The German distributor (Grofa) of Look brand road bike pedals is voluntarily recalling certain Look KEO pedal models with steel axles produced between January 2004 and December 2005.
The following models are affected by the recall:
KEO Classic, KEO sprint (red and grey), KEO Carbon and KEO Carbon Ironman, KEO HM and KEO HM Ironman, insofar as these were produced from January 2004 up to and including December 2005.
All Look pedals produced from January 2006 or all Look pedals with titanium axles, regardless of the production date, not affected!
Look Cycle International has decided to issue a voluntary recall for the following reason: Under very unfavourable conditions, a small number of pedal axles have broken in the recent past. According to Grofa, the proportion of these failures, converted to the number of units sold, is around 0.0002 per cent. According to the German sales partner, these are absolutely isolated cases. However, as every such case of damage is "one too many", Look wanted to fulfil its responsibility as a brand manufacturer with this reaction.
Look dealers who have been informed of the recall and supplied with replacement material by 12 August 2008 will replace the axles of the affected pedals within a few minutes. Afterwards, the pedal is immediately ready for use again, nothing needs to be sent in, etc. The axles that will be used as part of the exchange campaign are standard axles that Look has been fitting to all KEO pedals with steel axles since January 2006.
Dealers and consumers can determine whether their pedal is affected by the recall without dismantling or disassembly: The year and month of production is stamped on the back of all pedal types (except HM) next to the spring; it looks similar to a TÜV seal. On HM pedals, however, the date is shown as a combination of letters and numbers, with the letters from A to L indicating the month (A=Jan., B=Feb.,... L=Dec.) and the numbers indicating the year of production (4=2004, 5=2005 etc.). For example, C-5 stands for March 2005.
Finally, a note on the term "voluntary" recall: This is initiated solely by the manufacturer and its sales partners. As the affected products also exceed all applicable safety regulations (including EN 14781 from October 2005), there is no reason for government agencies to take action.
Information also under www.lookcycle.com and www.grofa.com
