There are two designs in Race Face’s new flat pedal line, a huge Atlas geared to pure gravity riding and the smaller-bodied Aeffect for trail riding. Being smaller, the Aeffect offers more ground clearance, but the £40 more expensive Atlas uses a more sophisticated bearing design and weighs less, despite its larger body.

Even with smaller platforms than the majority of latest-generation designs, the slightly concave and thin Aeffect provides excellent overall grip and feel, and would make perfect sense for riders with smaller feet. Foot retention is by way of 10 thin, sharp pins per side, which offer a good level of security, and there’s just enough freedom to shuffle feet, if needed. The body shape is very open, which makes sense in muddy weather conditions to resist clogging with heavy dirt.

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At 358g, the Aeffect is one of the lightest here, thanks to a weight-saving stubby axle with external end caps. It’s the only pedal here to offer a useful grease port design, where riders can keep internals running smoothly by flushing grease through the DU bushes and cartridge-bearing internals. This Aeffect isn’t cheap, but looks classy, is reasonably low-profile with its 17mm thick platform, and recommended if you’re after a smaller design.