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Straitline Amps

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
Yeah, so I was in dire need of some pedals after this season, wanted thin and strong without going to crazy. I grabbed a set of the limited edition Straitline Amps (only thing limited about them is the green logos), also looked at the spikes but decided straitline was just a better company. I had the opportunity to pedal them the other day for the first time and they are fantastic. Riding them on my all mountain bike but most likely will be using them for DH next season.

If you are a fan of the original pedals expect the same quality just in a very slim refined package. Yes there is less traction but I could never use all of those pins on the defactos. Really impressed with these guys. Just for the record these are a replacement for crampons which held up great but I couldn’t get quite enough traction out of them.

Great product from Straitline.

 
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norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
My bike has a bit of a kick so I'm tempted but worried about traction. Lots of people rave about other pedals in that matter only for me to find them underwhelming.
They look good and weight nice too. Not that loosing extra 100g I'd have with my other part changes would mean much.
 

insanitylevel9

triple nubby
Jan 7, 2011
2,001
5
hopkinton ma
dude if you dont mind can you give me your .2 cents on them after a little ride time, my strait lines i got now are pretty trashed and im thinking about new ones.
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
I have never been a fan boy or anything like that - i know some are.

What i can tell you is that the build quality is incredible and they are very easy to service. There is something behind all the talk with them. I look at these as a 3 year set of pedals...

The mini lug wrench looking thing provided for the pins is pretty trick to
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
dude if you dont mind can you give me your .2 cents on them after a little ride time, my strait lines i got now are pretty trashed and im thinking about new ones.
For sure i'll update this after a month or so - just be warned it wont be much dh as our season just ended last week. If you are someone that needs an insane amount of pins in your pedals these might not be for you but there are plenty here for me when using some Five Tens or similar.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
All I'm interested in is traction. With proper pins nothing yet has beaten my old wah wahs. Is the traction loss noticably worse than older straitlines or some other super traction pedals?
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
i've had limited time on the originals so I can't give a great comparison but those with full pins were always to grippy for me. I like to be able to reposition my foot without picking it up, these let me do that but barely.

the wah wahs were awesome I would think these are in the same traction league
 

SthFRider

Monkey
Apr 16, 2008
218
0
Atlanta,Ga
I have a set of these as well and will be riding all weekend. I will include a primlinary ride report after this weekend if people will like it. I love my defactos on my DH bike. Bought the AMPs for my AM bike. Build quality is amazing as always. Slightly less grip and smaller platform than the defacto but i don't see it being a negative. Sorry to hijack your thread manhattanprjkt
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
I have a set of these as well and will be riding all weekend. I will include a primlinary ride report after this weekend if people will like it. I love my defactos on my DH bike. Bought the AMPs for my AM bike. Build quality is amazing as always. Slightly less grip and smaller platform than the defacto but i don't see it being a negative. Sorry to hijack your thread manhattanprjkt
No its not a hijack...I had not saw much on here and got my set...figured everyone could put info in here...I am with you 100% on your impressions.
 

hardboiled

Chimp
May 15, 2006
23
0
right behind you
pinkbike did a review of these a couple days ago and thought they didn't spin freely enough for a pedal designed for climbing. what do you guys think in that regard?
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
Yeah i read that and i dont understand that logic really, personally I hate really 'spinny' pedals. When you hold them in your hand and spin them they are stiff but on the bike they are fine. It's not like that bushing is hurting your climbing, seriously.
 

Delimeat

Monkey
Feb 3, 2009
195
0
Canada
Yeah i read that and i dont understand that logic really, personally I hate really 'spinny' pedals. When you hold them in your hand and spin them they are stiff but on the bike they are fine. It's not like that bushing is hurting your climbing, seriously.
But that bushing is hurting your climbing ability. It's sapping energy whether you can feel it or not. Would you be OK if one of your wheels had that much resistance? I wouldn't =) I thought that they were great pedals, but it is odd that a pedal that is marketed for all-mountain use doesn't spin free. Just because you can't feel the resistance, thanks to your legs having more leverage and being stronger, doesn't mean that there is any less.

If a set of clipless pedals spun that stiff people wouldn't accept it, but it's OK for some reason because they are platforms? I understand why you'd not want certain pedals to spin for certain uses and that's fine, but for a pedal that is designed to be used in the same manner as many clipless pedals it isn't acceptable.
 
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Delimeat

Monkey
Feb 3, 2009
195
0
Canada
im just saying you can't feel a thing...
That's what she said.

The engineer/designer at Straitline has said that the resistance lessens when the bushings are loaded. Can anyone out there corroborate that? I'd like to see some figures of it loaded and unloaded compared to a dual bearing pedal... maybe it doesn't matter, but hell, that is the last thing that I want to think about when earning my turns.
 

