Pretty pedals...
To follow up with my most recent SpeedPlay post, I followed through and purchased a set of Look Keo Blades. I thought why not spend the extra for the titanium axle ones? I’m not going to lie, these have serious bling factor. They’re just plain beautiful.
The packaging was very nice, and upon opening them, the blades show off their brand name and carbon fiber spring with the gorgeous aesthetic weave on them. Surprisingly in the package I found it came with a pair of cleat covers, mounting hardware, a pair of “grip” cleats, and an extra set of normal cleats. Gotta love extras!
I opted for the 12 Nm carbon “springs” instead of the 16 Nm — while this wasn’t a mistake, it wasn’t quite as stiff as the amount of force required to clip in and out of the SpeedPlays Zeros. Honestly, that might be a good thing. The effort to clip in or out isn’t as much, but the engagement is very “positive” whatever that might mean to you.
Clipping In – This is the single issue I have with these, I’m just not used to single sided clipping in. I haven’t any issues clipping in when going at a high speed, or even at a low speed. But clipping in the other foot when riding from a stop is still an issue for me — but then again I only have 80 miles on this pedal system so far. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. Clipping in once you do get positioned correctly is simple, just press down. Once you’re in, you know you’re in, I didn’t feel any need to double check. The SpeedPlays sometimes left a very vague feeling as to wether or not I was clipped in.
Clipping Out – A considerable amount less effort than the SpeedPlays, the 16 Nm may have been a better match if you are looking for the same amount of clip out effort. Simple enough here, no complaints.
Float – Unless you’ve got knee problems, the float is enough and it is very smooth, unlike SpeedPlay float after a few hundred miles — they get gritty no matter how well maintained. Setup for the cleat is quite different than SpeedPlay. With a SpeedPlay system you pretty much setup the base/cleat in an up/down and in/out manner relative to your foot. Then you adjust the float screws to match the angle of your foot. With the Looks, you need to factor in the angle of the cleat on your shoe while mounting it. Not that hard really, but may not be as easy to adjust initially.
Riding – Immediately I noticed how much more stable of a platform the Looks have. The difference is night and day, and while I thought the arguments between the companies regarding how big their platforms are were total marketing bullshit — I was wrong. You immediately notice the difference out of the saddle sprinting or climbing uphill. The SpeedPlays also have quite a bit of roll-over wear — this I think is due to the nature of the system. I could detect quite a bit of platform instability in the SpeedPlay when rolling the heel over side to side. This did not go away with new cleats and I attributed this to the actual pedal body wearing down. Additionally, it seems that the combination of the cleat/carbon body/titanium axle really dampens harsh road vibrations. I don’t believe that I am one for placebo effects, but my legs felt fresher after a longer ride using the Looks.
Walking – Hands down, Look have awesome cleats for walking. The “Grip” cleats are great and don’t scratch up my hardwood flooring when walking out of the house. They probably don’t last very long though.
Wear - Things look fine after 80 miles, but I do have a couple of scratches and some of the “Look” logo is going away because of my “learning” to use the pedal system from a stoplight and pressing down on the back side of the pedal instead.