Hustle Bike Labs Magnetic Pedals
For those of you who on the fence when it comes to clipless or flat pedals, there may be a solution that has a foot in both camps. The Avery REMtech Magnetic Pedal by Hustle Bike Labs offers a pedal that straddles both pedal worlds using a combination of Rare Earth Metal magnets with a downhill pedal.
The Avery REMtech Pedal by Hustle Bike Labs is here to save the day by cleverly traversing both worlds. It’s like the superhero of pedals, using Rare Earth Metal magnets (yes, magnets – we’re practically in a sci-fi movie) combined with a downhill pedal, making you wonder if you’ll fly off the bike or just experience minor gravity defiance!
Craig Payne founded Hustle Bike Labs and is the visionary behind the REMTech pedal. He turned a terrifying moment during his ride in Moab into a powerful catalyst for innovation. A remarkable near-death experience where Craig was left hanging on to a rock, hundreds of feet above the ground was the inspiration needed to start the REMTech pedal journey and ultimately led to the creation of this groundbreaking pedal.
Our first impression of the Hustle Bike Labs REMTech pedal was that it had all the hallmarks of what you would look for in a high-end DH pedal. A super-burly cage, tall pins, and a buttery smooth axle. This is before we’ve even touched on the magnetic spindle mechanism.
Avery REMTech Pedals – Features
The Hustle Bike Labs REMTech key feature is its magnetic mechanism. Using N52 grade, rear earth magnets that sit in the center of the pedal. Combined with a pair of unique flat cleats that connect where your usual cleats do under the shoe, you will experience a very powerful bonding between shoe and pedal.
The upper and lower surfaces feature two silver discs at the end of each surface giving off some serious magnetic force as well as sci-fi vibes. This is where arcs and springs would traditionally be on an SPD pedal. The pulling force provided by these magnets measures in at 100+lbs of pull force per pedal.
The magnets used are Neodymium Rare Earth Magnets. There are two types: neodymium magnets and samarium–cobalt magnets. Neodymium magnets—the ones used in the REMtech Pedal—are incredibly powerful, permanent magnets made from alloys of rare-earth elements.
The Hustle Bike Labs REMTech pedals use a flat cage design with no concavity and a total of 12 pins per side located around the pedal. 7 pins on the front of the cage and 5 on the rear. The standard pins measure 4mm in height but the pedals come with a set of shorter pins for fine-tuning your preferred float/pedal feel.
The cage is made from 6061-T6 Series Aluminum Alloy with a nickel-plated spindle and igus bushings to withstand the harshest of weather conditions. The cage features large cutouts allowing for excellent mud clearance and a footprint measuring 95mm wide by 120mm in length.
Magnets are not light, so as you can expect, these pedals are no featherweight. Weighing in at 754g per set (377g per pedal, approx) without pins. You will also need the footwear REMplate (cleats) and that’s another 90g.
Installing The REMTech Pedals
Beware! When installing the pedals be careful that you don’t smash your fingers in between the pedals and another heavy metal object as they can snap together due to the powerful magnets. We experienced this even after reading other reviewers’ warnings. It was a painful lesson.
Installing the pedals are straight forward to do. The pedals fit onto your cranks as per a standard pedal, but just be careful not to trap those pinkies as mentioned above. The REMplate cleats are designed for the standard 2-hole cleat system and work best with a shoe that has a flat sole, a larger cleat box, and a minimal toe rocker.
The REMplates are not magnetic. The magnet is only on the pedal. Note, there are two sizes of cleats on offer. The REMplate original and the REMplate Pros. The latter are a longer and wider version allowing for a snugger fit in the shoe cleat box area which makes it easier to fit on the shoe and less lateral positioning required. It also makes for a larger connection pad between shoe and pedal magnet.
E-Bike Compatibility Issue
Our first test bike was on an e-bike and it was a disastrous affair. Now, this is important to note that it was only a failure due to the specific Bosch Motor set up. Our speed sensor is located on the rear wheel rim, so as our foot and pedal came into close proximity during pedaling motion, the magnet caused the sensor to have a conniption, resulting in loss of motor power. As you can imagine, this was not going to work.
