Chromag Dagga Review

If you’re looking for a pedal with ultimate traction for the bike park, or long chunky descents the Chromag Dagga should be on your shortlist. These pedals have some of the best grip in our review and impressed us with how stable and confidence-inspiring they are to ride, especially when landing jumps and drops that can sometimes make your feet bounce on the pedals. The Dagga has a large platform measuring 111mm x 116mm but its shape and profile prevent it from getting hung up on rocks too easily. Our testers with smaller feet were able to easily find good foot placement with the Dagga and our testers with larger feet found the platform to fully support their foot. The bearings are internal to the axle and work well with any crank or crank bootie and have an ultra-smooth spin. At 494-grams it is the heaviest pedal in our review, but is made from quality components and is our Top Pick for gravity riding.

Performance Comparison

Grip and Traction

The Chromag Dagga has outstanding grip even on the most technical trails and jumps. Its alloy platform has a slightly concave shape with 12 “super grip” pins per side, the most of any pedal Chromag makes. For those who prefer less aggressive pins, the Dagga is also compatible with Chromag’s standard pedal pins.

For technical riding these are some of our favorite pedals, they inspire confidence and have outstanding traction whether you’re going up or down. We tested the Dagga with a variety of shoes and found it grips shoes whose soles have a few millimeters of space between the lugs or treads best. The “super grip” pins have an adjustable height and bite into your sole creating a strong bond between shoe and pedal. The pins come with one washer installed making their height around 4mm, and with the right shoe the Dagga almost has a clipped-in feel. These pins are quite aggressive, and you will definitely want to avoid any contact with them and your bare legs.

Repositioning your foot is more difficult once it’s planted, but we find it easier to find a good foot placement to begin with thanks to the location of the pins which line the perimeter of the pedal with one just ahead of the axle.

Platform

The Dagga has the largest platform in our test, measuring a whopping 111mm x 116mm, with a Q factor of 117mm making it a great choice for riders with a bigger foot. Our testers who wear an EU 40 shoe are able to find a good foot position on the platform thanks to the pin placement that has one pin on the leading edge of the axle to help solidify the grip.

From the outside edge to the axle there is a diagonal brace that supports your shoe, this is especially important for riders with smaller feet who otherwise may feel like their foot is compressing into the void between the outer edge and the axle.

The platform on the Dagga measures 15.75mm at the leading and trailing edge on our calipers but bulges by 1.5mm at the axle where the end cap is located. The platform body has chamfered edges and the outside edge tapers towards the leading and trailing edges helping reduce pedal strikes. However, these pedals are wide and can more easily get hung up on rock pinches at the axle, which is their widest point.

Mobility

If you like to move your foot around on the pedal, you might want to consider other options. The Dagga has outstanding grip and once your foot is planted it’s not moving unless you intentionally lift it off the pedal to disengage from the pins. The cartridge bearing has a smooth, predictable rotation and is not too fast, nor too slow, making it easy to flick the pedal back where you want it. The bearing sits inside the axle and does not interfere with the inside of your shoe, unlike some pedals that have a large inboard bearing that can interfere with foot placement for those with a larger foot.

Underfoot the Dagga feels supportive and sturdy, thanks to the diagonal brace that runs from the leading and trailing edges to the pedal's axle providing the foot with extra support and preventing the sole from collapsing into the void.

Servicing

To access the axle of the Dagga you’ll need an 8mm hex and an 8mm socket and wrench. Once you remove the end cap from the axle you can access the nut that holds the axle in place. Our socket set uses a reducer to fit the 8mm socket onto the ratchet, which is long enough to access the nut. You’ll need to hold the 8mm hex into the end of the spindle as you remove the nut, and then the axle will pull out the pedal body. Overall, the process is very easy and just requires a few more tools than the easiest pedals to service.

Chromag sells a replacement rebuild kit on their website in addition to a socket tool, and bushing removal and installation too. These tools are not needed to service the pedal but can make the process smoother especially if you don’t already own a socket set.

One thing that we really like about the pins on the Dagga is that they use a 3mm hex, which makes the head harder to strip. The pins also sit inside a recess in the pedal body, which helps protect the pin heads during riding. The downside of this design is when pins get bent they can be difficult to get out because you need to pull the bent pin through the recess.

Weight

The downhill-oriented Dagga is the heaviest pedal in our review weighing 494-grams per set. This beefy downhill pedal was designed to provide the largest platform, widest stance, and have the greatest number of pins of any Chromag pedal. With that in mind, the Dagga is a downhill pedal with a thicker profile making it more prone to rock strikes and not the best choice for trail riding.

Value

The Dagga is the most expensive pedal in our review, but is built from quality components and is designed to take abuse, and should last years. We feel these will represent the best value to riders seeking a burly and super grippy pedal for gravity riding.

Conclusion

The Dagga is an outstanding choice for the bike park and high-speed, high-impact trails where you can’t afford to have your feet bouncing off your pedals on landings. The pins are well-spaced and well placed along the perimeter of the platform and provide good contact with a range of shoe sizes. They are the heaviest pedal in our review, but their intended use is gravity riding where durability and performance typically outweigh grams. These pedals perform well in our metrics earning our Top Pick award for gravity riding, they are also our favorite for rocky trails in general because the grip is so good.