SthFRider

Monkey
Apr 16, 2008
218
0
Atlanta,Ga
No its not a hijack...I had not saw much on here and got my set...figured everyone could put info in here...I am with you 100% on your impressions.
Right on brotha.... Cheers

pinkbike did a review of these a couple days ago and thought they didn't spin freely enough for a pedal designed for climbing. what do you guys think in that regard?
They are definitely stiff when you turn them with your hand. But.... when on the bike i can't feel any stiffness or resistance at all. I personaly don't think its going to affect pedal performance that much. Some people may think otherwise but this is going on my AM/Trail bike. I plan on pedaling to the top and ripping it down. So id prefer a pedal that is stiff when i have to dab a foot etc.... thats just my 2 cent.
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
That's what she said.

The engineer/designer at Straitline has said that the resistance lessens when the bushings are loaded. Can anyone out there corroborate that? I'd like to see some figures of it loaded and unloaded compared to a dual bearing pedal... maybe it doesn't matter, but hell, that is the last thing that I want to think about when earning my turns.
seriously man just think about it your whole damn leg pushing down on that tiny plastic ring...This is where things start getting nuts...its not going to impact you. This is also huge for serviceability the bushing change is so easy.

Also I think you will see lots of dh/dj guys riding these, they are just a nice light package. I think the defactos were a bit overkill...most of my slayer bmx buds run a pin in each corner of their pedals.
 
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Delimeat

Monkey
Feb 3, 2009
195
0
Canada
seriously man just think about your whole damn leg pushing down on that tiny plastic ring...This is where things start getting nuts...its not going to impact you. This is also huge for serviceability the bushing change is so easy.

Also I think you will see lots of dh/dj guys riding these, they are just a nice light package. I think the defactos were a bit overkill...most of my slayer bmx buds run a pin in each corner of their pedals.
Yeah, the Defactos are some serious pedals! I'm with you on the ease of servicing the Straitline pedals, they are simply the easiest in that regard. I think that the AMPs are rad for DJ and DH duties, they make a lot of sense for that.

I'm just a little lost on why you'd think that the resistance won't matter on a bike that could very well see thousands and thousands of feet of climbing in a single ride. I'm aware that "your whole damn leg pushing down on that tiny plastic ring" point, but more leverage doesn't mean that the resistance becomes less, just that you won't feel it because the lever (your leg) is longer. Answer me this: if one of your wheels turned as stiff as one AMP pedal would you not fix it? You might not "feel it" while riding because of the mechanical advantage that the gears and crank arms provide, but you wouldn't be stoked to go on a 3 hour pedal if the wheel turned as stiff as an AMP pedal. We're getting dangerously close to including physics in this discussion which would mean that I would have to bow out :)




If you are worried about them spinning you should be running clipless.
Thanks for the contribution :rolleyes:
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
I'm just a little lost on why you'd think that the resistance won't matter on a bike that could very well see thousands and thousands of feet of climbing in a single ride.
Because your legs are pushing down with a hundred pounds of force, and the rings are providing a .01lbs of frictional force?
 

SthFRider

Monkey
Apr 16, 2008
218
0
Atlanta,Ga
Because your legs are pushing down with a hundred pounds of force, and the rings are providing a .01lbs of frictional force?
I agree. It may in some way affect pedaling efficiency,energy loss and all that crap.... But to the average pinner i don't think its going to bother or be noticed by them.
 

Sghost

Turbo Monkey
Jul 13, 2008
1,038
0
NY
NO YUR WRONG THEY ARNT GUD
I am Mike Levy from www.pinkbike.com author of said article

We're getting dangerously close to including physics in this discussion which would mean that I would have to bow out :)
You could send me the pedals and another set and I could give you tests out your ass, but I would expend far more energy doing so than one would ever save in the lifetime of the pedal's frame than it could possibly save someone.

Regardless, in the end your still climbing with flat pedals and the lighter bike will win.
 

SthFRider

Monkey
Apr 16, 2008
218
0
Atlanta,Ga
Okay. Here is my short term review after a weekend of riding on them. First I'll start with the negatives. The really only big negative I saw was the climbing performance. I was a bit surprised. But i blame this to the reduced number of pins compared to its big brother. Don't get me wrong they climb pretty well but if you if you have to start and stop or dab a foot its kinda difficult to get a good grip again if that makes sense. I was wearing 5.10 freerider for reference. I haven't tried them with impacts yet. But i would think grip would increase a bit due to the stickier/softer nature of the Impact rubber/sole design. I also noticed that the platform surface area is smaller than the defacto and it takes a little bit to get used to but after a little bit of time its hardly noticeable.

Positives. When the trail turns from going up to going down these pedals excel. Once you get your foot planted one can forget about your foot slipping. Even over rough terrain my shoe stayed glued to the pedal. This pedals doesn't have the pins over the spindle housing like the defacto does which is kinda nice because its easier to adjust your foot if necessary. Another positive is the ground clearance. These aren't the thinnest pedals out there but i was pleasantly surprised that I had not a single pedal strike all weekend. And there was definitely a couple oh crap moments where i though i was in for a nice solid strike.

So all and all I like these pedals. Although there climbing ability isn't the greatest. They make up for it in other departments.

Oh and the pedal being stiff is a non issue..... so if your worried about that. Its hogwash.
 
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