Pedal Review: Xpedo Faceoff 18

I have been using Xpedo brand pedals for a few years now. I most recently switched back to flats. I bought two different models, the Face-off 18's and the Spry. This review will cover the Face-off 18 as I am still testing the Spry (and loving them).

So a little about the brand, Xpedo makes many different pedals that bear different names and have been in the pedal making business a lot longer than most people think. Have you heard of Wellgo? Think of Xpedo's as a high class Wellgo.

Anyways here are the specs from Xpedo: MSRP $99

Weight:	385g
Body:	6061 CNC Aluminum
Spindle:	CroMo
Bearings:	1 Cartridge
Bushings:	1 DU
Pins:	20 Replaceable straight pins per pedal
Size:	99x100x22 (mm)
Colors:	Black/Silver, Red/Pearl White, Gold/Navy Blue

When my pedals arrived I was very happy with the feel of the bearings as well as the light weight feel of the pedal. My bike has a low bottom bracket height and my main concern is a low profile pedal that I can minimize strikes as I am pushing up or down the mountain. The main concern I had with this pedal was its durability. It seemed to have a lot of space for rocks and branches to get caught up in and this did happen a few times. To my surprise no damage besides scrapes resulted from my encounters with rocks and twigs. 

These pedals have a fairly good sized platform but a lack of pins, or should I say the pins lack grip, they are round and flat and when it gets wet out or when I hit that rough rock garden I lost a little confidence. 

I am hard on my gear and these pedals might not be suited for the all mountain/Enduro/Downhill guy.  I think better pins would make a difference. 

Pros:

Price

Weight

Platform Size

Cons:

Durability

Pins (Lack of/pin design)

Thinkness/profile

Bottom Line: I am again an all mountain rider, I like going down trails fast and hard, but I need to climb to get there. I would not purchase this pedal again for myself but think it would be a great upgrade for someone maybe more trail oriented or someone who doesn't want to make that leap to clipless.