This slabby Burgtec Penthouse flat pedal has evolved from years of hard use on the downhill race scene. Fortunately for trail riders, this Mark 4 version is slimmer.

>>> Best mountain bike flat pedals for 2018

And it’s lighter than the huge, block-like earlier pedal and much refined. Another bonus is this latest generation Penthouse actually costs considerably less cash too.

The platform body is still hewn from solid aluminium billet and uses thick, hard to snap, steel pins, but the weight is now competitive at under 450g. 16mm thick with one mm of concavity makes its mid pack in terms of height and slightly less concave than the majority here. The chunky aluminium platform is stiff under foot and tough to gouge or dent, even if you make a habit of smashing pedals into rocks. The double bush and single bearing internals have proven very durable in UK conditions too, so reliability and lifespan is excellent.

The Penthouse’s useable surface area is a little smaller than most, and the whole platform sits very close into the crank arm, meaning clearance leant over and squeezing past rocks and down ruts is excellent. The flip side to this is bigger feet can rub crank arms and get forced to the outer edge of the pedal more easily.

Since the Mark 4 launched, the eight aggressive, bottom-loading pins have been made shorter to stop the pedal flipping over when repositioning feet – it’s a performance improvement, and there’s still tons of grip on offer with the pins located right into the corners of the body for maximum stability. Reliable, grippy and rock solid then, but the way feet sit very close to the cranks might be a dealbreaker for some.