Radical new pedals from Calgary’s Outlier MTB
A co-founder behind the unique platforms delves into their design
When the Outlier brand hit the market, every rider took a look at the pedals, scratched their head and thought, “what in the actual f?” They’re so dang crazy looking. But why would anyone make these? And do they work? Designed in Calgary and machined with aerospace-grade precision, these pedals challenge everything we’ve come to believe a pedal should be with their low-profile, high-traction innovation. But the story behind Outlier isn’t just about engineering; it’s about perseverance and a commitment to being an outlier.
Take my money: a viral launch
When Outlier announced the launch of their pedals, the response was immediate and overwhelming.
“We launched Sunday,” says co-founder Cameron Belisle-O’Donnell, “and it’s been a wild ride ever since. We didn’t anticipate this level of interest.”
The pedals went viral, selling out the first batch almost instantly. Pre-orders followed suit, with demand rapidly pushing production timelines into the next quarter.
They have two models; the Void and the Pendulum. The Void is a two-sided platform pedal that sits as close to the centre of the axle as is possible. The Pendulum is a one-sided pedal with the platform sitting 6 mm below the centre of the axle.
Born in a brain
The origin story of Outlier pedals starts, like many great innovations, as an idea that wouldn’t go away. A rough prototype in the mid-2000s, dreamed up by co-founder Peter Cowling showed promise but failed to last more than 30 m on the trail.
“It detonated almost immediately,” laughs Belisle-O’Donnell. But the idea of a low-profile pedal, engineered for stability and traction, stuck. Through years of tinkering, collaborating with engineers and testing prototypes, the Outlier team perfected a design that stood up to the most rugged trails.
The final product? A pedal machined in Calgary by Fidelity Manufacturing, a facility known for aerospace and oil-and-gas-grade precision.
The science of staying low
At the core of the Outlier pedals is a design that prioritizes lowering the rider’s center of gravity.
“It’s like the difference between wearing platform shoes and sneakers,” the co-founder explains. “A lower pedal height allows you to corner better, feel more traction and stay more connected to the bike.”
The team also optimized the pedals’ shape to reduce rock strikes and improve durability. With tapered edges and a unique hole-through design, these pedals look seriously unconventional.
Without the axle to provide foot support the hole in the pedal provides a kind of concave that nearly every platform pedal tries to provide. And with the Pendulum being lower than the axle’s center, the pedal cradles the rider’s foot. This provides an extra level of connection according to testers that have tried the pedal.
With bearings situated on the inboard side of the pedal the Q factor is something Belisle-O’Donnell acknowledges as a con of the design.
“But depending on what shoe you’re wearing and what foot placement you like, the arch of the foot, that depression where the arch is, at least for myself, with a foot size of 10-10.5, hugs the bearing assembly.”
Innovation, not iteration
Outlier isn’t interested in making products that are slightly better than the competition—they want to create products that didn’t exist before.
“We weren’t designing a pedal for everyone,” the co-founder says. “We’re creating something new, something that challenges the status quo.”
That ethos is evident in their flagship pedals: the Pendulum, a radical low-profile design and the Void, a dual-sided pedal with a more traditional but equally innovative platform. Both have been meticulously tested on some of the gnarliest trails, with zero failures reported.
“They’ve been ridden in ridiculous conditions and we’ve replaced a handful of bearings, but we haven’t had a single failure,” says Belisle-O’Donnell.
Not for everyone
The Outlier pedals are unapologetically different and the team acknowledges that they won’t appeal to everyone.
“Someone looking for max watts, that is clipping in with a stiff sole, that’s a different application,” says Belisle-O’Donnell. “We’re definitely in that, enduro/DH market.”
At $300 the pedals sit at a premium price point, justified by the use of 7075 aluminum—material strong enough for aerospace applications. “We didn’t cut corners,” he says. “These pedals are as strong as they come.”
Small team with big ideas
Despite their rapid success, Outlier remains a humble operation—a handful of people juggling the challenges of running a business and scaling production.
“We’re not a big company,” Belisle-O’Donnell emphasizes. “We’re just a few passionate people with an idea that we believed in.”
That modesty is reflected in their approach to customer service. Outlier is focused on ensuring customers not only receive their pedals on time but also have an exceptional riding experience.
What’s next?
While the Outlier pedals have stolen the spotlight, the team hints at future products, though they remain tight-lipped about specifics.
“We’re really interested in contributing to new ideas and new ways of doing things,” says Belisle-O’Donnell. “We’re not interested in rehashing what’s already out there.”
The Outlier legacy
For a small company that started with an idea and a prototype that barely survived the trail, Outlier has made an undeniable impact. Their pedals represent not just a technical leap but a philosophy: that innovation comes from questioning what’s possible and daring to be different.
“We just wanted to make something we’d love to ride,” says Belisle-O’Donnell. Turns out, the mountain biking world wants that too.