The first thing that I thought looking at these pedals in the Easton catalogue ten years ago, was just how bad ass they looked. Anodized black, with some serious real estate for your feet and some tasty angles, pedals can be attractive as well as functional. The Cully pedal killed it 10 years ago and still does today, I still regularly see them out on the trail; the Cully pedal lives on!

The David Cullinan or ‘Cully’ signature pedal by Easton represented both a premium product for the needs of the flat pedal downhill rider, but also one of the first to bare a top riders signature. Back in the 90’s before sticky rubber shoes and Burgtec, no one produced a stand out platform pedal. DMR had just released the V12, which was cool, especially in bright orange and Atomlab, well they were certainly an inspiration for the designers at Easton, but nothing stood the test of time like the Cully. It is the legacy of this product that makes it so important and something worth shouting about.

Signature products are far more common now than they ever have been in our sport, Steve Peat, Cedric Gracia, Sam Hill are just a few names who’s sponsors have released a unique product endorsed and co-designed with their input. Signature products have been a seminal feature throughout the product ranges of our action sport cousins, but like everything, mountain biking, for ever struggling with its identity has lagged behind in this department. David Cullinan, for those who don’t know the name, was one of the original US guys to come over from BMX in the early 90’s and dominate in downhill and slalom.

The stamp of the main man, Dave ‘Cully’ Cullinan, a rider with more style than you could shake a stick at and someone who will always be remembered in the sport as one of the smoothest there ever was.

Cully as he affectionately became known, was a rider with a career that spanned many years and involved some massive highs, winning the DH world champs in 92 and some shitty lows, undergoing open heart surgery, not once but twice! When everyone thought they had seen the last of Cully he bounced back just as the UCI dual series took off and he began once again to dominate. It was during this comeback and his time on the Schwinn/ Toyota team that Easton and Cully hooked up and produced what many die hard flat pedal fans and indeed the oldies out there will testify, to be one of the best pedals ever produced.

Easton used to rule the roost within DH circles with their bars, posts and these bad boys. Their product is still as amazing today as ever, but the competition has stepped it up too. I think Easton could definitely re-release these for the Five Ten generation, just make the pins a bit wider and I’ll be at the front of the queue. Too much grip for sticky rubber with the skinny pins, if that makes sense.

The Easton Cully pedals seemed to have more influence in the manufacturing world of their competitors than they did with their own company. The Flatboy was released by Easton to supersede the Cully and although cheaper, never bettered the now legendary Cully. The mantle seemingly passed to other manufacturers who quickly took the flat pedal market seriously and began to produce pedals the recognised the growing demand for good quality flat pedals that were designed for mountain biking rather than BMXing in the 80’s. The birth of flat pedal specific shoes was another significant move for the industry and is evident for all to see now the age of the clip has passed.

Yeah, I know what your thinking and I don’t care. This is my ‘get around town and pub’ bike. Singlespeed, not fixed (give me some credit, still don’t see the point of disabling a bicycle and riding like a c..t) wide MTB bars, BMX grips, a comfy Specialized saddle and the all important Vans loving Cullys, awesome!

I’ve been asked a few times why I’ve put these prized retro bike bits on my ‘pub’ bike, well it’s for two reasons. Firstly I hate good stuff that still works not being used, I’m not a ‘stick it the drawer’ guy and the Charge needed some pedals. Secondly it was because there is still life in these bad boys plus I knew that the trail would ultimately kill them and with no spare parts available, namely pins which seem to snap against rocks, they would only needlessly suffer and they have done more than their tour of duty in the dirt.

Pretty intimidating looking pedals! But just look at them and you know there gonna work and work well.

So there you have it, the Easton Cully pedal, probably the best pedal ever and the pedal which helped get things to where they are today. The legacy of the Cully is there for all to see, look at any modern pedal and you can see some of the traits found on the Cully. It could be argued that the original DX by Shimano was more seminal in pedal design, especially with regards to the shape, but this is a pedal designed for downhill and nothing else, thats what makes it special. Big, burly, serviceable, light and baring the name of someone who was and still is a hero to many. If you’ve never watched Sprung, Bragging Rights and Transcontinental and want to know more about why these pedals are so damn rad, type Dave Cullinan into Google and see what all the fuss was about.

If you have some retro, vintage, or just classic mountain bike gear and you want it published in the Retro Corner on Factory Jackson, drop us an email. All articles should be no more than 1000 words. We can’t promise your article will be published but we welcome submissions. Any ideas or drafts send them to info [at] factoryjackson.com

Comments

comments

TAGS