Words cannot begin to describe how much I actively HATE the Nukeproof Neutron EVO pedal. Even my initial impressions were pretty rubbish – the materials feel cheap and the platform is very, very small. I instantly regretted swapping over from my Superstar Nanos.
I got sucked in by the Nukeproof name and the huge amount of color options – everything else past this is shit. Honestly, that’s the only good thing I have to say about them – good choice of colours.
None the less, I went out for a ride to try and get to grips with them. They were terrible – it’s the first pedal that I’ve felt that even my FiveTens weren’t enough to make up for – the pedal can fit entirely at the base of your foot with room on either side. This makes foot placement really tricky and doens’t give you enough surface area to really feel comfortable when hitting jumps or gnarly sections of trail.
Here it is looking all shiny and new – lovely lime green and removeable pins which are just that little bit too short.
Review of Nukeproof Neutron EVO pedals
Over the 3 months I tested these pedals for I didn’t find it any easier, although I did become more used to losing the pedals – especially in the air. I’ve chipped large chunks of plastic off these pedals hitting roots and rocks and while I was initially quite impressed with how the plastic held up, the more chips and scratches the worse everything gets. I knocked off pins, broke off a bit on the end and generally abused these pedals to hell and back.
Here’s what they look like with just 3 months of riding under their belt – battered, bent and broken.
The final staw was bending the axel of the pedal during a minor collision with a rock. Not only did this force the pedal up so I had my foot at an angle towards the bike when pedaling, but it damaged the thread in the crank arm. It became so stuck in fact that three men, a breaker bar, a vice and heat all couldn’t shift it out. New crank arm it is – great.
If you want cheap pedals, choose the DMR V8 or V12 you’ll be a lot better off!
