We’ve spied new road pedals from French cycling brand Ekoï, and they look really, really radical. The company seems to be currently in the development phase of a pedal concept that promises to deliver a pretty remarkable eight-watt improvement in performance – though verified details are scarce as yet.
The pedal concept, dubbed as ‘PW8’, came to the spotlight when it was first reported by the French publication LeCycle. While Ekoï’s innovative pedals are still in the prototype stage, they have already stirred the interest of professional cycling teams, including UAE Team Emirates and Team Ineos Grenadiers – but the official release date is still unconfirmed, although, on the Ekoï Canada’s Facebook page, there is a post saying:
“Ekoï will launch the new PW8 pedal this fall. According to biometric tests, it will increase the cyclist’s power by 8 watts, hence its name, PW8. The new pedals will provide the cyclist with 8 watts because they are positioned at 8mm from the pedal axis.”
> Best clipless pedals for cycling
We’re not at all sure about the logic of that last sentence! The prototype pedals are now being put through their paces by UCI Continental teams Nice Métropole and Burgos, who are testing the concept for reliability and performance before they are made available to a wider audience.
“These are new shoe pedals with a new concept, it’s an innovation that makes me dream because compared to other pedals on the market, we tested a gain of 8 watts. Two years ago, the inventor came to see me and we bought the patent. He is still with us working on the project. The latter is complex because it is obligatory to make a specific shoe for this pedal. It is very close to the axis and improves traction,” Jean-Christophe Rattel, the CEO of Ekoï told LeCycle last year.
What we can see from the Tean Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur’s photoshoot is a pedal that does indeed sit flush with the shoe and features a larger platform that extends both in front and behind the axle. As Rattel explained, the pedal also requires a specific shoe to complete the setup – and this means developing a new cleat, too. Rattel believes this will also make walking in the shoes more comfortable.
“In addition, walking will be easier because there are no more prominent wedges. It is being tested and we have good results,” Rattel said to LeCycle.
Entering the competitive pedal market dominated by the likes of Shimano and Look is a challenging endeavour, to say the least, but Ekoï is confident in its ability to establish a foothold as an underdog in the sector. The company’s substantial €2 million investment in this project is a testament to its commitment.
“I have already put €2 million into development, no one does that. I say this clearly, especially since profitability may not be there. I don’t even bother to Look or Shimano, that doesn’t interest me. But it is a project that is close to my heart. We may fail, like others, but the Jumbo, UAE and Ineos teams want to test them, they are interested. It’s great because we don’t expect Ekoï on this ground. So, does everyone need to gain 8 watts? No, it’s clear. It’s not essential. But the invention has a lot of importance on a personal level,“ Rattel said.
We have reached out to Ekoï for a comment on the development of these groundbreaking shoes and will update this article if we get any more info.
37 thoughts on “You’ve never seen pedals like these before! Ekoi’s €2 million radical road cycling pedal project predicts 8-watt savings”
8W! Do they have little
8W! Do they have little batteries in? Sounds like the new L shaped cranks.
Good luck to them
Good luck to them
Super low-profile pedals have been tried before from time to time (e.g., Shimano AX, Adidas System 3). They probably had some benefits, but the need for special shoes or cranks made them hard to sell.
“The new pedals will provide
“The new pedals will provide the cyclist with 8 watts because they are positioned at 8mm from the pedal axis.”
By that logic, why not position them at 16 or 32 mm, and increase power even more?
I’m all in favor of weird pedal systems (you should see my old-parts drawer), but this claim is silly.
Ah but they did modelling and
Ah but they did modelling and this is optimal.
There’s a gravel version too.
It’s actually quite easy to
It’s actually quite easy to estimate the plausibility of their claim. Ultegra has a stack height of 15.8mm and the pedals/cleats are 60mm wide. Being very optimistic, this system could perhaps have 0.001 m2 less CdA than Ultegra. The claimed 8 Watt savings (relative to Ultegra) would then be found at a speed of 85 km/h.
Another test of the claim would be to look at the drag values for the streamlined version of the Speedplays, which is probably the lowest possible for any clipless system compatible with road use.
rookybiker wrote:
I’d need a lote more extra watts than 8 to get up to 85kmh
Got to leave room for
Got to leave room for innovation and future product lines.
adamrice wrote:
Well the logic is that lower is better, so they don’t want to do 32mm because that would be much worse. Then the question of why not go even lower is because it’s really difficult. You’ve got to fit a pedal axle, bearing, body and cleat system in somewhere.
Now the question of why lower is better…. hmmm. Different companies have claimed different things in the past. Mavic came out with a super low stack shoe sole a few years ago and claimed a biomechanical watt saving. If you think about it, the higher the stack the more the foot is moving up and down and forwards and backwards while it rotates around the pedal spindle as your ankle flexes at different points in the pedal stroke. Why that should be measurably detrimental to power output I don’t know.
On the other side, Speedplay once said that (if correctly compensated for over the whole bike) a lower pedal stack lowers the cylist’s saddle height and upper body position, and getting the cyclist’s body closer to the ground creates less drag for the same frontal area. Again, why that should be the case, I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought we were generating much that acts like a wingtip vortex in ground effect, but I suppose an 8 watt saving wouldn’t take much in that respect.
I get it. The way they
I get it. The way they phrased it made it seem like they think we’re dumb.
I understand that lowering the pedal is supposed to offer some kind of biomechanical and/or aerodynamic improvement—I once had a bike with Shimano DynaDrive.
adamrice wrote:
Really? More likely the phrasing is just a) a straight translation from another language and b) assuming people are aware of what a normal stack height is. So, kinda the opposite.
