. night and day difference in comfort.
  • 1 0
 Ooh, they’re nice! Im in the market for new pedals, had narrowed it down to stamp 7 or atlas v2. They look better
  • 14 2
 Why is someone with a size 7 foot testing pedals when most of the target market is 9.5-10.5ish? I mean, perfect for testing a "small" pedal, but honestly it invalidates most of the review for most people.
  • 5 2
 I thought this. Jessie is good reviewer but seems most of her issues are from the pedals being the wrong size for her? I can't imagine she's given all the 600mm reach bikes when they come in surely?
  • 1 0
 Ironically, Vital describes the pedal as "compact"
  • 2 1
 Even for a female she has small feet. Size 39 is the most common women's cycling shoe size.
  • 2 0
 Other reviews from other sites are saying that the pedals are too small for large feet.
  • 9 0
 Love my DEFTRAPS. I didn't expect the tiny concave profile to matter much, but it makes a huge difference. Also, the slanted/offset platforms that most pedals use isn't ideal.
  • 3 0
 The block of wood profile that deftraps use isn't the most forgiving on some pedal strikes. Still my favorite pedal, but there are some advantages to that slanted front on an aluminum pedal. Aluminum bites rocks so hard, plastic at least slides or breaks.
  • 5 1
 Deftraps are the benchmark, regardless of price. These don’t meet it.
  • 11 0
 Yoshimura did a better job
  • 4 0
 you rock! Smile
  • 3 0
 @collintimmermans: Are you on yoshimura's payroll?
  • 1 0
 @jaycubzz: Smile Smile its my first day
  • 8 0
 "weight was never really a priority in the design. Rather, Renthal wanted to deliver a premium pedal that offers outstanding durability"...

"Sold with a one-year warranty"
  • 4 0
 From the comments it seems everyone has their favorite flat pedal that's for sure! I'm not excited by these since they aren't the cheapest, the lightest, the prettiest or the anything-est as far as I can tell. But if you're a Renthal person they are a cool brand so I guess it'll match up with other components. For me, I bought the Spank Oozy Reboot flat pedals just because they came in a color that would match my new bike color scheme. I figured if they were terrible I'd swap out for something plain black. Well, I'm happy to report they've been great for over 6 months and 1600+ miles. Good grip, light (360g) only $129 and they've held up well with no bearing issues so far. And they are handsome in the anodized colors!
  • 6 1
 Why oh why do people put big knuckles/bearing covers on concave pedals? It drives me mad , It almost negates the concave-ness of the pedal and look at the price, madness
  • 1 0
 Agree, a bit of creative sawing often works wonders
  • 4 0
 How do these compare to DMR Vaults in terms of feel? I love the Vaults under my feet, but hate having to service them so often
  • 1 0
 Just replaced the internals on my vaults for the first time since I bought them probably almost 5 years ago, the bearings never actually wore out, just got play in the bushings. Other than all the cosmetic damage from rocks they are good as new again! Pro tip: run the dmr moto pins for the 4 middle pins, Chromag dagga pins with one washer on the front and rear of the pedal. Vastly better grip compared to the stock pin setup.
  • 5 2
 What a good review. All the salient info, and discussion of the often overlooked bearing bulges that clearly f-up the claimed platform shape to some degree depending on how big they are (and these look pretty big).
  • 7 1
 No rider weight limit = E-bike oriented .
  • 3 2
 Not convinced. Please correct me if i'm wrong but these seem to be strictly inferior to Chromag Scarabs. Worse in terms price, size, color choice and pins. Possibly comparable in longevity and grip but the former is unproven.
  • 3 2
 It’s a review not an advertisement
  • 1 0
 It seems like the call out is durability. It would be great to compare the durability to a range of other pedals. If you can claim that the "top" 3 next flat pedals on the market lack reasonable durability compared to these, and equally compare value and performance then the review starts to make sense. Otherwise, its another good pedals, but its heavy and pricey.
  • 1 0
 It looksike the outer bearing under the 8mm nut is the only thing holding the pedal onto the spindle. Last set of pedals I had with that design were race face atlas and didn't even make it a full season of riding until the out side bearing failed and the pedal ejected itself off of the spindle during a ride. After the 3rd attempt of fixing them with a new bearing kit they went into the bin.
  • 1 0
 Nah the nylock nut presses all three bearings onto the spindle. The end cap presses the large bearing to the body. I think it would only come off the spindle if the nut came off, but that would need the end cap off too.
  • 1 0
 @lewisa10: the outer bearing are ball bearings, the nyloc nut presses in the center of the ball bearing. Ball bearings are not intended to had a radial load like that and if those fail nothing is there to hold the pedal on, the nyloc nut will fit between the outside bearing race easy. The end cap has nothing to do with holding the pedal on its just a cap to keep dirt out.
  • 2 1
 @lewisa10: edit. I'm also just going by the pics, but of there nothing but another ball bearing behind the 2nd one in the pic I don't see these pedals lasting long. From my experience
  • 1 0
 @pdxjeremy: I imagine that’s why the end cap is also preloading the outer race into the body? Balanced axial loads. Based off the cross section on Mtb action.
  • 1 0
 “If I look at the wear pattern on the bottom of my soles, wear is always worse in the spot where the rear row of pins sits, indicating these are the ones doing most of the work in the grip department.”

