Praxis Podium Flat Pedal Review

The Praxis Podium flat pedal is a new mountain bike pedal with a bit of a backstory. Eagle-eyed and elephant-headed readers will recognize a striking similarity to the Gamut Podium flat pedal that Singletracks reviewed in 2016. With permission from the Gamut founders, Praxis has updated this “beloved” and “iconic” flat pedal for 2024.

Praxis Podium key specs

12 pins per side
6061-T6 aluminum alloy body and 4130 chromoly steel spindle
Concave profile
115x112mm platform
Weight: 402.1g as tested (pair)
Price: $115
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The Praxis Podium flat pedal body is made from 6061-T6 aluminum that’s been forged and CNC machined. With a platform that measures 115x112mm, it offers a large platform and features 12 steel pins per side. The pedals ship with 12 extra pins and 12 spacers that can be used to customize the height of the pins—for example, if you wanted the middle pins to sit lower than the outer pins. The pins are a standard M4 size and represent an upgrade over the lighter but softer and less grippy aluminum pins used on the original Gamut Podium pedals Aaron reviewed in 2016.

Gamut Podium left (photo Aaron Chamberlain). Praxis Podium right.

The Praxis Podium pedal features a very similar profile to the Gamut Podium, as you can see in the photos above. With a thickness/height of 14mm, the Praxis Podium pedals aren’t ultra-thin, but they aren’t very thick either. The profile is concave by 3°.

Three sealed Enduro-brand bearings and one Igus bushing per pedal promise to keep these spinning reliably. The Praxis Podiums are fully rebuildable, and the brand offers separate bearing and spindle kits priced at $15-25.

On the trail with the Praxis Podium pedals

I’ve been running the Podiums for a couple hundred miles now, in both wet and dry conditions, and I’ve found they provide excellent grip. Personally, I prefer a concave flat pedal shape, though not everyone does. Three degrees of concavity feels like the right amount for me, and if you want more, you could always lower the pins in the middle using the included spacers. Or, going the other way, lower the outer pins for a less concave feel.

Despite having a fairly large platform I experienced very few pedal scrapes when cornering and riding off-camber trails. I think the 14mm body height cancels out the extra width on the Praxis Podium pedals to keep strikes and scrapes to a minimum.

I did smack a rock head-on at speed with my left pedal hard enough to send me off the side of the trail into a thicket of saplings during one test ride. A lot of pedal strikes end up just grazing the pins, but this was a full-on hit to the pedal body. Upon inspection, I can’t see even a hint of damage; there’s no scrape, and all the pins appear to be intact. To be fair, aluminum pedals are meant to be smacked around, so it’s not surprising the Podiums suffered minimal damage.

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Tried it? Tell us what you think about it.

Where mountain bike pedals tend to wear out and fall apart is at the bearings (or worse, sometimes the spindle), and thus far, the Praxis Podiums are still spinning smoothly. Out of the box, the pedals spin quietly with just the right amount of resistance — not so freely that they’ll shred your shins like a wood chipper if you accidentally flick the pedal, but easily enough that you’re not pedaling molasses. The use of name-brand Enduro bearings and Igus bushings gives me confidence that these will spin for a long while before needing a rebuild.

With other flat pedals I’ve tested it feels like 12 pins per side is too many for maximum grip. However I think 12 is the right amount for the Praxis Podium pedals. The concave shape allows some pins to dig into the shoe more than others and deliver just the right amount of friction and pressure.