IMPORTANT! This is only an issue with these types of sensor set ups. The pedals should work absolutely fine for other e-bike motor and sensor set ups. This has been passed onto the team at Hustle Bike Labs are they are looking into this as we write this review. But if you have any concerns, send them a message, they are very responsive.
Recommended Shoes
The right choice of footwear is crucial to get the best out of your pedal, and your riding. The nice people at Hustle Labs have done the hard yards for you and provided a recommendations list, below.
REMtech Pedals are designed to work best with a 2-bolt clipless flat, sticky sole. Their favorites tested in-house are Five Ten Hellcat and Ride Concepts Transition or Tallac Clip. Here is a YouTube Playlist discussing shoes with the recommended REMplate and Traction Pin placements for each shoe:
Technical Specifications
| Specs | REMtech |
|---|---|
| Body Material | 6061-T6 Series Aluminum Alloy |
| Spindle | SCM415 / Nickel Plated |
| Bearings | igus® Bushings / SS Cartridge Bearing |
| Magnet Housing | 6061-T6 Aluminum |
| Magnets | Neodymium N52 w/ Stainless Steel Cap |
| Pull Force | 100+lbs Pull Force Per Pedal |
| Adjustable Pins | 12 Per Side |
| Footprint | 95mm x 120mm |
| REMplate® Original | Ferrous Metal 32mm x 56mm |
| REMplate® Pros | Ferrous Metal 38 x 67mm |
| Weight | 754g/set (w/o pins) |
What’s in the box?
- The Hustle Avery REMtech Pedal comes with:
The Hustle Bike Labs REMTech pedals use a flat cage design with 12 pins per side. 7 upfront to keep things friendly and 5 at the rear just in case you need a pinch of drama. The standard pins are 4mm high, but don’t worry, they also throw in some shorter ones to help you fine-tune your perfect pedal vibe, because who doesn’t need a little customization in their life, right?
On The Trails
Like most of us, we all started on flats when we began riding. I remained on flats for many of my early riding years but changed to clipless when I started dabbling in the race scene and never really looked back. I have tried to go back to flats over the years, but it has never felt right, and with bloody shins and loss of confidence, I have gone back to what works for me and provides me with a level of confidence to ride at my skill level.
But like a dog with a bone, I just can’t let go of the thought of trying to ride with flat pedals again. Those scars on my shins are obviously not enough of a reminder. So when I heard about magnetic pedals, I was curious. “Maybe this could be the pedal I am looking for?” ignoring my usual mantra of what works, works, so why change?
The REMplates come in two options, the original or the Pro, the latter having a larger footprint for easier shoe/pedal connection. They may be heavy but you do get a unique piece of hardware and for those who sit on the flat pedal or clipless fence, they might be just what you’ve been looking for.
First off, the REMTech pedals are a thing of beauty. If you’re like us and drool over new bike tech and gadgets, you will love these. You could snatch away the magnetic element, and they’d still look so fabulous that they’d make a supermodel jealous. Seriously, these pedals boast all the snazzy features you’d expect from a high-end DH pedal, plus a little extra pizzazz that says, “I’m ready for my close-up!”
After installing the pedals (watch those pinkies! See note above) and cleats it was time to get out on the trails with them. If you haven’t had much experience with flat pedals or go back to them after years of clipless, you will absoloutley experince foot slippage. This can be bloody terrifying at times and downright painful when it results in a smashed shin bone.
If coming from clipless, flat pedals will take time to get comfortable with. The way your foot feels on the pedal, the positioning and re-positioning, the sense of foot slippage and bounce which all builds towards a better understanding of key principles of foot placement and weighting.
But whilst you are trying to get to grips with all of this and still ride your favourite trails, (you may need to ride less technical trails during this period of transition) the magnetic element of the REMTech pedals can help reduce those nerve rattling foot slipping moments.
The Avery REMTech Pedals are a great solution for those looking to transition to flat pedals without the pain.
OK, so it was time to put our foot to the pedal for the first time, and we can tell you, this is a strange but oddly satisfying sensation. As you bring your foot over the pedal and lower it closer to the cage, you start to feel the magnets doing their thing and the 100lbs of pull power coming into effect.
