Redshift Sports Arclight PRO Pedals: Getting Rolling

Redshift Sports Arclight PRO Pedals: Getting Rolling – by Guitar Ted

The Arclight pedals may seem like a bit of a departure from what you may know of Redshift Sports. Redshift Sports is well known for their ShockStop stem and seat post, both of which we have given high marks here before on Riding Gravel. But a couple of years ago now Redshift introduced the Arclight pedals for commuters. Since these were not “in our lane”, so to speak, for Riding Gravel, we did not report on them. However; the new Arclight PRO pedals are a different story, as we hope you will see.

What It Is: The Arclight Pro pedals take the basic design of the Arclight pedals and expands on that riff by including a clipless option and an option to run the pedals as traditional flats with replaceable pins, or both, or neither! The “wings” can be removed and you can run these as traditional clipless pedals. This modular design lends far more versatility, and with the added feature of the remarkable Arclight modules, you can increase your level of visibility in low-light or dark conditions.

Arclight PRO pedals are available in two configurations in either black or silver. Following is Redshift’s description for both models:

Arclight PRO Clipless Smart LED Pedals provide the ultimate performance & modularity. Shipped with dual-sided SPD compatible clipless configuration, you can transform them to single side + flat, flat only or the “race” clipless configuration (remove both wings and lights). Available in black or silver. $174.99 MSRP

Arclight PRO Flat Smart LED Pedals provide increased performance and tenacious grip, keeping your feet planted in all conditions and terrain. 10 replaceable traction pins on each side of the pedal ensure great contact for on and off-road riding in any conditions. Available in black or silver. $159.99 MSRP

Our test sample is the Arclight Pro Clipless Smart LED version. All Arclight pedals come equipped with four LED light modules with Redshift’s “SmartSet” technology which senses whether the light module is forward facing or rearward facing and turns the LED module white or red accordingly. It’s pretty fascinating, to be honest, and I sat and spun the pedal in my hand for several minutes marveling at how well this works.

The light modules have a IPX 64 weatherproof rating and the pedals are warranted for a year. Following is a bullet point list of features:

• Fully CNC machined aluminum
• 3 high precision, low friction sealed bearings
• Clipless (dual sided clipless with removable wings)
• Silver or Black replaceable wings
• Fully rebuildable
• SmartSet Technology – Pedals sense when you are riding, stopped or parked and auto-select white/red color.
• USB rechargeable – use any USB charger (hub for 4 lights included)
• Long battery life – up to 36 hours of run time.
• 3 light modes – flash, eco-mode, solid.

Beyond this, as mentioned, we can use the pedal in several configurations. One side clipless, one side flat, with or without pins, or in what Redshift calls “race mode” with just the clipless portion. Really, you are getting three pedals in one and with the LED modules in place, you have the most visible pedals around, increasing your visibility while in use by a claimed 57% over standard bicycle lighting, as per a study done on bicycle lighting*.

First Impressions: The pedals come in a nice box with everything inside that you need to set the Arclight PRO pedals up the way that you want. The clipless mechanism is installed with the “wings” but you will have to install the pins if you want with the included wrench. You’ll also get a set of cleats for the clipless pedal portion of the Arclight PRO. The pedals as they came out of the box felt substantial. They aren’t the biggest flats out there, but they are average for the genre measuring approximately 105mm in length and 90mm in width. Weights with the LED modules installed were 732 grams for the pair. Without the modules installed the pair weighed in at 626 grams.

The pedals feature 3 high precision, low friction bearings in each pedal and they are smoooth! The fit and finish are impeccable. The light modules slide into and out of their slots with ease. The neodymium magnets hold the modules in place securely. Speaking of the light modules, the box includes a charging bay which allows you to charge all four modules at once via a USB connection. That’s a nice touch. Battery life is up to 36 hours on a full charge. That should cover several commutes or a few longer night time rides.

Setting up the pedals is easy, and I decided on running the full clipless set up with no pins to start out with. While Redshift recommends that you use their included cleats for best results, I was curious, as I am sure some of you are, whether or not my standard Shimano cleats would interface with the Redshift Arclight PRO pedals. The good news is that my shoes worked as they were, so you also may find that your Shimano cleats may also work in the Arclight PRO pedals. Just be aware that this is not Redshift Sports’ recommendation.

I decided to install these on my new Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3 bike I have set up for gravel/bikepacking duties. These pedals should be perfect for this sort of mission. I’ll also be trying out these pedals with the pins, with no clipless option, and with the wings removed in “race mode”. So, stay tuned for all of that in my future updates on this review.

So Far… The Redshift Sports Arclight PRO pedals exhibit the same fit and finish we’ve come to expect having seen their previous products. The Arclight PRO pedals’ light modules are, in and of themselves, a very impressive feature, but having the option to configure the pedals in a few different ways makes the Arclight PRO pedals even more intriguing.

While the weight is a bit concerning, it isn’t that bad when you consider that the pedals are essentially two in one – flats and clipless. For context, a Shimano Saint PD-M820 SPD Pedals, which are similar in intentions to the Arclight PRO pedals are a claimed 568 grams and have no configuration capabilities and no night time safety features. Perhaps a bit of extra weight can be forgiven then.

The versatility of these pedals and the safety feature is what sets these apart for the gravel/back road/bikepacker cyclists out there. You could buy these and theoretically have an all-in-one pedal solution. This is what we will look at in the updates to come.

For more details on the Arclight Pro Pedals see Redshift Sports here: https://redshiftsports.com/

*”Highlighting Bicyclist Biological Motion Enhances Their Conspicuity in Daylight” (Darlene E. Edewaard, Drea K. Fekety, Ellen C. Szubski, Richard A. Tyrrell, 2020)

NOTE: Redshift Sports sent over the Arclight PRO pedals at no charge for test and review. We are not being paid nor bribed for this review and we strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout.