LOOK Cycle - KEO Blade Carbon Bike Pedals - High Performance Pedals - Powerful, Light and Aerodynamic LOOK KEO pedals with Carbon Blades, Chromoly+ Axles, Steel Bearings

Product Information

Last autumn we brought you news of a new pedal from Look, with the Keo 2 Max Blade set to make the company's blade-spring technology available at a lower price point. There was a video, too; who knew the French were such fans of dubstep? Designed to win, the new KEO BLADE CARBON improves the experience associated with the use of blade technology in a clipless pedal. This new version is the result of experience gained during years of development in the heart of our manufacturing facility and to continual improvements made thanks to daily input from the greatest of champions. It's not impossible that the blade could get damaged if you crash but the fact that it's slightly recessed and sits well away from the edge of the pedal means that's unlikely. Platform

At 110 grams per pedal, this is a lightweight pedal system. But, despite being a featherweight, it’s secure and stable, so you can be confident you’re getting maximum performance when sprinting for the finish line. Look says, "Designed to win, the new Keo Blade Carbon improves the experience associated with the use of blade technology in a clipless pedal. This new version is the result of experience gained during years of development in the heart of our manufacturing facility and to continual improvements made thanks to daily input from the greatest of champions. For me, ceramic bearings still have a tough job beating the Shimano system that has served me well for years. My XT cyclo-cross pedals go through awful conditions every winter and my Ultegra 6800 pedals have done four long years of road riding. Look's claim that its ceramic bearings will last '4 to 6 times longer than standard steel bearings' will take quite a few years to test. The two months that I've been riding and racing with these pedals have caused zero issues, so all good so far. I believe that Shimano provides a significantly better product compared to Look, with the differences being; Because Shimano use cup-and-cone bearings it’s also possible to adjust them, though the TL-D63 tool for that job is both expensive and quite hard to find.Johnhas been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work. Intended for performance cycling, the blade of the Keo Blade is optimised for speed. As the name suggests, rather than the traditional coil system, these pedals use a blade retention system. The integration of the blade and pedal lessens the frontal area presented to the wind, improving aerodynamics and ultimately increasing speed. That’s perhaps why Shimano offers a version of the SPD-SL pedal, the PD-RS500, with “lighter spring tension optimised for beginner riders.” Cornering clearance is impressively generous despite the very wide upper platform: cornering clearance is impressively generous despite the very wide upper platform

The closest competitor to the Keo 2 Max Carbon is the Shimano R8100 pedal, both in terms of where it sits in the range and the price point. Both options can be sourced online for similar prices if you find the right deal. It’s easy to see the changes between the new KéO Blade 2 (left) and the original one (right) when viewed side by side

Look Keo Classic 3 Plus

Shimano also colour-code their cleats. Fixed cleats have red bits on them, cleats with blue trim have two degrees of float, and yellow-decorated cleats have six degrees of float. The spindle and bearing assembly is not serviceable, setting it at odds with a lot of the competition. Look say that it's been tested to withstand two million cycles at 100 rpm with a 90 kg load on the centre of the pedal, or the equivalent of a 1,700 watt sprint for 333 hours, so it should be okay for a while with the sort of loads that you or I are likely to put on it. Certainly the sealing shrugged off the wet conditions we've had lately without any issues and the pedals are still spinning smoothly. The pedal platform is 67mm wide (Shimano Dura-Ace, for comparison, is just a millimetre narrower) and has a surface area of 700mm 2 meaning that the pressure is distributed over a large area and you can get plenty of support. I moved over from Shimano to Look. Miss the feel of Shimano - the blue cleats, especially. However, I now run Assioma power pedals, so it just makes sense to have one cleat/pedal setup on the turbo, etc. Now- I'm absolutely on board with the Look Pedals; the power transfer is great, the overall "feel" is positive and dependable. To enhance durability and reliability, the bearings are protected by an o-ring washer and are double-lipped seal to increase resistance to the elements.