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Race Face Atlas Mountain Bike Pedal ReviewBest Flat Mountain Bike Pedal Review

Great Value Pedal for Small to Medium Footed Riders

  • Grip 80% 80%
  • Platform/Profile 70% 70%
  • Weight 90% 90%
  • Durability and Servicing 80% 80%

Weight per Pair: 340 grams

Platform Dimensions: 110 x 101 mm

Platform Profile: 15mm at Edge, 18.4mm at Axle

Price: $49.99 

What We Like: Great All Around Pedal for a Bargain Price

What We Don’t: Smaller and Less Grippy than OneUp Composite

Before OneUp Components launched their own Composite pedal, the Race Face Chester was the undisputed king of synthetic flat pedals. It is a time-proven pedal that has served as the go-to pedal for demo and rental fleets across the country for years due to its combination of performance, durability, and low cost. While we feel that the OneUp Composite is a better all around pedal, the Race Face Chester is still a great buy, and it is not without its own advantages.

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Compare to Similar Products

See Our Best Flat Mountain Bike Pedal Review!

Race Face Atlas

  • Grip 100% 100%
  • Platform/Profile 100% 100%
  • Weight 90% 90%
  • Durability and Servicing 90% 90%

Pros

Large Platform

Lightweight

Best in Class Traction

Good Clearance

Cons

Platform Might be too Large for Some People’s Liking

Pricey

Weight per Pair: 340g

Platform Dimensions: 101 x 114 mm

Platform Profile: 14.5mm at Edges, 12mm at Axle

Deity Bladerunner

  • Grip 80% 80%
  • Platform/Profile 80% 80%
  • Weight 80% 80%
  • Durability and Servicing 80% 80%

Pros

Among the Thinnest Flat Mountain Bike Pedals on the Market

Cons

Pricey

Not as Grippy as Our Top Choice

Weight per Pair: 380g

Platform Dimensions: 100 x 103 mm

Platform Profile: 11mm at Edges, 14mm at Axle.

OneUp Components

  • Grip 100% 100%
  • Platform/Profile 80% 80%
  • Weight 90% 90%
  • Durability and Servicing 90% 90%

Pros

Top Performance in Every Category for a Budget Price

Cons

Thicker Than Aluminum Pedals

Weight per Pair: 359g

Platform Dimensions: 115 x 105 mm

Platform Profile:  13.3 at Edge, 18.5mm at Axle

Race Face Chester

  • Grip 80% 80%
  • Platform/Profile 70% 70%
  • Weight 90% 90%
  • Durability and Servicing 80% 80%

Pros

Great All Around Pedal for a Bargain Price

Cons

Smaller and Less Grippy than OneUp Composite

Weight per Pair: 340 grams

Platform Dimensions: 110 x 101 mm

Platform Profile: 15mm at Edge, 18.4mm at Axle

VP Components VP Vice

  • Grip 80% 80%
  • Platform/Profile 80% 80%
  • Weight 70% 70%
  • Durability and Servicing 90% 90%

Pros

Great Value Aluminum Pedal

Cons

Doesn’t Really Shine in Any One Category

Weight per Pair: 415 grams

Platform Dimensions: 105 x 96 mm

Platform Profile: 14mm

Spank Spike

  • Grip 90% 90%
  • Platform/Profile 80% 80%
  • Weight 70% 70%
  • Durability and Servicing 60% 60%

Pros

Great All Around Pedal for a Bargain Price

Cons

Smaller and Less Grippy than OneUp Composite

Weight per Pair: 340 grams

Platform Dimensions: 110 x 101 mm

Platform Profile: 15mm at Edge, 18.4mm at Axle

Shimano Saint MX80

  • Grip 70% 70%
  • Platform/Profile 60% 60%
  • Weight 50% 50%
  • Durability and Servicing 90% 90%

Pros

Bombproof Pedal That Will Outlast You and Your Bike

Cons

Heaviest Pedal in Review

Preinstalled Washers Reduce Grip

Small Outline

Weight per Pair: 490 grams

Platform Dimensions: 95 x 90 mm

Platform Profile: 18mm at Edge, 15mm at Axle

Grip

The Race Face Chester uses eight pins per side, which mount from the back. The pins mirror the hexagonal shape of the Race Face Chesters, with two more narrowly spaced pins at the front and rear edges, and two more widely spaced pins just toward the middle of the pedal. Overall, the Chesters provide solid grip, but not quite the level of grip we found with the OneUp Composite pedals.

While we leaned heavily toward preferring an extremely grippy pedal, not all riders do. If you do less gnarly, enduro style downhill riding and instead find yourself more often on jump lines where the need to be locked in is balanced against the need to be able to easily readjust your footing after landings then the slightly less grippy Race Face Chesters might make for a better budget flat pedal for your needs than the OneUp Composite.

Platform

The platform of the Race Face Chester is smaller than that of our top budget pick, the OneUp Composite. It measures 11mm X 101mm. However, the size difference feels more pronounced underfoot. This combines with the fact that it has two fewer pins per side to make for a pedal that definitely feels a bit less substantial underfoot.

However, like the fact that they are a bit less grippy, the smaller platform might actually be a good thing for some riders. If you have smaller feet and don’t often find yourself searching for a pedal, then the extra platform size of the OneUp Composite might be wasted on you. In that case, it might actually make sense to use the smaller pedal that is less likely to catch the odd rock or root.

The platform profile is 15mm at the edge 18.4mm at the axle. This is similar to the OneUp Composite and other high-end composite pedals.

Finally, the stepped design of, and horizontal slits in, the pedal mean that it is not quite the performer in muddy conditions that some of the pedals we reviewed are.

Weight

On paper, the Race Face Chester is extremely lightweight and tied for the lightest pedal that we reviewed, at only 340g. In reality, however, the Race Face Chesters weigh in at about 360g, making them more or less identical in weight to the OneUp Composite pedals.

Durability and Servicing

The pins on the Race Face Chester screw in from the back side of the pedal. However, they do this via a stepped design, similar to the Deity Bladerunner. This means that the heads are not as well protected as those that burrow in, like the OneUp Composites or Race Face Atlas. We also have less faith in their ability to stay anchored in the case of hard hits than the pins of the OneUp Composite pedals, which go through the entire profile of the pedal, rather than just half of it.

On the other hand, these pedals are not the workhorse of rental and demo fleets nationwide for no reason. Their design has proven to be quite durable and requires very little in the way of servicing. We just think that there are now even better options available.

The Bottom Line

The Race Face Chester is a great all around composite pedal for riders on a budget, and even for riders who are not on a budget. For our riding style and by our criteria, the Race Face Chesters lose out to the newer OneUp Composite mountain bike pedals as our top budget pick. However, if you have smaller feet or value the ability to easily readjust your feet over maximum grip, then the Chesters might actually be the better choice.

Finally, at only $49.99, the Chester is right up there as an all-time great bang for your buck pick, easily trading blows with some of the most expensive flat pedals on the market.

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We participate in affiliate programs to help us fund Gear Hacker. Some of the links in this website are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product using our link, we will earn a small commission. Don’t worry! This comes at no additional cost to you, and we will never base our reviews on whether or not we earn a commission off of a product. With that said, if you find our review helpful and decide to purchase an item we review, we would be very appreciative if you use our links to do so. It will help us bring you more awesome content in the future!