Pedaling Innovations Catalyst Pedals Review | James Wilson

Pedaling Innovations Catalyst Pedals Review
Looking for pedals? pedalinginnova...
The Catalyst Pedal from James Wilson is a pretty amazing product that can help you move from clips to flats if you're interested in making the change. I'm very please with the design of these pedals and how they've worked out for me. Check out the video to learn more.
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[@carpenter751]

What these pedals actually do is they shift power from your calves to your quads and they take your ankles out of the equation. So they might take like a month or so to see some larger benefits because you are going to have to let yourself get used to them/ build muscle up in these new areas.

[@mikethomson6864]

Just to add to what you've said, I've been riding a set of these pedals for about a month now. Like you said the stability in rough terrain is fantastic and I highly recommend these, yes I feel like I can put more torque on these from the midfoot position at Low cadence. At higher cadence and on smoother terrain I still think the ball of the foot is better and can't see this getting much into the Road or XC disciplines, I still recommend clipless for those. So this is for the aggressive mountain biker and work amazing! and if you have large feet and like flat pedals then don't even think, just order a set Just thought I'd give my two cents

[@rgmtb]

I thank you for your two cents! Without people offering their opinions it's very hard for others to pick the correct products for their needs. Your two cents will always be welcome here my friend and thanks you!

[@WombatPage]

Been quietly sitting and waiting for this one. After the last video about these I went to the website and checked them out. A lot of what they say makes sense so I have been waiting for this review. I am sold. Can't afford them right now but when I can I think I will give them a try. Thanks Gene.

[@rgmtb]

Good call man! Sorry for the delay on this one but I really wanted to use these a lot before I offered my review. You can tell by the pics I've been beating up on them!

[@WombatPage]

You always strive for an honest quality review man and that takes time, simple as that.

[@Bjoggi308]

Thanks for the update Gene. I'm getting a pair of these to try out next.

[@rgmtb]

Good deal man! I'm very happy with the product and the support behind them!

[@wreed3395]

Right on Gene! This is the review I have been waiting for. Good to hear you and others in the comments have favorable recommendations for the Catalyst Pedals. I paid $130 for Crankbrothers Stamp Pedals and I think James has the Catalyst priced at just over a $100. This will be my next upgrade on my Giant Stance1. Thanks Gene! Gonna have a WIDE pedal party up in here!!

[@rgmtb]

HAHAHAHA! I'm glad this review has helped you my friend!

[@31Fullerton]

Stick with the Stamp pedals. The catalyst pedals are too long and narrow and prevent you from getting any grip when your in a proper aggressive stance. I tried them because a friend said they were awesome and now I’m questioning his sanity.

[@keithpearson1552]

Great review Gene... i used clipless and switched over to RaceFace Chesters for Mountain Biking, and then discovered the Catalyst Pedals. They are excellent, and "Yes!" Get yourself some FiveTen Freeriders ... they absolutely lock you in on this pedal... the only mark I have on my shin the whole summer is from when I hit the edge of a coffee table in the house 😜. Because you are not on the ball of the foot these pedals are not slipping out in the nasty stuff. You mentioned descents and rock gardens, and I would also add climbing too... because of using the whole foot, I am not fatiguing much because I am not just using the calf muscles... big difference noticed.. there is always a huge debate between the flat camp and clipped in camp, and I never say one is better than the other... it's what you like as the rider... I have ridden them all and trying these out has massively increased my enjoyment of MTBing... enjoy the videos Gene!

[@rgmtb]

Thank you for your input my friend! Glad you are enjoying these pedals ;-)

[@RGCastro7]

Very useful comments, Gene! I liked your insights and will try to get a set of these in the next couple of months.

[@rgmtb]

RGCastro7 Nice!

[@TrailFeatures]

Buddy of mine also swears by these, maybe I should pick up a pair to try out on the Chromag. 5.10 shoes are game changers. They stick to anything, but the rubber is rugged enough that it won't wear prematurely. You won't regret getting them!

