Penthouse Flat pedals were the first product Burgtec ever made. Originally a massive chunk of alloy, designed to be pretty much unbreakable, over the years they became a lot thinner and more refined. Now, two decades later, they’re up to the fifth generation. All that tweaking saw the Cheshire-based brand pretty much perfect the art of the flat pedal, so that everything from owner DC’s perfect pin placement, to the solid bearing design, has been locked down for a good while now. And it works – the Penthouse has consistently featured in our list of the best flat pedals for years.

That central platform is a really noticeable part of the B-Rage Penthouse Flats and helps spread the load on heavy landings.

Burgtec’s success with pedals, and other kit like bars, stems and grips, means it’s become more common as original equipment on bikes, and the brand has also supported more high-profile riders in recent years. Some have their own Burgtec signature products, such as Josh Bryceland and Greg Minnaar, and the latest name to add to that list is Norwegian freeride sender Brage Vestavik with these all-new B-Rage pedals.

The larger surface area pedals are based on the latest Penthouse, but because Brage wanted something different – to handle the extreme riding he is doing – the brand has made a bigger platform with extra support and grip for stomping the biggest drops and hits. Adding weight was not a concern.

Three additional pins at the centre and extended length front-to-back makes these as secure as a Swiss bank vault.

Design and specifications

As the name suggests, this B-Rage edition is built around Penthouse Flat MK5 internals, but adds an extra 12mm of length front-to-back. This means it is heavier and longer, but doesn’t actually stick out further at the sides, retaining clearance for rocks and corners. The platform is 18mm tall with 3mm of concavity. The extra 7075 aluminium in the body to extend it to 112mm x 102mm, and the extra pins in the middle, add £15 to the price over regular Penthouse Flats.

Using these extra pins in the middle wasn’t something Burgtec has done since its first ever flats 20 years ago, but Brage felt the bigger platform also needed more support in the middle of the foot, so an extended cube of material was built into the middle strip covering the axle. This central pad adds three pins per side to take it to a total of 11.

Heavy duty pins are designed to resist bending and snapping.

The axle itself uses extremely strong EN24T steel, and spins on 2 x Igus W300 bushes, a single sealed bearing and inboard rubber oil seal per side, which I’ve said before is the best sealed and longest lasting design in any flat pedal, full stop. Burgtec’s tight seals means that the pedal axle is a little stiff to spin for the first few rides, but then beds in and keeps on keeping mud and water out (and grease in) through horrible UK conditions.

I weighed the B-Rage pedals at 515g a pair, while the last set of MK5s I tested were 386g a pair, so the extra size and central panel here comes with a significant weight penalty. This won’t matter much if you’re dropping off 55ft high cliffs, or purely riding DH, but you might notice the weight if you have to turn the pedals all day on a big enduro ride. Particularly if you don’t have a motor.

The Burgtec B-Rage Penthouse Flats are burly units if you like to go big.

Performance

Guess what? These B-Rage pedals are incredibly grippy. Grippy to the point of ripping into flat pedal soles and completely locking feet in position, so if you don’t like a completely fixed shoe position, then they might not be the pedals for you.

For the majority of us that want our flat pedals supper grippy, the hold here is solid, but I got none of the sense that the pins are so long they want to pull back with the shoe, flip over the pedal and potentially shred my shins. For me, this stability against flipping is a big deal on flat pedals, and it’s helped here by the offset parallelogram shape that places the centre of the foot/shoe sole slightly forward of the axle. On symmetrical pedals – and this is something I really don’t like – it’s much easier to tilt or tip the platform backwards and have the shoe potentially slip off the back edge and fire cranks round to impact your opposite shin. Anyone that has the tell-tale shin scars or has drawn blood doing this can testify how much you really don’t want it to happen, and in the case of the B-Rage I think Burgtec has got it just right.

Burgtec’s steel pins themselves are stainless to resist rusting and 5mm tall. They are also slightly thicker (4mm) to make them tougher to bend or damage if you accidentally graze or bang the pedal’s underside when riding over rocks. Presumably this also helps if you are bottoming feet on the floor jumping off the Jah Drop in Canada, but it’s not something I was prepared to test!

The longer B-Rage platform means there is noticeably more support under the sole to drive into the bike and the suspension, but because of the middle pad, the pedal feels slightly less concave to me than a regular Penthouse MK5. If you prefer a more dished out pedal, with a sunken centre like a DMR Vault, this aspect might not be to taste.

The heavier weight is definitely noticeable too, particularly if you wear shoes with less padding at the lighter end of the spectrum. Riders in heavier Five Ten Impact Pros, or similar, are less likely to feel so much of a difference, but it’s definitely going to be easier to climb and accelerate with around 150g less to turn over on every pedal cycle.

Pedal bodies sit close to the cranks, so make sure to protect the finish with vinyl if you want to keep them looking new.

Exactly like the regular Burgtecs, the axle design is very compact, so the main pedal body sits pretty close to the crank arms. I personally like this aspect, as it means clearance on the outer edge is increased, so I’m less likely to snag or catch on tight gaps, or even on the floor when leaning the bike over. Some of the biggest crashes I’ve ever had have been caused by this, and a small overall decrease in width makes a big difference.

One downside of this is that the inside edge of muddy shoes do scuff up posh crankarms more quickly, but what can I say? Suck it up or get some clear tape; it’s preferable to being catapulted OTB at speed onto a load of rocks.

Overall, I think for my size UK9 feet, regular Penthouse Flats MK5 are the perfect balance of size, weight, and grip, but if you want Burgtec’s reliability and grip and have bigger feet or fancy more support, this super sticky and tough pedal is an even better option. £145 is big money for a pair of flat pedals (£25 more than something like a DMR Vault), but since Burgtec’s bearings last way longer, the B-Rages should work out cheaper in the long term, and save on servicing hassles too.