Wolf Tooth DEL review: This gravel pedal, almost entirely manufactured in the USA, is interesting for anyone who actually prefers gravel riding with road bike pedals. Its most striking feature – the adjustable Q-factor – isn't even the best attribute this expensive pedalboard offers.
Off-road pedals have seemingly stagnated for years. No wonder, since Shimano's SPD system is unstoppable. It's been on the market since 1990 and has changed very little since then, and anyone who's ever owned a sporty mountain bike has likely used SPD pedals. These are now available in countless variations from numerous manufacturers, and of course, they're suitable for all bicycles used off-road – including gravel bikes. It's worth noting, however, that road bike pedals are often used in gravel races – I wonder why that is?
Wolf Tooth DEL: the highlights
- Super lightweight SPD pedal – set weight 218 grams
- Wide design and large footprint
- Q-factor adjustable in 4 mm increments, spacers available for 2 mm increments
- Completely disassemblable; all components can be purchased separately.
- Price 259,99 Euro
One answer is the Wolf Tooth DEL, one of three SPD-compatible clipless pedals (the others are called CTRL for trail bikes and ALT for cross-country), with which the US manufacturer has opened up a new product segment. The production of special chainrings for 1x drivetrains laid the foundation for the company over ten years ago, and to this day, it places great importance on manufacturing virtually all parts in its now extensive catalog in-house. And so, in Burnsville, Minnesota, milling, stamping, anodizing, and assembly are carried out with great dedication.
Wolf Tooth DEL: Lightweight pedal with adjustable Q-factor
And of course, research and development have been ongoing, resulting in products like the DEL. This pedal – one of three covering different off-road segments – was specifically designed for gravel bikes and shares at least one feature similar to a road bike pedal: it's single-sided, while typical off-road pedals have two clip-in points. Why is that, you might ask? After all, the typical double-sided SPD pedals have always worked well enough, and clipping in is indeed easier when you don't have to rotate the pedal into the correct position. However, many competitive cyclists use road bike pedals, not SPD pedals.
There are at least two reasons for this: Road bike pedals have a larger contact surface, allowing for optimal power transfer and a secure footing. They are also quite light compared to MTB pedals – some high-end models weigh less than 100 grams each. The fact that road bike pedals can be built relatively flat is another advantage, as this allows for longer pedal strokes in corners and reduces the likelihood of hitting obstacles off-road.
Wide pedal body with a large contact area
For many, all of this outweighs the disadvantage that walking with road bike pedals is difficult, and this is precisely where the Wolf Tooth DEL comes in: As an SPD-compatible pedal, it can, of course, be used with walking MTB shoes; in addition, it offers the aforementioned advantages of a road pedal. At 109 grams each, it is extremely light; the benchmark for SPD pedals, the Shimano XTR PD-M9200, weighs around 320 grams per set. That's a weight saving of 100 grams, which is quite significant.
The underside of the pedal protrudes only a few millimeters beyond the pedal axle, reducing the risk of the pedal striking the ground and allowing the designers to make the pedal body slightly wider. This, in turn, results in a fairly large contact area – according to the manufacturer, it's around 6 cm². This contact area is said to be about three times larger than on other pedals, and this is primarily due to the width. While riding, you definitely notice that your shoe sits more securely on the pedal and doesn't tend to tilt sideways at all. This makes the Wolf Tooth DEL feel more like a road bike pedal. The overall size in the direction of travel is naturally limited by the SPD mechanism; however, any tilting in this direction is dependent on the position of the cleats anyway.
Low weight and a secure footing are already strong points for the new pedal, which also offers interesting internal features. Wolf Tooth's clipless pedals allow you to adjust the Q-factor, essentially the length of the pedal axle: Starting from the neutral position, which corresponds exactly to the position of other SPD pedals (Q-factor 55 mm), the DEL can be positioned 5 mm further in or out. This requires removing the pedal axle, revealing three 4 mm wide deep groove ball bearings and two 4 mm wide spacers. Depending on how these are arranged (Here's a video about it.The pedal body moves outwards or inwards relative to the axle. Additional 2mm spacers can be purchased for even finer adjustments.
This isn't just a gimmick, but rather a very practical feature. It allows the pedals to be adapted to many things: for example, to bottom bracket axles of different lengths, crank arms with different angles, shoes with differently positioned cleat holes, as well as particularly wide shoes or overshoes worn in cold weather that would otherwise rub against the crank.
All individual parts are easily replaceable.
Even a defective ball bearing can be easily replaced this way – and here's another aspect of the Wolf Tooth DEL: it can be completely disassembled, so every single part can be purchased separately if needed. Once you've treated yourself to these pedals, you'll never have to replace them again. Sure, you can replace the bearings in other pedals too (although it's uniquely easy with Wolf Tooth). But together with the very low weight, optimal power transfer thanks to the large contact area, the adjustable Q-factor, and the in-house manufacturing in the USA, this aspect ultimately justifies the rather high price of €259,99. It's worth noting, however, that the official MSRPs of pedals like the Shimano XTR are in a similar range.
Potential buyers should be aware that clipping into a single-sided pedal isn't quite as straightforward as with double-sided MTB pedals: you frequently have to look down to ensure you're on the correct side. Unlike a road bike pedal, the DEL doesn't always rotate to the same position, likely due to its light weight. Those who aren't constantly clipping in and out on gravel rides will find the new pedal perfectly adequate; however, for specific uses like cyclocross racing, there are more suitable pedals available.
After 400 kilometers, the pedals show visible signs of wear: the anodizing on the top surface is worn away by the shoe tread; the bottom surface shows scratches from flipping the pedal with the SPD cleat. Damage to the aluminum pedal body from continuous use is not expected, but one might wonder why the stainless steel inlays weren't extended slightly further outwards. However, other SPD pedals are not immune to this kind of "patina."
Less easy to click in
In the end, despite the slightly more complicated clip-in mechanism, the Wolf Tooth DEL pedals are thoroughly convincing – the US manufacturer has successfully relaunched the clipless pedal with its ALT, DEL, and CTRL models. And anyone hesitating over the high price should simply consider that these are probably the last gravel pedals they'll ever buy…