[@rgmtb]

Trail Features I'm pretty happy with these man but now I totally have to get those shoes!

[@TrailFeatures]

Do it. I had a hard time justifying $100+ for a pair of shoes, but now I can't imagine riding with anything else.

[@thisfall5227]

+Regular Guy Mountain Biking I've had my Five Ten Impact Low shoes for 6 years now. Still using them! Worth every penny.

[@mtbboy1993]

Only shoe I can have stupid angle on the pedals and still stick. I have tested with horizontal pedal position. of course the pins help too, with plastic pedals you just slide off. It's crusial to have a proper sole, and good amount of proper pins. bad shoes with good pins will still be bad. proper shoes with bad pedals will still be bad. But five ten with Catalyst is a perfect combo.

[@nomadhoss4827]

5.10 shoes originated in the rock climbing sport. They stick to rocks like white on rice, bike shoes .. piece of cake.

[@BrianVaughn]

These look interesting. I'll probably pick some up but right now I'm happy with what I got.

[@rgmtb]

Brian Vaughn Sounds good!

[@bradsanders6954]

I like the taller pins lots better,it takes 4 or 5 rides to get the hang of foot positioning on the Catalysts. I love these things,my ankles are hammered and these have kept me on the bike with no pain. Now that Im doing 150 miles a week Im getting more and more used to these pedals. Stand up climbing is great I gotta say,and jumping up and sprinting on them is super stable. I do a lot of roadbiking as well as mt biking. I can spin as smooth and easy with these as the SPD's I used to use. Im really glad I found these. The arch of foot over the pedal axle makes for great torque transmission.

[@drewbaird9050]

I have also found these to be excellent pedals that have improved most aspects of my riding - more balanced, planted, and confident when cornering, descending, and climbing. (ABSOLUTELY need to pair these with sticky soled shoes, Gene!) My only issue with the pedal is toe overlap on the tight, twisty ST I predominantly ride. I'm riding short travel 29er setup which is probably not the typical bike for most who would ride Catalysts, but it's something I'm having to learn how to ride with. I see it as caused by combo of short trail geometry and more forward foot position when putting axle under arch vs forefoot. I'm learning how to ride with it but am interested in others' experience with overlap.

[@rgmtb]

Great comments and I agree with you regarding the shoes. I'm confused with the overlapping to be honest. I don't think these pedals have made me move my foot further forward. They have just given my feet more support in the position that they would normally be in. Could you give some more details on this overlap experience please?

[@drewbaird9050]

With the Catalyst, my foot has moved forward in order to get the pedal axle under the arch of my foot instead of the way I used to ride with axle closer to the ball of my foot. (J Wilson has made me a believer in the axle-arch being better position.) That shift forward plus the geometry of my 29er has my toe periodically rubbing my front tire in tight turns. Make sense? From what I've read on Wilson site, pedal reviews, and Catalyst fb page, I don't think it's a common issue.

[@genciestebanez1314]

@@drewbaird9050 Same here. 11 shoe size (Freeriders Pro), mid foot position and lots of toe overlap.

[@CartelMTB]

Those might make a difference on your jumper. Picking up a set to try them out 🤙🏼

[@rgmtb]

732 MTB Yeah I agree. Landing a jump on these might help.

[@jinavl]

nice video gene..def gonna scope em out

[@rgmtb]

justin in buffalo Good deal man!

[@mtbboy1993]

they definitely help with that, the gain in stability is noticeable. with standard sized pedals, my body goes downwards, and the feet bend down. also having the front of your foot on small pedals do not help with stability. It never made any sense to ride like that, I tried for a while just to test, it was horrible, I used mid-foot position for many years, but with standard pedals, I always felt I needed a bigger platform, so it was great to discover the Catalyst pedal, and great it gets more recognition, I hope it go viral. I tell people I meat to use the mid position, a jumped my bike off some stairs, and he had wrong foot position and his feet went quite much down, and he was not stable. with mid foot position it made a huge difference.

[@thomasdooley8070]

I am going to order a set because I have been noticing when you push down hard on regular flats the back of your foot flexes down with sneakers! I bought the 510s but they hurt my feet they only make narrow sizes I need wide so I but New Balance! Thanks for the review!

[@rgmtb]

Excellent man! I have these on all my bikes and love riding with them!

[@TheCrashingDad]

I learned how to ride flats with the Catalyst pedal.. paired with some regular skate shoes (soft and flexy)... I passed them onto my bro-in-law because he was having trouble with his beginner flats (crap pedals that come with cheap bikes).. This gave me a chance to try some regular pedals (raceface Chesters/oneup composite) along with some proper MTB shoes (five ten freerider pros). I prefer the regular setup with plastic/composite pedals (pedal strikes aren't as jarring) BUT I would love to see a composite catalyst pedal... I definitely think they're great to learn to ride flats though...

[@rgmtb]

So you're a fan of the composite material huh? I'll talk to James about this. Thank you!

[@TheCrashingDad]

Regular Guy Mountain Biking - haha... Maybe I'll just take a stroll down the road to his place here in Grand junction ;) haha cheers!

[@rgmtb]

Tell him I said hello HAHAHA!

[@mtbboy1993]

with pedal strikes do you mean pedal bites, like scraping up you leg or shin or feet? solution to this is to wear proper pads, which I do not matter what.

[@TheCrashingDad]

Johannes Nilsen - no... I mean when the pedals strike the terrain... Rocks... It seems like with composite pedals, that it's not as intense as with a metal pedal

[@rickmartin976]

Thanks Gene! Been waiting for your review on these. I wanna get a pair for my Framed Minnesota Fat bike. Do you think they would work good for boots in the winter?

[@rgmtb]

Rick Martin They would be great for that! Nice large platform for those boots.

[@lennymiller7336]

I like your review but what is the net gain of the foot bed area? The picture of the 3 pedal comparison you show is kind of deceiving. The other pedals are squared off on both ends as compared to being diagonal. Does maybe 1” of foot bed area make that much difference? The Rockbros that I currently have are 4.72” long.

[@samlee3036]

I bought 2 pairs to try out over a span of 4 months. I used the longer screws and rode technical trails ad a bikepark while wearing 510s and Sombrios. I agree that they do their intended job of supporting the arch, generating more power through engaged hip flexors, glutes, and hammies - not just quads and calves. That said, I feel like the pins should be smaller diameter to really dig in for max grip. I bounce off these pedals a lot, even during standing. I would also like to see a machined, concave aluminum platform in the future to make it lighter, or a concave, composite version as well As far as pins go, through-pin set ups like Race Face Chester, Spank Spike / Oozy would be awesome. Anyone want to buy 2 pairs in great to excellent shape? One is black, the other is blue.

[@BH-cy9tb]

Sam Lee do you still have pedals for sale

[@Mikedenton541]

I’d buy the black pair

[@marloncordova9006]

How much

[@Guineson]

Im down for trying James's cool aid, i have been planning to buy these since end of last season so once all this snow melts in Jersey i will be picking up a set and i will try to use your link ;-). Im down for premium pedals as i ride straitline defacto on my DH bike and straitline amps on my trail bike , i then went to clipless for the past 2 years. I decided to go back to flats again as i realized i have way more fun riding them over clips. Plus its always fun to play with new things.

[@rgmtb]

Thanks so much man for the support! You will be pleased! What shoes do you wear? These pedals are amazing with a set of FiveTens on your feet! Bottom line, I love these things and just contacted James for another set for my new bike but that's for another video..... :-)

[@Guineson]

Regular Guy Mountain Biking awesome, i do use a set of five tens , but they are the ascent version which are technically approach shoes so they dont have the stiff sole of say a freerider but still have stealth rubber.

