After our disappointing time with the DMR Vaults ended with the inner bearing giving up mid run at a bike park, resulting in the pedal body shooting off into the distance, we replaced them with some Burgtecs. Coming in at an RRP £99.99 they are very similar price to the Vaults, but do they solve some of the issues we had with the DMR pedals?
Design
The Penthouse V4 feel very solid and well made, with a nice clean aesthetic. The front and back of the pedal are 'stepped' , rather than ramped like the Vaults are, and in general they are a little squarer.
The platform is a little smaller than a Vaults at 100mm x 98mm compared to 105mm x 105mm, and the slight decrease in width is noticeable. It's worth stating that the Penthouses come in 2 axle options, boost and normal. The normal axle means the platform sits very close to the crank arm, and the boost shifts it out a bit. We use the boost version.
Performance
The Penthouse V4s have a very good amount of grip, we wouldn't say it's quite up to the Vaults level, but it is close, and certainly gripper than most other pedals we've used. Unlike the Vaults, which have shorter pins in the centre of the body, the Burtecs pins are all uniform height.
When riding the Penthouses give a nice locked in feel, but it's still possible to adjust the foots position if required. We use these pedals with Five Tens sticky Stealth rubber, a harder compound shoe might not work so well.
Other than that there isn't much to say about the V4s. They work well in all conditions and are fit and forget.
Servicing
We have covered nearly 2000 miles on the Penthouses and are very pleased to say that there is zero play in the axle of body. Because of this we have had no need to service the pedals, but the service kit is available from Burgtec for £19.99 which includes seals, bushings, bearings and nuts.
As with any flat pedal, the pins do take a battering from rock strikes, and a couple of the pins have rounded off a little. We havent' lost any though, and none have bent or had any serious damage.
A great design feature that we love is that the pins unscrew away from the body. With many pedals, if you bend a pin it can be a nightmare to remove as it cannot unscrew through the body. No issue with the Burgtecs, they just unscrew easily ready to be replaced.
Issues
We have had no issues with the pedals, other than the paint being scuffed away, which we've seen on all pedals of this type.
Overall
Whilst they may not be the ultimate in grippy flat pedals, the Burgtecs offer a great all round package of performance, grip, reliability and ease of service. Interestingly Burgtec now offer a composite version of the Penthouses for a third of the metal version, which we would be very interested in comparing. Even with that we think the metal V4s are the best flat pedal we've used and most certainly trump the DMR Vaults they replaced.
