THE HO2 PEDALS have been designed to be as thin as possible at the edges in order to increase ground clearance and avoid the pedal strikes that are common with modern slack-and-low bike geometry. They run on sealed bearings and DU bushings, which should keep them spinning smoothly even in the grimmest weather, and they’re a good weight, especially considering the cost, with our pair weighing just 314g.
Measuring just 9mm deep at the outer edge, the HO2s are some of the thinnest pedals on the market, but this comes at a cost. Rather than using a concave platform (where the middle is lower than the outer edge) to cup your feet, Onza have gone with a convex profile (where the middle is higher than the outer). And that’s not the only unusual feature. The eight pins per side are also short and stout, rather than tall and thin, so they don’t dig into the soles of shoes particularly well.
These two factors add up to a pedal with very little grip, especially on wet and rough terrain, where we found our feet constantly slipping and sliding. Instead of the reassuring feeling of your foot ‘sitting into’ the pedal that you’d get with a concave platform, the lower outside edge and raised centre bulge over the axle makes the outer pins even less effective, leaving you feeling perched rather than planted on the HO2s.
A wide, thin profile is nice in theory, but the central bulge and short, stout pins mean the HO2s lack grip
Price 105$