In order to reposition and find the sweet spot, you mostly pivot on your front pins and drag across/ all over the rear pins when repositioning your foot. This tears the shoe up where rear pins contact.
  • 3 0
 I can buy three sets of Deity Nylon Deftraps for less than these pedals, they’ll last a whole lot longer, and they weigh less.
  • 1 0
 I truly don't understand how and why flat pedals are so expensive. The materials, part count, and processes just don't add up to anything over $100, even with the necessary retail margins (typically 4X-6X MFG cost). No joke these things are $5-10 in cost, even with high strength materials, and decent bearings, seals and bushings. Must be the highest margins in the biz, outside of apparel. Don' t get me wrong, I'm excited for anyone to figure out how to make a living in this industry, but the idea of spending more than $50 on a pedal seems ludicrous.
  • 6 2
 They look like they're 10 years old already!
  • 3 0
 Haha - very true!
  • 9 4
 Deftraps are $49
  • 2 0
 They were. Most places have them for $55 now. Still a decent price (and arguably a better design) compared to these.
  • 3 0
 Renthal Revo F for 179 € . , Newmen Beskar with Titanium Axle around 150€ - which would I consider?
  • 1 2
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  • 3 0
 Crampon ultimate FTW . Great deal on them right now .
  • 1 0
 @climber72 I could be wrong, but those appear to have a convex profile?
  • 2 0
 @RBalicious: you’re not wrong , I’ve yet to slip a pedal since I started using them .
I was skeptical, was sold on them picking up a frame when Canfield was in Bellingham. Glad I took the chance on them .
  • 3 0
 Tiny pedal platform. Non-starter for the people with big feet.
  • 1 0
 If they are as durable as the density would suggest, they'll make some people very happy for years to come. Not me - too small of a platform.
  • 2 0
 Every 6 months a new flat pedal is made Every 5 years a new clip pedal is made.
  • 1 0
 Does the world really need another flat pedal that is pretty much the same thing but oh so slightly different (maybe) from all other options out there???
  • 1 0
 Normally one would perform some market analysis or demand forecasting to see if a product is actually necessary to meet consumer need.
  • 2 0
 1 year warranty, that's not the type of confidence I want to see from a huge brand like renthal
  • 2 0
 When will the large version be available? One size does not fit all
  • 2 0
 Are there really pedals with weight limits?
  • 3 0
 Yes, lightweight ones sometimes, with ti spindles and/or magnesium bodies
  • 1 0
 Did they originally name it - Revolution - F**k, But the Marketing Team couldn't use it?
  • 4 3
 These look like a copy of a dmr vault but with a bit of extra styling to probably get away without being sued.
  • 1 0
 My exact thoughts
  • 4 0
 You could almost exactly copy a Vault and wouldn't be sued - they don't own that shape of pedal and were not the first to use it either.

These are almost exactly a vault copy for example - funnmtb.com/products/funndamental
  • 2 0
 Well it’s nice to see Renthal making a return to mountain biking.
  • 2 0
 Ive been running only 31.8 fat bars in 40mm rise for…years now?
  • 1 4
 @pargolf8: 31.8mm is dead
  • 5 0
 @RonSauce: just finished switching all my bikes back to 31.8 other than the rigid bike (22.2), couldn't be happier. Less hand fatigue for sure.
  • 1 0
 @pargolf8: which released over 20 years ago. Still a decent choice but they probably haven’t done anything new since then really. Stems could do with massive improvements when it comes to slipping a creaking. Chainrings also looking dated.
  • 2 0
 Rental makes solid products! Pass on this irrelevant piece, however
  • 1 0
 "A bit on the heavy side"...
you made my day :-)
  • 2 0
 Not the best deal....
  • 1 0
 You’ll never get optimal traction with those pins.
  • 2 0
 DMR Vault.
  • 1 0
 Just what the market needs, another flat pedal option.
  • 2 0
 Sucks to have options no one is forcing you to buy……..
  • 1 0
 @pargolf8:
Hey if someone wants to develop a genuine contender to SPDs I'd be a lot happier. Seems like there's a gazillion flat pedal options out there and like one or two GOOD clip-in options. Seems kinda wild to me considering how many people ride clipped in.
  • 1 0
 The PNW pedals are really really good
  • 1 0
 Wolftooth lookalike but heavier
  • 1 0
 But the rear pins probably do also have more weight on them
  • 1 0
 That’s some crazy colored grease - ninja turtle inducing
  • 1 0
 Boomslang reloaded, about same price too
  • 1 1
 Soooooooo, there is about to be a lawsuit with the and RaceFace
  • 1 2
 Try some Wellgo pedals - light, grippy, and reasonablely priced
  • 2 0
 Well, go for it
  • 3 6
 Using bolts is the worst way possible to add pin on a pedal. I thought Renthal would have been smarter than that. Grab a bag of set screws with these.
  • 1 1
 It says they use 3mm allen keys
  • 2 5
 Probably because there’re chinese knock offs rebranded
  • 8 1
 I'm genuinely curious why that's your opinion, because my opinion would be the exact opposite. For me, set screws always get ripped out of pedals during hard enduro/dh riding which ruins the aluminum threads and can't really be fixed, whereas pedals that use little bolts from the underside don't get ripped out because the head of the bolt gives it much more support.
  • 1 1
 Well, if you engaged only 2 threads they will rip out for sure. If they are decently threaded they wont rip out, they will bent as much as bolts would and you will be able to remove them from the top. With bolts you are fucked even if they are not bent, the threads will be damaged by riding anyways.
  • 2 0
 @robw515: Agree with this - Using a stepped 'bolt' I feel is the best option as it prevents thread damage when removing.

If you are using set screws that helps there too, like the way Burgtec do.
  • 1 0
 @justanotherusername: Hope did this on their pedals.
  • 1 2
 NOPE!







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