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The French brand Look specialises in bicycle pedals. With the first Keo Blade road pedal from 2011, the pedal design and components changed. Instead of the classic metal spring, a carbon fibre spring was installed. Keo Blade pedals won several awards and were increasingly found on professional racing bikes. The great success of the Keo Blade road pedals prompted the manufacturer to develop them further.
The latest model was created through collaboration with UCI World Tour performance specialists, as well as professionals from various teams. "Professional teams have been at the centre of our product development process for forty years, and we maintain close contact with both technical performance teams and athletes during the racing season to gather feedback, understand their preferences and expectations and test new features," explains Alex Lavaud, Global Product Manager at Look Cycle, adding: "The new Keo Blade range has been developed, tested and perfected over three years in collaboration with these teams, resulting in a pedal that goes beyond the performance and reliability requirements of the World Tour."
Look invented the 'click' pedal in 1984 and since then we have continued to develop, race and win. - Alex Lavaud
Look Keo Blade: More aerodynamic than before
Where do you start when improving a pedal that is so good that it is already ridden by many professionals and has won several awards? Look has endeavoured to put its forty years of experience in clipless pedal design into the new product in order to further improve riding comfort and performance. To achieve this, the aerodynamic design has been revised. Thanks to a smaller front surface and a revised aerodynamic profile of the front edge, air resistance has been reduced by 2% compared to the previous version.
Blade technology, which already saves 20% in weight compared to conventional metal spring systems, once again enables the new Look Keo Blade to offer a large contact surface with a relatively low weight. According to the manufacturer, the weight of a pedal starts at 95 grams. The contact surface covers 705 square millimetres with a width of 64 mm. This increases pedal stability and eliminates pressure points, no matter what material the shoe is made of.
Easy handling
In addition to the increase in performance, the handling of the pedal has also been improved. The new edition of the Look Keo Blade road bike pedal is 60% easier to clip in than before. This is mainly due to the improved weight distribution. As a result, a rider feels secure and at the same time benefits from firm pedal support. The blades (pedal springs) can be replaced in under a minute, depending on which release hardness is preferred. The options are 8, 12, 16 and 20 Nm.
Another improvement is said to be the durability of the product. The new design of the Look Keo Blade features an axle that largely prevents the ingress of water. This effect and the associated protection of the bearings is supported by a special grease. The pedal consists of internal and external, double-sealed bearings and a stainless steel contact surface. The reinforced folding mechanism also aims to provide 200% more shock resistance.
The most important details of the Look Keo Blade at a glance
There are three variations of the Look Keo Blade pedals: the classic Keo Blade, the Keo Blade Ceramic and the Keo Blade Ceramic Ti. How do the models differ?
Keo Blade
- Body: Carbon
- Axis: Chrome +
- Bearing: Steel
- Bracket: 12 - Comb
- Contact surface: 705 square millimetres
- Weight: 115 grams (manufacturer's specification)
- Price: 145 Euro >> available here for 113 Euro
Keo Blade Ceramic
- Body: Carbon
- Axis: Chrome +
- Bearing: Ceramics
- Bracket: 12 - Carbon
- Contact surface: 705 square millimetres
- Weight: 115 grams (manufacturer's specification)
- Price: 210 Euro >> available here for 187 Euro
Keo Blade Ceramic Ti
- Body: Carbon
- Axis: Titanium
- Bearing: Ceramics
- Bracket: 16 - Carbon
- Contact surface: 705 square millimetres
- Weight: 95 grams (manufacturer's specification)
- Price: 310 Euro >> available here
Lukas Niebuhr
Working student
