While taking in the top-tier trails at Dirt Farm in Wales over the weekend, I spotted a pair of unreleased Renthal clipless pedals on the uplift trailer.
The new pedals appear to use a Shimano SPD-compatible mechanism and feature a large platform for enduro and downhill use.
Renthal only branched out into mountain bike pedals last year with the launch of the Revo-F, which impressed us with its robust design.
Before this, Renthal was better known for its MTB handlebars, with the brand’s Fatbar having become iconic over the years for its reliability and golden colour scheme.
The Revo name is embossed into the pedal mechanism, so it looks as though Renthal is carrying the name into this clipless model too.
Gold-textured platforms
The unreleased pedals appear to feature a similar platform to the Revo-Fs, but use eight pins instead of 10 on either side for extra traction.
Rear-loaded pins are used with hex key heads, which should make changing blunted or obliterated pins easy.
Renthal’s flat pedals offer tuneable grip levels through varying pin heights, so we’d expect to see that on the clipless model too.
The platform uses a textured surface that fans of the Fatbar will be familiar with – unlike the Revo-F pedals, which have a glossy finish.
This smooth finish is seen on the sides of the pedal body.
Like many of the best mountain bike pedals, the overall pedal body uses a trapezoid shape, which should help fend off blunt rock strikes without unsettling your foot too much.
The Revo-F pedal is constructed from forged 6010 aluminium, with CNC machining used to remove excess material, and it appears the same process is being employed for this clipless pedal.
Shimano-inspired mechanism
The mechanism itself features a spring adjuster, which should enable you to change how much effort is required to unclip from the pedals.
There appear to be attempts at saving weight, with the sides of the body featuring cutaways not seen on the Revo-F – possibly offsetting some of the weight added with the clipless mechanism.
A large hex key end cap is seen on the outside of the pedal, suggesting we can expect the pedals to be fully serviceable, with Renthal offering full rebuild kits for the Revo-F.
The Revo-F spins on an extra wide Igus bushing and three cartridge bearings, so it’s highly likely that we can expect these clipless variants to do the same.
The same is likely for the Chromoly axle.
We’re not sure when to expect the pedals, but they don’t look far away from being production-ready.
