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Kona Alloy Wah Wah Pedal Review By: LT. LarSSon

Kona Wah Wah – Aluminum Edition

The Kona Wah Wah pedals were dropped at my door via fat-drone with a little message that read, “Have fun”.  I unpackaged the box to see some giant green platform pedals and I wondered, “Are my feet too small for these things”?  I mean, I’m using these on my summer plus bike and I won’t be using snow boots to ride.  Can a flat pedal be too big?

Well, yes, I’m sure there is a line that cannot be crossed and I’m pretty sure that Kona has found that line is with the Wah Wahs.     The Wah Wahs weighed in at 426.5 grams and they measured out to a whopping 120mm long, 118mm wide, and 13mm thick (not including pins).  However, the Wah Wahs aren’t your typical “block” style pedal and you can see that immediately even though you’re practically riding on a square.  The Wah Wahs reminds me of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses you see around Chicagoland, filled with eye-catching angles and light altering edges.  You can see a ton of thought went into the appearance right down to the offset logo placement.  It’s almost non-existent until you’re directly over it.  The Wah Wahs come in 5 stunning colors including green, blue, red, orange, and of course black.

With only 8 pins to keep my foot in place I thought they ought to have a couple extra pins or maybe some stuck in the middle, but after riding with them for a month I have to say that 8 pins are all you need.  More pins wouldn’t have been a benefit in any way.  When I ride I like to “dance” around with my foot placement.  Depending on what the terrain is doing I’ll move my feet all over, especially in corners or on descents.  The Wah Wahs gave me plenty of room to do that with plenty of options and never did I once lose my footing.  I even tried wacky foot placements just to see if I could get my feet to slip.  Stupid, yes, but I wanted to know how far I could push it.  Even with only two pins contacting my foot I could still get enough bite to keep pedaling up and not lose it on the downs.  The only instance where I lost a pedal was on a rooty technical climb and the pedals pretty much ejected me from the bike which I was fine with because I wasn’t making it up anyway.  I stuck to these things like moss on a Mississippi tree stump!

Overall the Wah Wahs performed flawlessly and at a price of $120.00 (MSRP) I would say you’re getting more than just a big platform.  You’re getting a pedal that looks gorgeous that will bling your bike out a little bit more and a pedal that will always be where you need it, beneath you.   The only negative thing I can say (I had to reach on this one) is the width of the pedal can make narrow, off-camber turns a bit tricky, but that was my only concern with the size of these.  The Wah Wahs have become my new favorite addition and I hope they eventually make them in purple (hint-hint Kona).

I give the Kona Wah Wahs 5 out of 5 shrunken aluminum heads!

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3 Responses to Kona Alloy Wah Wah Pedal Review By: LT. LarSSon

  1. Joe May 2, 2018 at 2:25 pm #

    23mm longer: https://pedalinginnovations.com/buy-your-pedals/

    Got a pair a few years ago and hate riding anything else. Granted, I do wear an 11 1/2 shoe.

  2. Erv Spanks May 2, 2018 at 5:51 pm #

    Fantastic write up brother! That color is money!

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