DMR Vault Brendog Signature Pedals: Rider Review

Being two of the contact points that you have with your bike, pedals are a pretty important component of any bike. Although they are a crucial component they are sometimes overlooked in their importance. Our valued customer Frank Long gives us his take on the DMR Vault Brendog Signature pedals. Check it out below!

 Overview

I recently purchased the DMR Vault Brendog pedals back in mid-July. I’ve ridden them a few times at mountain creek, blue mountain, and a couple different local trails. Prior to these pedals, I had a set of RaceFace Atlas pedals in blue. They didn’t quite match the blue on my 2017 Enduro, but whatever, they felt good. It wasn’t until I bought an X01 carbon crankset that the Atlas had to go. They weren’t able to spin freely because of the carbon boots. 

So I started my search for a good flat pedal. A friend of mine recommended the Deity TMACs and the DMR Vaults. I wasn’t completely sold so I read a bunch of reviews online and asked a few other people about their pedal preferences. I finally came across a test of 17 different flat pedals done by VitalMTB. It was probably the most in-depth testing I’ve read and their top performers/choices were actually supported by numbers. The Vaults came in first, followed by the TMACs. Here’s the link to the testing. https://m.vitalmtb.com/features/Vital-MTB-Face-Off-The-Best-Flat-Pedals,1485

Initial Thoughts

I was excited to slap the Frank Longaults on and feel the difference from the Atlas pedals. After a couple hours on the trail, I wasn’t impressed. They felt good, but not noticeably better than the atlas. They felt flat, I couldn’t feel the concave. When I repositioned my feet the pedal felt the same throughout.

After finishing my ride I took a closer look at the “flip pins” and saw that they seemed to negate the concave of the pedal. I also noticed that the diameter of the flip pins were wider than the included moto x pins. I swapped all the flip pins for the moto x pins. A few days later I rode the same trail and the pedals felt great. I could feel the concave, they were much grippier and they looked cooler than my old Atlas pedals. It took about 20 minutes to swap all the pins out. The smaller diameter of the moto x pins dug more into my shoes. Since they are all the same height, they follow the concave of the pedal giving it a better feel than the flip pins.

Final Thoughts

Along with better grip and feel from the moto x pins, the entire surface of the pedal is flat. What I mean by that is that the spindle doesn’t have a bearing so there is no bulge on the platform of the pedal. This helps from any bulge on the inside arch of the foot, so that felt a lot better. I went with the DMR Brendog vaults over the regular vaults because they are all matte black, with a gloss black on the lettering.

Overall, I’m very happy with the pedals. They look better, feel better and were affordable. After a bunch of runs at two different bike parks and some local trails, I have no complaints and would buy them again.