First Ride | Pedals Done Different – N8tive Release New Noax Pedals
As the offspring of a giant Stateside motocross company, the Thüringen-based parts company N8tive already have extensive know-how and high quality engineering as a springboard. Alongside standard parts such as bars, stems and regular pedals, they’ve now created the Noax pedal, whose innovative construction strays far from the norm. After a closer look at the pedal, here’s our definitive opinion.
The look and craftsmanship impress immediately: solid CNC-milled platforms in a minimalist assembly, with the beautiful laser-cut embellished and polished Eloxal surfaces, give a high-end look. But for €130 that’s what you’d expect. The foothold is a good size, and well suited to your feet thanks to its concave form. On long descents, there was no sign of weary mid-feet and that’s testament to the quality that N8tive have crammed into these pedals. The pins are well positioned, and offering solid – although not outstanding – grip. Thanks to their wide nature, there’s decent resistance to slipping and you feel solidly planted.
So far, so good. Yet the peculiarities of the Noax pedals can be found around the axles and bearings. N8tive decided against a thru-axle, and went for an ultra short stub axle instead.
Given two giant ball bearings – necessary to combat the increased leverage – the pedals have taken on an unquestionably distinctive look. The idea behind this concept appears to be more than logical; as there’s no thru-axle, the height can be reduced, floor clearance increased and the use of a concave form employed instead. This increased bearing size should result in enhanced durability too.
As a result, this construction does lead to one issue: the number of bearings hasn’t been reduced; instead they’re just combined onto the cranks’ side. Together with the bigger diametre, they protrude into the pedal and expand the space for your foot by 1.5cm outwards. This not only increases the Q factor, but also the risk of ground contact on corners and narrow sections. So this few shaved-off millimetres in the height when compared to other flat pedals are really only a drop in the ocean. Often, as you blindly put your foot down after losing contact, you’re likely to first hit the bearings and have to re-position. But it’s just a case of tuning your feet and you’ll soon get the hang of the positioning. And one more thing to note: when using carbon cranks with end caps, you’ll have to use an additional spacer otherwise the bearings will touch the threads.
So where’s the main advantage of N8tive’s pedals? Is it the long lifespan of these not-particularly-light pedals, which we later weighed in at 437g? Despite the stub axles, the huge ball bearings still turn smoothly, at a time when other pedals are already crying out for their third service. The massive contact area gives us hope for very little stone interference too. What we’re curious about now though, is how the axles and bearings will react to some more violent treatment. Over the coming months, we’re sure to find this out all out for you. In terms of maintenance, the bearings, which are outwardly screwed, can simply be unscrewed and re-greased as needed.
Without a doubt, N8tive have created an usual pedal with the Noax, and its high class manufacturing and solid positioning have our seal of approval. While brilliant, the standout highlight – namely, the stub axles with the big ball bearings – do bring equal amounts of profit and loss to the table. And whether they really result in improved durability remains to be seen. If you’re not put off by the increased Q factor and wider construction width, then you can go home happy with these pedals.
Words & Pictures: Christoph Bayer
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