[@mtbninja897]

I get the science and balance and support. But.... I don't think you need a huge pedal to get that. Just reposition your foot so it's balanced. Haven't tried them though. I just feel really skeptical about this one. I ride flats and I don't ever experience these exaggerated toe down pedaling positions. In fact I never even think about it when I'm riding. I'm having too much fun! Is this really that big a problem for a lot of riders? I guess I'll have to try them for myself to see. I just haven't experienced a lack of performance or discomfort or anything negative out of my currant flats. Two pair both awesome. Raceface and crank brothers stamp

[@rgmtb]

I think you bring a good point to this conversation. You're used to using flats and may only see a smaller change because you have already committed to a flat pedal. Many people are coming from clips and are looking for that same "connected" feel and these pedals offer more of that over the standard sized pedals. At the end of the day, as long as you're riding your bike and having fun, those are the best pedals for you and I'm happy to know you're riding! HAHAHA

[@Bjoggi308]

I know for me, when I moved to larger flat pedals (Deity T-Macs) I noticed and loved it. It was not until I tried it that I realized how much better they felt. Even with hard(ish) flat pedal shoes. I'm sure there is a limit, but I think they are worth a try.

[@goingoffgrid2849]

Dewayne McCulla ...... and I thought I would always ride 26" wheels 15 years ago haHA.

[@davidmithen9223]

I guess it also depends how big your feet are, as long as you have support from front to back to give a good mid foot position that doesn't make your foot feel like it's curling around the pedals.

[@mtbninja897]

Going off grid....ya man good point. If a bunch of people all agree, I'm going to have to try it eventually

[@abelramos8652]

Well, this is about to be tried. Surely in some situations and for some riders that huge plataform must be what they need.

[@GabeSchultz1]

Great review!

[@JakerMB]

love it! keep up the grind!

[@rgmtb]

JakerMB Thanks!

[@silkbomb669]

I have a size 14 foot i can't find a pair of mtb shoe that fit right these pedals look like something i would like to have because of the long body my foot would be in the right place to ride with all the time . I'm going to try them .I'll get back to you about them soon . thanks!

[@keithpearson1552]

Jon Silkworth I have size 14 feet and I had reached out to James Wilson as I had heard they might have been making a larger one to accommodate guys' feet like ours... they are not making larger one and James said he has many riders in our shoes (pun intended) that do great with them.. I have had mine all summer and they are excellent... I pair them with five ten freeriders and they work great. I had used RaceFace Chesters before because they seemed larger than other pedals.. they are good, but the Catalysts are very good... climbs and descents are so much better now

[@rgmtb]

Thank you Keith for helping support Jon and his question.

[@mr1blakman]

Great points. But my question is does this pedal affect cornering and handling & on using your heels down to get behind the pedals to power brake? Will there be a lighter composite verison? And more colors?

[@rgmtb]

I'm not sure about the cornering. As for the braking, yes. The larger platform does offer more stability when wrenching down on the pedal to stop hard. I've also found that I can ride with my heels down more when I have to go down really steep stuff. Personally, I think I'm just using the pedals more then before and not even realizing it.

[@31Fullerton]

Corning is terrible because these pedals have no grip, small width, and the axle under your arch puts you in a flat footed stance which is not ideal. Having the axle under the arch also makes getting your heel down almost impossible which causes a loss of grip and control. Some may see a small benefit on smooth climbs but they are terrible for descending.

[@mtbboy1993]

I think your problem with these pedals might be the saddle position. having the saddle too far to the front will give with bad pedalling position, resulting in the issue you are describing. I do not get these problems because I have perfect setup. I strongly advise you to look into your set up, because wrong set up can cause many problems, including fatique, unessesary energy use, lack of stability & control.

[@mtbboy1993]

if you have horrible grip it is probably because of your shoe choice, the width has not been an issue for me but I use size 44, But I see hot it can be an issue for some with bigger feet. The only shoes you should get are Five Ten or Adidas Terrex, Stealth rubber is super sticky, but yet allot more durable than other soft rubber soles, found on running shoes.

[@VideoNOLA]

Pretty much only for mountain/gravel/XC, since my large foot immediately hits the front wheel if I try riding with the pedal axle at mid-foot position, no matter what size pedals are installed.

