Editor’s Choice

Usually signature bike gear is just a thinly veiled attempt to shift a few more products and give the athlete in question a nice little cheque every month, but in the case of the Nukeproof Horizon Sam Hill pedals, that couldn’t be further from the truth. As the number one exponent of flat pedal racing, Sam Hill knows more than any how to go fast and stay loose. So when the Nukeproof designers saw Sam’s long-standing mechanic filing the corners off his brand new pedals, they took note. The result is a low-profile update to our favourite flat pedal that offers better clearance through janky rock gardens and when smuggling in cheeky pedal strokes.

Best mountain bike flat pedals for 2021: metal and plastic

We’ve awarded Nukeproof’s Horizon Pro Downhill top marks in the last few mbr flat-pedal tests because it offered superb performance at an amazing price, but there are several new pedals on the market, plus companies sell direct and prices come down, so is it still the one?

The Horizon Pro is a really solid pedal and the reason for that is it uses a forged 6061-T6 aluminium body which is machined to make it look really crisp. It also has a slight amount of concavity, so that the ball of your foot remains centred over the axle, and that stops it slipping forward when descending or pedalling hard on rough terrain. Nukeproof also uses cold steel set screws, which are really sharp. They will eventually corrode, but the hole in the top of the pin offers some extra bite, even using harder rubber shoes like Giro or Leatt. The platform size is not the biggest, or the lowest when it comes to the profile – the DMR Vault is bigger and marginally thinner – but it’s really supportive. Your shoe feels really engaged in this pedal even when it’s not perfectly positioned, and that also reduces fatigue. You feel really hooked into the rear edge of the pedal on steep terrain, and that just boosts confidence because you’re not going to blow a pedal in a dodgy situation.

The bearings in this pedal aren’t the best quality compared to others here, and we’ve had some that need replacing after less than a year, but Nukeproof sells bearing kits and servicing is straightforward – it’s something you can do easily at home with basic tools.

We’re going to award the Nukeproof Horizon Pro Downhill the win again this year, simply because, pound for pound, it really is the best value performance flat pedal on the market. The shape and profile are spot on, it’s light, stiff, durable and feels great no matter what shoe you’re wearing.