PINND CS2 flat pedals review

PINND’s CS2 flat pedals are designed and engineered in Scotland to withstand a real beating, and are listed for downhill, enduro and trail use.

The large anodised 7075 T6 aluminium platforms rotate on a grade five titanium axle, made possible by a single HK1015 needle roller bearing and two cartridge roller bearings per pedal.

PINND offers a five-year limited warranty with the CS2.

PINND CS2 details and specifications

The large 109(W)x96mm(L) platform features a concave profile where the front and back edges are 22mm thick, the outer edge 16mm and the central axle section 18mm.

The leading and trailing edges are chamfered to deflect rock and ground strikes.

Installed from the factory, there are nine pins per side around the pedal’s perimeter, but there are four optional positions in the centre of the body; 16 additional pins are supplied so you can customise the stud placement.

The pins protrude just under 5mm from the pedal’s body and are installed from the top side of the pedal’s platform using a 4mm spanner.

They use oil-sealed internals to help prolong service intervals. My set of pedals weighed 416g.

PINND CS2 performance

Thanks to the large, concave platform, the CS2 cupped my feet well, focusing grip onto the pins positioned on the pedal’s edges.

I decided to accentuate the pedal’s concavity by not installing the optional four axle-housing studs, helping my feet to sink into the pedals.

Thanks to the large surface area, accurate foot placement wasn’t essential for good grip levels or stability, and because the platform is large overall steadiness was spot on.

Grip wasn’t perfect, however, and my feet tended to shift slightly on the platform over rough terrain. This felt as though my feet were ‘soft’ on the pedals, rather than pushed hard onto them.

Given the near-perfect platform size and concavity, I put this movement down to the pin’s shape.

The sharpest bit of the pin is 1-2mm tall, then they bulge outwards to the spanner fitment with a stepped shape.

The sharp top section bit into the soles of my shoes well, but then ‘bottomed out’ on the larger portion, not penetrating much further and resulting in foot movement.

This was a shame given the rest of the pedal’s almost perfect formula.

PINND CS2 bottom line

A stepped pin design reduces the CS2’s overall grip, but the large concave platform goes a long way to mitigating those losses with great support and cupping.

Replacement pins would be an inexpensive solution to improve grip, boosting performance to near perfect.