New Wolf Tooth Ripsaw Flat Pedal [Review]

As someone who is deathly afraid of having my shin shredded by a flat pedal, the name Ripsaw is a little intimidating. A new aluminum pedal, the Wolf Tooth Ripsaw has more surface area and a flatter profile than the brand’s other flat pedal offering. I got a chance to try a pair just ahead of the launch, and I found them to be a great option for trail riders.

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Wolf Tooth Ripsaw key specs

• Size: 118x102mm
• 12 pins per side
• Convex profile
• Weight: 381.5g (pair)
• Three colors at launch: ultraviolet purple (tested), raw silver, and black
• Machined and assembled in the USA
• Price: $199.95
• Buy from Wolf Tooth Components

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The Wolf Tooth Ripsaw features a stainless steel axle and spins on three sealed cartridge bearings. The aluminum pedal is machined by Wolf Tooth in Minnesota and assembled in house. Replacement parts are available for purchase and the pedal boasts a five-year warranty against defects in materials or workmanship. Yes, the bearings will wear out eventually. No, it probably won’t be difficult to replace the necessary parts yourself. Wolf Tooth also includes several extra pins in case any break due to rock strike or get worn down.

With a slightly concave shape, Wolf Tooth says the Ripsaw is optimized for mid-foot placement. Personally I shift my foot placement throughout the ride, with my foot more forward on the pedal when climbing and closer to mid foot when descending. I found the Ripsaw is comfortable in either position and doesn’t require a specific foot placement for riding.

Zooming into the pins, Wolf Tooth uses a style of pin that eschews exposed threads on the ends. The result is a more finished look, and also slightly less sharp and jagged edges on the pins. These have proven to be more shin (and calf) friendly, though perhaps a smidge less grippy around the edges.

I also suspect the number of pins — twelve per side, to be exact — has an influence on grip, and my theory is that beyond a certain minimum, more pins means less grip. Imagine laying on a bed of nails; because your body weight is spread across hundreds of spikes, (in theory) none of them will pierce the skin. But if you were to lay on a single nail — ouch! Now picture pins digging into the rubber sole of a shoe.

Among my favorite flat pedals, all have either nine or ten pins, so I wanted to see if I could get a little more grip out of the Ripsaw pedals by removing a couple pins. I somewhat arbitrarily decided to remove the middle pins on the leading and trailing edges of the left pedal and see if I could tell a difference during a ride.

Because this wasn’t a blind test I can’t say for sure if my theory influenced the results. However, I can definitely say that the pedal with just ten pins didn’t feel less grippy. To me it felt about the same, or slightly grippier, than the pedal with 12 pins. Based on this test I’ll probably remove a couple pins from the right pedal to match the left. If anything, at least it’ll save 6 grams of weight, ha! In all seriousness, that would put the pedals within a gram of the next lightest aluminum flat pedal Singletracks has tested (sorry Race Face), and in the top three overall.

Based on the trails that I ride I’m picky about flat pedal platform size, or rather, platform width. Compared to Wolf Tooth’s other pedal, the Waveform, the Ripsaw is longer while going narrower. Overall the Ripsaw has more surface area which promises a more comfortable and easier ride, yet it’s not so wide that every pedal stroke catches the side of the hill on off-camber trails.

Out of the box the Wolf Tooth Ripsaw pedals spin smoothly with minimal resistance. They’re quiet too with little noticeable flex.

I like the machined look and texture of the Ripsaw pedals and the ultraviolet purple finish absolutely pops. The overall sleek look is a step up from chunkier pedals in my opinion.

Finally, the 381.5g weight for the pair is quite impressive for an aluminum pedal. Among the flat pedals we’ve tested, only the Crankbrothers Stamp 11, Crankbrothers Stamp 7 (small), and Race Face Atlas aluminum pedals weigh less.

Pros and cons of Wolf Tooth Ripsaw

Pros

• Large platform that’s not overly wide
• 5-year warranty and replacement parts are available for purchase
• Lightweight and sleek
• Made in the USA

Cons

• 12 pins per side feels like two too many

Bottom line

The new Wolf Tooth Ripsaw flat pedal is a strong second act for the USA-made brand and it’s a pedal that promises to deliver comfortable performance for many seasons to come.

• Price: $199.95
• Buy from Wolf Tooth Components