Product Full Name | Crank Brothers Stamp Pedal

Retail Price | £129.99

Available From |  Extra UK

Crank Brothers Stamp – one pedal, two sizes

For a long time Crank Brothers has thought outside the box  when it comes to product design, and their latest pedal is a great example of that.

The Crank Brothers Stamp pedal is a high end flat pedal – which comes in two different sizes, suiting riders with different sized feet.

The Crank Brothers Stamp flat pedal – both sizes for comparison.

The Detail

The low profile design means loads of ground clearance – but the width of the pedals means a bit of breathing in was needed until I got used to them.

The Crank Brothers Stamp pedal has a very low profile design – measuring in at at 13mm at the thickest point, and with the concave shape is about 11mm at the thinnest.

The body is made from forged 6061 T6 Aluminium, features 10 adjustable pins per side and comes in two sizes to suit different feet. The smaller size has a useable surface that measures 103mm x 96mm, whilst the bigger size is 111mm x 111mm.

I love the size of the Crank Brothers Stamp pedal. Plenty of space for mud to fall through and a nice low profile design. Note the grease port cover screw on the end of the axle – you can purge the old stuff straight out. Nice touch. Also note the mud on the crank from my Five Tens…

Crank Brothers say the sizing guidelines are roughly 37-43 for the smaller pedal, and 43-49 for the larger size.  This is a great idea as foot size varies immensely – the correct tool for the job is always a winner.

Both size pedals spin on a forged cromoly axle with two sets of Igus LL glide bearings, and sit very close to the crank arm to help maintain a good foot position for long stretches in the saddle.

I weighed the smaller pedals at 346g a pair, and the larger ones 372g a pair.

Being a UK11/46 – I’ve been riding the larger pedal, whilst Matt with his size 9 hooves has been on the smaller pedals.

Out on the Trail

The large pedal is absolutely massive – and makes for a really good supportive area.

In the car park with a pair of Vans on, the pedals feel great. Not quite as concave as some – but the thin profile and large shape supports your foot really well.

Although the grip with Five Ten shoes was as sure footed as usual, the slightly bulbous soles on them would catch on the crank arm a little too much for my liking. If the pedal was spaced from the crank arm a touch more this would improve.

Inevitably with a pair of Five Tens on, grip was ample – but the stock pins on the pedals are very short. Annoyingly they do not come with longer pins as stock – but they are available separately.

The concave shape is enough to keep your foot in place, but the fact the pedal is very close to the crank arm meant that fairly often I’d end up rubbing my foot on the crank and end up faffing around to get a decent position. This wasn’t helped by the bulge that houses the bearings, as this is taller than the stock pins.

Both Crank Brothers Stamp pedals have good sealing, which is also enhanced by how close it is to the crank arm. Both our sets of test pedals are still spinning fine – and there’s no play yet.

There is a grease port cover on the end of the axle for purging grease through – I’ve not needed to yet, but like this simple addition as it will come in handy over the winter.

To get a fair feel of the pedals, I also used the Shimano AM7 with the Vibram rubber sole and the brand new OWN FR-01  that also uses a Vibram sole. Unlike the insanely sticky Stealth rubber that Five Ten uses, the Vibram rubber is a harder compound with slightly less adhesion to the pedal pins. This does mean you can move around more on the pedals, offering a different feel.

During testing with Vibram soles, I found I needed to unscrew the pins a few turns to achieve enough grip. This also increased the concave feel and kept things more settled.

Clouting the pedals was something that happened a lot with the bigger pedal – they are so wide that floor strikes when pedalling over obstacles is inevitable until you’ve worked out how much clearance you have. Matt didn’t have this issue with the smaller pedals – it only affects the larger of the two.

We Say

I really love the Crank Brothers Stamp pedal – the low profile design combined with the huge size just feels great on the foot. And it’s great that they come in a choice of sizes. 

Despite the fact the initial grip wasn’t vice-like, I managed to make them feel as grippy as my go-to DMR Vault pedals by experimenting with the pin lengths.

I would recommend using the longer pins though, as they enhance the concave shape to make your foot feel planted.

My only niggle really with the Crank Brothers Stamp is they need to be a touch further from the crank arm. A longer axle option would be nice…

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