DMR Versa Pedal

Review Submission by Russ Pierre - September 2023

Initially I was going to write this review from the moment the pedals came out of the box and complete it after the 2023 Southern Enduro Championships at Minehead. Unfortunately, due to some unexpected medical advice the latter didn’t happen, and I sadly had to pull out three weeks before the event. As a result, this review is based upon months of training using the Versa pedal, in a range of conditions, and on a couple of bikes.

Firstly, out of the box. Wow! What a clean, great looking pair of pedals. The boys at DMR have done it again. I know these pedals aren’t new to the market, they've been out for a good while, and I’ve been told they've just dropped the price too to RRP £115.

I nearly got a pair for my gravel bike a while back, but instead my wife talked me into a cheaper dual sided Shimano pedal, which in all fairness I have no complaints about. However, receiving the DMR Versa pedals gave me the immediate foundations to compare what I’ve been riding previously to something new and fresh. No denying they would be a lot wider than what I've been using, and I wondered if this would make a real difference. Would they feel a little too MTB on my graveler? There’s also probably some unwritten taboo in there somewhere too that says MTB pedals should not be put on a gravel bike, they must be expensive, light weight and titanium! Being a larger pedal, the Versa was clearly going to weigh more, and I can already hear the purists immediately screaming about this as a negative. To be honest if I was that concerned about losing a few grams off my bike, I’d begin by losing twenty pounds myself, besides, gravel/adventure bikes are a different breed, the pack horses of cycling, used to carrying weight and built for strength.

Straight away they looked so good on the bike, and when I rode around to adjust the clip tension, (before realising that I can’t unclip at a junction or losing my balance on a Gorse ridden technical climb), there was an immediate comfort about them. I’ve become so used to riding the narrow Shimano pedals on this gravel bike, or the Vault and V11 pedals on my dirt jumper and enduro bike, that this extra width was a welcome platform, with a healthy and familiar comfort under foot. The change from a small pedal to a wider one helped my right foot too which I broke racing BMX back in 2016. Sometimes I feel like the smaller pedal puts a lot of pressure right where I don’t want it, but the wider platform certainly offers more support, and my foot feels 100% better by spreading the load. If you have an injury, then this is a huge bonus and something to consider.

Riding around the lanes of West Cornwall, or ‘The Wild West' as I like to call it, is a mix of farm lanes, bridleways, the odd footpath, grass up the middle type of stuff, often covered in muck, with high Cornish hedges, and some punchy climbs. There is no flat in the West. The climbs are both a curse and a gift if you’re training, but great if you want to review a pair of new pedals. I wanted to see how they felt, putting my slightly full figure weight through the pedals too, so regular two-hour rides, each with a couple of thousand feet of climbing is always going to be a great test.

Don’t be afraid to put them onto your gravel bike. They feel like you're riding on flats but with the benefit of being able to pull on the steep climbs too and being able to put your full weight into some sprint training, and tearing down technical descents, which I was at the time for enduro events. The option to flip them over and go flat also offers that peace of mind. Being able to put a foot down quickly is a bonus and can get you out of a few sticky situations. After riding the Versa for a few months on my Gravel Bike, I’d also add that if you're into backpacking or adventure cycling then the Versa would be a perfect pedal, especially those days when you just want to ride in your sandals, or head to the market.

The next move was to put them on my Enduro bike. I’d been using the Nylon V11 pedals for a couple of years but always felt the pressure of committing to clipping in. I know ‘Flat Pedals Win Medals’, and I honestly still love the freedom of flats, but I’ve always been curious as to whether I could be a convert, especially for enduro riding. When I hit the bike park, the flats would normally be firmly back on the bike, but this time, on my visit to our nearest park, I kept the Versa pedals on my bike, flipped them and hit the jumps, and they felt amazing. No problem at all, with all the grip of the usual flats. Huge bonus.

When riding and training for the enduro event, it’s been a welcome change to not have that annoying foot bounce, just when you don’t need it. There might also be an argument that flat pedal shoes are so good now that once your foot is planted on a flat pedal like a Vault or V11, you're virtually clipped in. That is until you take a big hit on a root or rock, your foot bounces and goes sideways, and your mind instantly switches away from what's in front of you, the trail, to what’s below you. Readjusting your foot on your pedal and trying to slide your foot back on is not that easy. You might have to unweight and reset your foot, and although this process takes a matter of milliseconds, it does it impact your runs by taking focus off the trail.

