Gamut Podium Pedal Review

Gamut has been around a long time now. The brand has recently acquired Point One and are now in the process of updating the pedal design. They have also just released a bar and stem combo that we will be testing out as well.

"In 1999 Juan Graziosi, aka “Juano”, teamed up with his maker, Ed, on a father-son project making chain-guides for personal use. Friends and riders took notice and he began selling them at local races to cover his own race fees. As interest grew, so did the idea to create a rider-owned company. In 2003, older brother Mateo and longtime friend Mike were added to the mix to help get things organized. One year later, Gamut USA was born. The four share a passion for making intuitive, high quality products that take the hassle out of installation while delivering on performance, simplicity, and aesthetics. After all, we wanted to ride our bikes, not work on them.

As in the beginning, our goal is to add to the simple joy of mountain biking. Whether it be through product design, technical support, sponsorship, shop visits, or OEM services, we aim to improve the ride itself. Mountain biking is a huge part of our lives and we consider ourselves some of its biggest fans. We exist to serve the sport's enthusiasts and professionals alike. Every product we make goes through our own hands before it gets delivered to yours to ensure we remain connected to you, our customer.

We are proud of the products we’ve built, races we’ve won, failures we’ve endured, friends we’ve made (and continue to make), and we remain focused on the future, which for us is to improve upon the simple joy we receive from riding our bikes.

Sincerely,

Juan, Mateo, Mike, and Ed"

The Podium Pedals. Based on the original Podium flat pedal from Point One Racing, this new version 3 includes upgrades on strength and durability without compromising the features that made them a legend. 4 sealed cartridge bearings per pedal, 100x100mm platform. 8-10mm concave profile, custom hollow-core alloy pins, all at 298g.

We received the Podium pedals from Gamut and upon opening the first thing that became apparent was the use of no square edges and how thin the pedals where. Placing the pedals on a scale they came in at 298 grams just under what Gamut claims. The spikes offered with the pedals are good length and they include extra ones in the box when you need to replace some.

Getting onto the bike with The Gamut Podium pedals mounted the first thing you notice about them is their low profile and sense of being right against the axle. This is a feeling that you become accustomed to quickly and since we have had other thin pedals in the past it was nothing new. Using a thin pedal has a number of benefits, including placing the riders weight lower down, increased ground clearance and also helping to prevent the pedals from rolling over.

Gamut did a wonderful job with the Podium pedals. They are a beautiful design with almost no flat edges. After riding them a bit we realized how well they hold your feet. Overall they are up there will the best pedals we have used including Easton, HT and Atomlab. We had the Podiums mounted onto our Evil Insurgent test bike using 165mm crank arms. Even with the lower BB of the Evil pedal strikes only happened a few times over the course of 4 months.

The new Gamut Podium Pedals live up to and surpass what the original pedal did when it first launched all those years ago. When those pedals came out they where literally half the thickness of most flat pedals on the market. Riding the pedals we found ourselves to be sure footed while riding rowdy trails with our Five Ten shoes.

Conclusion

Overall we where very impressed with the Gamut Podium pedals. Their weight, finish, design and feel while on the bike are all top notch. Grinding pedals against rocks is a fact of life unless you ride in Santa Cruz then its a BMX track. For the rest of the MTB world rock strikes happen. We have a few large scraped on the pedals and so far the teeth have stayed straight.

One thing we noticed with our size 12 shoes on was the pedal could stand to possibly be a bit wider this is totally rider preference. There where a few instances when placing the a foot back onto the Podium that it proved to be just a tad hard to get the foot fully on the pedal. Keep in mind this would add weight but I would gladly gain 50 grams to have a bit larger surface.

After 4 months of almost daily riding we experienced no issues with our Gamut Podium pedals. They provide good traction, ground clearance and resist rolling helping you to feel more planted on the bike. These are pedals we would recommend to a friend.

Gamut Questions

1. How did Gamut come to be?

Gamut was born out of a passion for MTB racing, and a love of making products that work to the highest standards in the toughest conditions. Gamut is a rider-owned partnership between brothers Juan and Mateo, their father Ed, and their pal Mike. All the guys want to make a life in MTB and make product to improve the ride for all.

2. What made you decide to make your own Chain Guides?

Out of necessity really--there weren't any simple, easy to install and light-weight guides on the market when Gamut was born. We wanted something for our own race use, and lucky for us they ended up being good enough that other riders wanted in.

3. Any plans for carbon products down the road?

Carbon is always in the conversation, but if and when we do it, we want it to be the right product. We're not buying off the shelf and we're not rushing anything to market. We're believers in durability and value first--which is why alloy remains our top choice for most applications.

4. Tell us a bit about your evolution of the Gamut since the beginning?

Gamut has been around a lot longer than some people realize--we started in 2004 doing just chainguides and while that market has evolved and changed over the years we've added different things to the mix following the same values that made our first products accepted by riders: thoughtful design, good value, and great function.

5. When did your pedals come out?

January! We arere stoked. Let us know if you want some. We know a guy. Get you a good deal.

6. What is your most popular guide currently?

For the last couple of years the Trail SXC has been killing it, though the new SXR with the integrated bash is coming on strong.

7. What type of trail would you prefer to ride flowing and jump filled or loose and rocky?

Depends on who you talk to around here, but generally we're happy riding anything. Not illegal stuff though. Never.

8. What are some of the greatest inventions for Mountain Bikes?

Suspension forks, dropper posts, knobby tires, baggy shorts, and those tasty sammiches your mom makes us after we get back from riding.

9. Who is the greatest Mountain Biker of all time?

Don't ask us to name just one. We're still arguing about it, but if we just have to name names, we're picking Greg Minnaar because he has a legit claim and we'd be terrible sponsors if we didn't.

10. Should they do two Tour De France races and have one that is drug free while the other is anything goes?

Isn't drug use already mandatory in Le Tour?

11. Any new products you guys are working on?

New stuff in guides, rings, pedals, stems, bars, and other sensual lifestyle products for the discerning dirt freak.

12. Anything else you would like to add?

Cru, just pretend you're in the lumber yard, go balls out.