Rail OEM pedals

Bupkus

Member
Dec 10, 2021
7
6
S.F. Bay Area
Anybody else like the nylon OEM pedals on the Rail? I love them. I heard them referred to as demo or test ride pedals. That they should be one of the first things you should replace. They work fine. My feet don’t slip off of them. Most importantly, after a ride, I don’t come home with bloody shins and or calves. I’ve got two pairs of quality aluminum pedals sitting on the shelf. When I originally bought the bike my intention was to change out the cheap pedals and use one of my existing pairs. I have over 500 miles on the bike now and the OEM’s are holding up great.
 

Hcd

Member
Aug 8, 2021
23
4
Australia
I find them nowhere near as grippy as a good pair of pedals and a good pair of five-tens. One by one my riding friends have moved over to good flats with good shoes, from clipless set ups. Have you ridden with flat pedal specific shoes? If not, you might find you can get even more control that the setup you’re currently happy with.
 

Stihldog

Handheld Power Tool
Subscriber
Jun 10, 2020
3,671
5,232
Coquitlam, BC
Not on the Rail. However on her Powerfly, yes. I don’t want her gorgeous-beautiful-silky-smooth-legs scared up by metal peddles and pins. 😉
I use to always clip in but on the eMTB I tried the grippy flats. Nope, didn’t work either. Found the magnetic peddles and installed them on both the Rail and Powerfly. I was able to remove some of the pins also.
 

folmonty

Active member
Mar 11, 2021
152
156
NorCal
Mine came with zip zero nada. It's listed on the brochure and I asked because I like to keep stuff for other bikes and what not. Trek owned store as well. Got the bone! But wait, they did try and sell me a set and one of their wave helmets etc. etc. It was like buying a car and the closer came in to add extended warranty and such. Was a major turn-off!
 

BigMark

E*POWAH Master
Feb 10, 2020
90
500
91737
A riding buddy told me the same thing, the salesman told him they were demo only pedals. When I broke one on a rock he gave me his. The other pedal is at 7000 miles/ 11265km and counting.
 

Sophie777

Active member
Jul 3, 2018
215
107
Canada
Anybody else like the nylon OEM pedals on the Rail? I love them. I heard them referred to as demo or test ride pedals. That they should be one of the first things you should replace. They work fine. My feet don’t slip off of them. Most importantly, after a ride, I don’t come home with bloody shins and or calves. I’ve got two pairs of quality aluminum pedals sitting on the shelf. When I originally bought the bike my intention was to change out the cheap pedals and use one of my existing pairs. I have over 500 miles on the bike now and the OEM’s are holding up great.
I agree.
My 2019 Trek Powerfly came with "cheap" plastic pedals (VP-536). I also have a pair of aluminum pedals (Hope F20) sitting on a shelf. But the "cheap" plastic pedals have worked fine (4,000 km so far). I doubt I would notice a difference if I installed the F20 pedals.
And because I worry less about my shins with those plastic pedals, I am a more confident rider.
 
Last edited:

Expidia

Well-known member
Jun 27, 2022
548
440
Capital Region, New York
@Sophie777 . . . Ha! Funny you are discussing the same pedals that came on my Trek Powerfly Equipped and the same stock number too VP-536.
I used those stock pedals for like 500 miles and finally upgraded them to a pair of DMR Vault Signature pedals in Oil Slick (all black ebike, I needed the bling 😜).
So true how the the threaded pins gave me plenty of snake bites initially until I learned how to keep my shins and calfs away from spinning pedals and cranks. The solid gripping power is worth the learning curve.
I also realized I could reverse all the pins as the other side are smooth pins.

I decided to hold onto my Giant hardtail hybrid as a second ebike for xcountry and needed to upgrade those stock Giant pedals as they were stock shin bleeders with jagged edges 😱.

I pulled out those Trek plastic pedals and they were pretty beat up. I googled their price and $19.95 new was even high, some sites were $15. Amazes me that Trek sold me a $6,200 premium model with upgraded components with like $19 pedals! I know some high end brands don’t even come with pedals. This model is only mid tier.

So for the Giant I just picked up a pair of these aluminum flat pedals with smooth pins and a pair of Crank Brothers Stamp BOA flat MTB shoes.
Needed to give this dark blue Giant a little bling too:

9BFCD7D3-E70D-4FA2-A602-32104F29C415.jpeg 466A5588-BA2C-4FAD-8BDC-CA6BC0DC2264.jpeg
 
Last edited:

EMTB Forums

Since 2018

The World's largest electric mountain bike community.

559K
Messages
28,292
Members
Join Our Community

Latest articles


Top