[@rgmtb]

Wow, interesting. But if not mountain/gravel/xc what are you using these for? Maybe I miss understood you?

[@VideoNOLA]

@@rgmtb I'm riding a hybrid (Trek Zektor 3 and a Verve 1). Got a size 14 shoe, so if I attempt to ride arch-over-pedal-axle, my toes hit front wheel while turning. Conversely, my heel can hit the chainstay-mounted kickstand if I pull my feet back. (I try to go slightly pigeon-toed with ball of foot over axle.) All of this to show how even minor tweaks in bike geometry can have drastic affects on one's ride! (Really do wanna get me a mountain bike and install those Innovation pedals, tho!)

[@gammondog]

Same shoe size here and noticed the same problem. My solution is to use the ball of my foot to start up and then go to mid foot and keep the foot straight. With the kind of riding I do, the only time I’m likely to toe strike is while turning the front wheel to an extreme angle to balance while rolling very slowly. My knees feel better, not worse after riding on my catalyst pedals.

[@goingoffgrid2849]

These sound like the perfect pedals if you could only remove damaged pins without damaging the pedal itself. In fact if the Straitline pedal pins fit this platform I may be sold already.

[@rgmtb]

I'm not sure I understand? You can unscrew these pins and get new ones. Can you explain more please?

[@mtbboy1993]

I think i understand what he meant, I already had the chance to damage one of the pins, if you damage the pin in a way that you cant get a Allen key in the hole, for example scraping it and bending the metal inwards,With the Straitline pedals the pins are male, but on Catalyst the pins are female. So with the Straitline you can remove the pins easier as the even when the tip of the pins are crushed and scraped.

[@mtbboy1993]

with a special tool you should be able to remove them,even damaging the pedal it self could be fixed, with retreading them,using a recoil thread,you just have to know the type of threads used.

[@FlowFinderUSA]

510's are great.

[@rgmtb]

Bugsy Siegel Seems to be the shoe to get man

[@DanielSvids]

those pedals are very nice. I

[@rgmtb]

Yep, I'm liking them a lot!

[@BH-cy9tb]

If you still have black pair i would buy them

[@rgmtb]

I'm sure they have them available for sale my friend! Please use the link in the description to get there because it let's them know that RGMTB helped out and I get credit for the sale. Nothing changes on your end but it does really help me a lot! Either way, you will love these pedals!

[@kmazzanti]

Do you still love these petals? Thanks!

[@rgmtb]

I have them on EVERY SINGLE one of my bikes. These are the only pedals I use. 👍👍👍👍

[@kmazzanti]

@@rgmtb Thanks so much for your reply. That’s the best sales point right there that somebody loves them and would buy them over and over again. The fact that you have them on all of your Bikes tells the truth! I found them through B1ker And looking at crashing dad as I type this because you mentioned him. Thanks again, Merry Christmas!

[@rgmtb]

@@kmazzanti Glad I could help. Oh, and even these guys know how much I love their pedals hahaha! instagram.com/p/CXgpLOoJ2B0/?

[@mtbboy1993]

6:32 you certainly abused these. even with chipping the price is great compared to everything else. you did an excellent job with this, great with those photos to compare size, and all that. I had seen some comments below compllainign aobut the grip, I can't understand how that is possible.

[@rgmtb]

Thank you for the comments. The only way I can seen folks have poor grip is if they are running the smaller pins and maybe some poor quality shoes. Now that I have a pair of FiveTen shoes, my feet are planted on these suckers!

[@MissingLinkMTB]

I think i'm sold on them.

[@rgmtb]

Good for you dude! I think you'll really enjoy them.

[@mikieson]

seen them advertise a million times on facebook..people always giving them a hard time..

[@rgmtb]

mikieson Always gonna be haters. I'm very happy with them and will have a set on my DH and DJ bikes.

