Spotted: Ekoi pedals with a radical new design and claimed 8 watt saving

French cycling accessories brand Ekoi looks to be getting ready to launch an all-new pedal platform to the market.

The brand is well known for its helmets, glasses and shoes, which are frequent features in the professional peloton, and the new pedals have been spotted being used by the Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur and Burgos BH teams.

The most eye catching feature of these pedals is that the length of the pedal looks significantly longer than other pedals on the market.

© Instagram / Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur (@teamnicemetropolecotedazur)

The pedal an shoe system has only an 8mm stack height and sees a completely new approach to the shoe/pedal interface

It is clear from the images that have emerged from the Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur Instagram that they are a completely new design, straying away from the profile of a Shimano/Look-style clipless pedal.

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CEO of Ekoi Jean-Christophe Rattel told lecycle.fr: “These are new shoe pedals with a new concept, it’s an innovation that makes me dream because compared to other pedals on the market, we tested a gain of eight watts.

“Two years ago, the inventor came to see me and we bought the patent. He is still with us working on the project. The latter is complex because you need to make a specific shoe for this pedal. It is very close to the axis and improves traction.”

He also went on to say that he has presented these shoes to the likes of Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates, however the verdict of these discussions is yet to be seen as for the time being both teams do not look to be straying away from their pedal sponsors for 2024.

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© Instagram / Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur (@teamnicemetropolecotedazur)

The new pedals look to be considerably larger than current road pedals with a far slimmer cleat that is reportedly far easier to walk in

The new pedal and shoe system has a reported 8mm stack height, making it one of the lowest profile pedals on the market and ideal for riders looking for every extra advantage when it comes to pedalling through corners.

Most notable with this new shoe and pedal combination is the reported saving of eight watts. It is important to add that at this point we do not have any clarity on exactly what this is in comparison to, nor the conditions of the testing. However, an eight-watt saving wouldn't be considered a marginal gain, more a truly significant one.

Eight watts would be a similar difference between an all-out aero bike and an all-rounder style bike. Most road bikes are tested at 45km/h, with aero bikes offering around 10 watts advantage over a climbing bike at that speed.

The super low profile cleat and pedal from Ekoi could be worth a fair amount as they are in direct airflow and in dirty air due to the pedalling motion. Still, eight watts seems a lot. If the claims are to be believed, this could be quite the game changer.

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As it stands, we are yet to get our eyes on the cleat or the shoe that pairs with the pedals but going by the design of the pedal alone it looks to be something very different. The profile of the pedal has a short open profile in front of the axle but it also has a far larger profile to the rear of the axle.

Other details are thin on the ground right now but stay tuned for more details as and when they come to light. With teams already using them we can expect an official launch later this year.

Would you stray away from Shimano/Look style clipless systems for something like this if the eight watt savings are credible? Let us know in the comments below.