Knurling Is Gnarly
Do you know what knurling is? It’s the nice machined lines or crosshatching you’ll find in round items. If you’ve ever noticed the lines on the side of a socket-head fastener, those are single-row knurls, and if you’ve ever picked up a dumbbell, that diamond pattern is double-row knurling.

Knurls are made in one of two ways: there’s formed knurling (colloqually called “bump” knurling by machinists) and cut knurling. (usually called “scissor” knurling because of how the tool that forms the knurls functions)
Cut knurls are usually seen as preferable for a variety of reasons. Formed knurls are generally used because it’s easy and fast to knurl this way, but the knurling often looks a little sloppy and doesn’t cut into the material very deeply. If knurling ever feels sorta crummy and shallow instead of sharp and deep, it’s usually because it was gently bump-knurled.
Why does this matter? Well, knurling is almost always used in places where grip is really important, like the fastener and weights example from above. If you’ve never had occasion to examine them, put a hand on a set of our Nomad foot, toe, or shift pegs. Like literally reach out and touch it—the knurling is incredibly deep, with sharp, pointed peaks; you can feel it right through the thick plastic packaging.
We make them that way intentionally. Those deep knurls give your boots something to bite into—and they bite your boots back. When you’ve got the front end of your bike up in the air, you don’t want to worry about losing that ever-important control of the rear brake. Similarly, if you’re rippin’ off-road in the mud, or you ride in inclement weather, rubber pegs designed for sunny days on the street don’t always cut it.
It takes a little more time on the lathe and we wear out cutting tools a little faster, but we think the extra grip is worth it. We think you’ll think so, too.
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