There’s a fine line to walk in developing a new product, especially as a new brand without an existing track record. Make something plain and in line with existing options, and you risk getting lost in the noise; go too weird and unconventional, and it can be hard to find willing early adopters.

Outlier MTB took a chance with their wild-looking Void and Pendulum pedals, but they’re not just different for the sake of being different — there’s sound thinking behind the designs. So we sat down with Outlier founder Cam Belisle-O’Donnell to chat about where the concept came from in the first place; what their prototyping and development process looked like; the initial public reception & coming to market with something that looks so novel; some other projects they have in the works; and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Founding Outlier & the pedals’ notable features (4:36)

“The Lefty of MTB pedals” (12:42)

The first prototypes & early testing (19:50)

Pendulum vs. Void & the tradeoffs (24:24)

Manufacturing challenges & running a small company (44:54)

Future Outlier products? (50:17)

Ramping up production (52:33)

Lab testing (56:25)

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