Now – them thinking that the claim should simply be accepted without even being explained let alone evidenced, that’s more along the lines of thinking people are dumb.
adamrice wrote:
The phrasing is downright odd, but it might just be worded really badly. If they phrased it as:
By lowering the stack height to 8mm, when compared to a typical clipless pedal with a stack height of 15.8mm, our biomechanical testing has found an increase in FTP of an average of 8 watts
The semantics would actually be the same (8mm stack height = 8 watt power increase) but, with the revised syntax, it is a much less ridiculous claim.
Ahahahaha BS
Ahahahaha BS
“establish a foothold”.
“establish a foothold”. Chapeau Suvi.
shimano spd-sl + demel +
shimano spd-sl + demel + speed play shoes + outlandish watt savings claim = marketing?
“According to biometric tests
“According to biometric tests, it will increase the cyclist’s power by 8 watts”
Absolute BS there is no increase in the cyclists power, at the very least there may be an increase in the efficiency of that power transfer to the bike (doubtful ?) but the riders power will not go up
If the rider is more
If the rider is more comfortable why shouldn’t he/she generate more power? And how might this design increase the efficiency of power transfer? Where is energy being lost in the shoe/pedal?
I’m guessing the 8m refers to
I’m guessing the 8m refers to stack height, which is low compared to regular road shoes. As to how much efficiency is gained by a lower stack, who knows, but the manufacturers often boast of a lower stack.
I’ve always been surprised how high the stack is for road shoes, as SPDs are noticeably lower. The odd time I’ve put SPDs in my road bike, the difference is enough that the seat needs dropped.
McFrancis wrote:
The stack height of SPD pedals (of a comparable level) is not lower than SPD-SL. The difference you are feeling is likely the result of the cleats being set in a different position on your foot. SPD shoe slots are biased significantly further back on the shoe sole. Because your foot will be at a noticeably toe down angle at the bottom of the pedal stroke, a more rearward cleat position result in a lower foot.
You say it like it’s a fact,
You say it like it’s a fact, but can you back up the statement that SPD pedals don’t have a lower stack height than SPD-SL pedals?
Because the general consensus certainly differs from that opinion. Like this article for example: https://spincyclehub.com/spd-vs-spd-sl-stack-height-choosing-the-right-cycling-pedals/
Sredlums wrote:
Yes. Just Google Shimano’s own numbers. EG XTR and DA are 1mm different in DAs favour (if you use the 1mm SPD cleat shim – if you didn’t you’d need verniers to measure the difference).
Sure, but the numbers quoted in that article are self evident nonsense. It says SPD-SL pedals have up to 39mm of stack. I’ll say that again, it claims road pedals have four centimetres of stack. I’m not even going to bother addressing that, I’m just going to laugh at it.
OK I will address it – it’s possible they have made a very silly mistake and used a pedal plus cleat plus cheap shoe sole stack for the SPD-SL number (even then it’s a really unfeasibly big number) vs just pedal plus cleat stack for the SPD number. But honestly more likely they just magicked it out of thin air and ignorance.
I don’t like this.
I don’t like this.
As a gavel/adventure/trails rider myself, I do always get a good chuckle out of the typical ‘real road cyclist (fill in all the cliché’s here; all kitten up in expensive, tight fitting lycra, big cycling glasses, perfectly shaven legs, high socks, dandy white cycling shoes etc.) gets off his bike and suddenly transforms in to a waddling duck.
This new system seems to have much flatter cleats, making normal walking possible. Boo!
“Gavel” rider? I’ll be the
“Gavel” rider? I’ll be the judge of that
the little onion wrote:
Well known for putting the hammer down…
Completely agree – but think
Completely agree – but think of those 8 watts……
Show me on this Miguel
Show me on this Miguel Indurain doll where the bad roadie touched you.
They’ve just (re)invented L
They’ve just (re)invented L shaped cranks right? I took the 8mm to be the offset of the axle from the axis of rotation of the pedal.
No.
No.
I’m fairly certain it means
I’m fairly certain it means the bottom of the rider’s foot is 8 mm from the pedal axis, so nothing to do with L-shaped cranks. This really will affect the motion of your foot.
Quote:
amateurs, have the tried turning up to 11mm for 11 watts?
I’m sceptical that they have a 8watt improvement, I’m refuse to believe that 8watts is a direct result of 8mm
are you sure? because it sounds VERY high to me, I mean the minimum clearance over a UK carriageway is 5.03m, so I foresee some problems.
wycombewheeler wrote:
Picky!
Do they use magnets? If there
Do they use magnets? If there aren’t any magnets, I’m not interested.
Don’t worry – they’ll come
Don’t worry – they’ll come back into fashion. It’ll be the new nanotech or quantum.
Talking of, whatever happened to buckyballs and nanotubes? Or graphene?
Graphene is still popular:
Graphene is still popular:
https://int.vittoria.com/products/corsa-tube-type
https://www.inov-8.com/trailfly-g-270-v2-mens-trail-running-shoe?colours=1166
https://absoluteblack.cc/graphenlube-worlds-best-chain-lubricant-coating/
Nanotubes are apparently used in numerous applications, albeit without much “buzz” – see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube#Applications
“You’ve never seen pedals
“You’ve never seen pedals like these before! “
We still haven’t :o-
It would be great to learn
It would be great to learn where this 8W is coming from.
Energy is way to simple to be avoiding it like this, and this makes it sound like BS.
If stack height really
If stack height really matters, then it’s time to bring back those lovely old Ritchey Micro pedals which came with a modified SPD cleat, two half-moon shapes machined out of it so the cleat could get so close to the pedal spindle it was practically hugging.
These’ve been banned by the
These’ve been banned by the UCI already, I’d never switch from my Times they’re too good imo ?