Crank Brothers Stamp 1 Pedals [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for.

Sometimes in the world of mountain bikes the little things can get overlooked like the pedals. On the contrary, pedal choice can effect the way you are connected to the bike itself. Our John shares his thoughts on the Crank Brothers Stamp 1 pedals. Check it out!

Overview

Once upon a time a rather opinionated fellow rider graced me with his musings on the importance of the pedal. "Pedals..? Who cares. It's a DJ bike - just through the cheapest S*** you can find on there. It is going to take a beating anyways." Exactly, I thought, It is going to take a beating! Without crushing his spirits I explain that this was in fact, the reason for GOOD pedals not crappy ones. But then our attention shifted to price. "Good" pedals are often expensive and we were in agreement that nobody likes that. Enter the wonderful Crank Brothers Stamp 1 pedal.

As mentioned earlier, this pedal set was for my dirt jump bike. Naturally I had a few necessary qualifications:
1) It had to be light. Honestly I just don't like heavy clunky pedals. No matter the bike
2) Obviously.. it needed to be strong AF.
3) It needed to be small.

Now, number 3 might be counter intuitive for some because if one is going to be taking his feet off the pedals, doesn't he want a bigger platform to come back too? Well, in theory sure, but in the real world I have no trouble finding the pedals either way so I would rather they be otherwise unobtrusive.
The Crank Brothers Stamp 1 met all these criteria and picking a size small or size large pedal was a welcome option. You guessed it - I went with the small.

Throughout all this abuse, the bearings still have that thick greasy feeling, none of the screws are missing, and the plastic body looks surprisingly great (see the pics!).

There is one more thing about these pedals that I think is under appreciated. The sit really close to the crank arms! This is by far my favorite aspect of these Crank Bros Stamp pedals. When doing a barspin for example, riders often pinch their seat/frame with their knees and squeeze the crank arms. The closer the pedal is the crank, the more accessible clamping force and the easier it is.


So how have I tested these pedals? Well I have ridden them hard, twice a week since I purchased them from the epic bike retailer know as Worldwide Cyclery a couple months back. I have dropped my bike, crashed, precariously slammed into inordinate objects, and (occasionally) landed some cool tricks. Today I managed to go over the bars while attempting to tail tap and my bike was left dangling from the skatepark coping by just one screw on the pedal! 

Final Thoughts

Did I mention price? These pedals exceed my expectations and genuinely help me progress as a rider, and they are only $49. That is honestly a phenomenal price and I will be buying them again. There are also options! If you are the opposite of me and want a large metal pedal they offer the Stamp in that variation as well. Crank Brothers really nailed it with this one, offering a one stop shop for any pedal you need at a fantastic price.