[@BackcountryPlanet]

From my experience, it's just not true that you won't have more pedal strikes with the catalyst pedal... I have, when compared to other flat pedals (I wish that wasn't the case). Especially, if ur foot is planted in the proper position. What u showed in ur video does not seem to be an ideal foot position on the catalyst pedal... you seem to have the pedal farther back on the heel, which may be one of the reasons why you haven't experienced as many pedal strikes. More pedal strikes may also occur if you use the larger pins on the pedals, as these stick out more, leading to more pedal strikes.

[@frantic299]

Have you ever used these pedals,or is this just conjecture based off your assumptions? Legitimately curious about your comment.

[@BackcountryPlanet]

Frantic29 Yes, I have the Catalyst pedals.. I also have Crank Brothers large stamp pedal, new VP Harrier pedal and VP Vice. There are a certain benefits to the large platform on the Catalyst (like helping to power up a climb with a mid foot position), however there are also downsides to them. After riding these four different pedals, my first choice would be to go with the Crank Brother Stamp pedals, then > VP Harrier > Catalyst > VP Vice

[@mtbboy1993]

the only reason with these pedals to get pedal strikes is your feet coming off and the pedal getting hit, or losing control and flipping the pedal to diagonal position. have you tested them on the exact same set up? thinner the pedal is less pedal strikes you get. the length does not effect the pedal strikes, unless you ride into stuff and or use wrong technique or mess up, but these things will happen on all pedal, if you try to ride over something and pedal gets hit on the platform its not the pedal that has a flaw, its you that messed up, if there was a smaller pedal you foot would be hit instead. if this is the case getting smaller pedals don't make sense,this is not a reason to do it. The catalyst pedal is the only pedal that makes sense, I have actually wished for pedals like the catalyst pedal for many years since I was a kid, as I already then was thinking that the small platform of normal pedals would not fit me well as my feet were bigger, and this was the case few years alter I still believed this as my feet were big, I still wished for the longer platform, But then I found a review of them on pinkbike, but this year I finally bought them. the pedals did exactly what they should do,I will never go back to standard size pedals.

[@BackcountryPlanet]

Johannes... if you're happy with the pedals that's great... When I switched to them from VP Vice pedals, I thought the same thing at first. However, the size of the pedal absolutely contributes to pedal strikes. Both the length and height of the pedal will increase pedal strikes, especially while climbing up technical rocky or rooty terrain, or descending. A pedal that sticks out more is prone to more pedal strikes... it's not complicated... it's mtb science! This is mountain biking, you're not always going to have the perfect pedal stroke every time and you're not going to always have pedals perfectly aligned to avoid pedal strikes, but a small pedal you'll reduce your chances. I virtually never had any pedal strikes using the VP Vice pedal (smallest pedal I've used), and now I barely ever have pedal strikes using the Stamp or Harrier pedal, however with the Catalyst pedal I probably would have at least one or two pedal strikes per ride, depending on the trail. In the video above, go to minute 2:54 and you can see the scratched off paint from pedal strikes on the outside of corner of the Catalyst pedal. After my first ride on the Catalyst pedal, I switched out the smaller pins to the larger pins, because my feet felt like they were sliding around a bit too much w/ 510 shoes... so that may be one reason why I've experienced more pedal strikes with them, but that's not the only reason. Cheers.

[@mtbboy1993]

I have scratches in the same places, but that because of the pedal slamming into a rock while the bike tips over to the side, and when my feet come of or I crash in some way, but I never got any pedal strikes because of the pedal, I got some pedal strikes but that's because my issues with my joints made my pedal into rocks,But I can't blame that on the pedals. I am not a fanboy, just stating facts.

[@tennissir1986]

It’s obvious this guy is getting paid by Wilson.

[@rgmtb]

Hahahaha! Love it! Dude I'd love to be on his payroll. I do make a comish from my sells but that's about it. I'm just a regular dude and nobody wants to sponsor me.

[@tennissir1986]

@@rgmtb I think the Kona Wah Wah 2’s have more overall surface area than the Catalyst’s (a bit shorter but a lot wider - less pedal strikes) , $80 cheaper and made of strong glass composite but that’s just my opinion.