Initially I rode a local trail that was steep but not too technical. I wanted to see how I could use both aspects of the pedal to feel comfortable setting off halfway up a trail. That awkwardness of not being in a nice flat area, like the start of an enduro stage, an area that would allow me to get settled, clip-in, and get rolling. Flats are easy in situations like this, you just go, but if you’re considering the change to clips, they're different, and can be very intimidating. Getting one foot in is easy, but the other might require a little roll of the pedal, and a little balance at the start, once you’ve mastered this, you’re off and riding. I’m no beginner to using clips, but sometimes on trails where the start is steep, that second pedal needs to be an immediate success. Here lies the beauty of the Versa Pedal. It doesn’t matter if your other foot gets clipped in or not, either way, you’re good to go. If you’re new to clipless shoes and pedals, the Versa is a perfect choice, because you have that safety net until fully at ease and have the technique and confidence dialled.

My longest ride out on the Versa was not a great success, but this has no reflection on the pedal. If I rode this trail again, which I’d previously done a few times, I might be tempted to put the Nylon V11 flat pedals back on, purely because of the number of pedal strikes. The trail I chose to ride is part of the coast path where we live. It’s a walking trail really, and its rocky, and has plenty of ‘hike a bike’. There are also a few super technical sections on some of the climbs, and a couple of slow sketchy switchback corners on the descents, with some hefty drops on the side. I thought it would be a great test for the Versa, and it was. I did have numerous pedal strikes where the trail had been so eroded by walkers, each strike stopped me dead in my tracks. This would be the same if I had flats, and even with 165mm cranks it didn’t help. Granite does tend to bring you to an abrupt halt and being too late to get my foot out quickly enough, I fell into the gorse bushes several times, peppering my hands like a pin cushion. But saying this the flat pedal option which was a welcome contingency when I came to getting started again. On the climbs and especially on the technical descents, I would opt for the flat side knowing that a quick dab was needed and often essential on the hairpin turns, or down granite steps. I could set off without worrying about clipping in at all, rode the section, and then flipped the pedal and clipped back in for the next climb.

On steeper wider climbs the pedals were fantastic, I could keep the power on and happily pull over the rocks and more technical obstacles. On the fast open descents, they felt stable and helped me keep control on the rockier sections with all the benefits of not bouncing off the pedal. When I got home though I had put a few lovely granite scratches into the alloy, and maybe my Nylon V11 pedals and flat shoes might have been a better option for this ride.

On my usual weekly training laps the Versa pedal was just phenomenal. Because I’d made the decision to really commit to some real time on clips, this allowed me to practice pulling the bike over obstacles when I had to and making my runs faster. The trails I ride the most are short trails, a little like condensed enduro stages, and a great training ground. They have a bit of everything from rocks, drops, tight turns, and loam, but the only thing we’re missing is trees and roots. To ride roots I went to a place called Grogley Woods where there are roots galore and used to be home to the South West Enduro. Clipped in, the option to pull the bike up and hop some of the roots and found the confidence to ride roots whilst clipped in and ride sections of roots which many riders, including myself, find quite daunting, especially when wet. I also found that practicing some more technical descents, I could again rely on the flat pedal side if I needed.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I had planned to ride a couple of big enduro events and race with these pedals, something I’m gutted I didn’t get to do. However, I reckon I’ve used them in everything, but a race run in a range of conditions. What I will say is that the Versa is a fantastic, all-round pedal. Whether Gravel or Enduro, Bikepacking or just cruising, this pedal is £115, and you really get two for the price of one. Coming in a range of colours, and easily serviceable, they are well worth the price. If you just want to put your favourite trainers and go jumping, head to the pub, race downhill or session some trails, look no further.

Note: I’m using Five Ten Kestrel shoes for both MTB and gravel riding, and these feel great combined with these pedals. When I’m clipped in, they feel like I have a great platform, unclipped I have more than enough grip around the cleat to feel like I’m riding my V11 or Vaults.