We started on some very mild trails to begin with, just getting used to the sensation of our feet connected to the pedals, before hitting rougher trails. There is a definite improvement in the ability to keep your foot on the pedal than with a traditional flat pedal, and our confidence levels started to rise. But with all new things, there were some teething problems.
Photo credit: ©Sam Clarke
What we did find frustrating, and this was in the early phases of using them, was the difficulty with micro foot adjustments. With a traditional flat pedal you can pick your foot off the pedal and re-place it with relative ease, and you end up doing this countless times when you first start riding with flat pedals, but this became a frustrating issue when trying to fight the magnetic force.
With the REMTech pedals, taking your foot off to replace it requires a fair amount of effort due to the magnets. So this simple foot movement became a frustrating experience and felt like we were battling against the pedal to get our foot into the right spot. This was the only frustration we had with these pedals. It’s important to note that this became less of an issue as we become more used to foot placement and getting that right spot on the first attempt.
Another thing that caused us some concern was the amount of dirt and small stones that collected during a ride. This was experienced in dry and rocky trails where there was an obvious high level of iron in the stone. See photo above. The stones are easy to remove but nevertheless it is something that was observed.
Pulling up on your clipless pedals is never a good idea and you should always use correct pedal technique, which you quickly learn when riding with flat pedals. You may think you don’t pull up but in fact you do. This can be a very small amount and something you probably do subconsciously. This becomes evident when you start riding with flat pedals and your foot comes off at the first small jump on the trail or the first technical hill climb.
The REMTech pedals come into their own here. Although you may find that you pull your foot off once in while, (yes, even with these pedals), it will be much less pronounced than if you went straight to a flat pedal for the first time. This is what makes the REMTech pedals a great transitional choice to the flat pedal, and from what we have read and talking to riders who use them, they have not only become their go-to flat pedal for ex-clipless riders but also for previous flat pedal riders. That in itself is an interesting discovery.
As our testing phase continued over many days of riding, we started to get to grips with the REMTech pedals. Those initial annoying foot placement issues reseeded into the past and we started to appreciate the extra connectivity they provide. Where we saw the biggest benefits were on climbs and rough descents, the sort of moments where you would have issues on traditional flat pedal. After many days on the pedals we experienced very little foot fatigue. We put this down to the flat cage design, versus the trend for concavity we see these days.
The large flat platform and tall pins provided a very solid platform and support for the foot. Having two pin choices in the pack was excellent and allowed us to fine tune the grip across the pedal cage by experimenting with the smaller and taller pins in different locations to get that perfect grip and float combination. If you’re into DH or aggressive trail riding, the REMTech pedals would be an excellent choice if you’re considering the flat pedal conversion.
You could snatch away the magnetic element, and they’d still look so fabulous that they’d make a supermodel jealous. Seriously, these pedals boast all the snazzy features you’d expect from a high-end DH pedal, plus a little extra pizzazz that says, “I’m ready for my close-up!”
Where we saw the biggest benefits were on climbs and rough descents, the sort of moments where you would have issues on traditional flat pedal. That extra level of connectivity really helps to boost your confidence as you’re processing to the world of flat pedals.
Conclusions
If you’re looking to fully convert or dip that proverbial toe into the world of flat pedals but are finding the initial foot slipping, shin scraping grievance too much to convince you to try, then the REMTech pedal would be an excellent choice. The powerful rare earth magnets are an unique design that can talk the talk and walk the walk. They provide a security blanket for those who may be struggling with the issues of a flat pedal. Foot slippage may still occur but it certainly reduces those “Oh shit!”moments and provide a safety element that cannot be ignored.
Function and sci-fi features aside, what the team at Hustle Labs have created is something of pure beauty. You can’t help but be astonished by these pedals. Many human hours, days, years have gone into the concept and development of these pedals and it’s been a pure joy to have the opportunity to literally connect with them.
If you need more information, go to the very nice people at the Hustle Labs website as they have a huge amount of useful information on these pedals and are open to questions.
Price/Where to Buy
- Avery REMtech Pedal: $225.00 USD
- REMplate Original cleats: $23.00 USD
- REMplat Pro cleats: $27.00 USD
You can purchase direct from Hustle Bike Labs website. Or request them to be stocked at your local bike shop.
