Look has refreshed its range of Keo Blade road cycling pedals, debuting what it claims is its “fastest-ever” pedal.
The French brand claims this is due to the pedal body’s redesigned frontal profile and leading edge, which are said to make the pedal two per cent more aerodynamic.
Look says it has worked on improving the durability of the pedals, while keeping weight competitively low.
The new Keo Blade pedals are also claimed to be significantly easier to clip in to, thanks to an “improved weight balance”.
There are three pedals in the new Keo Blade range, with prices starting from £139.99 / $174 / €145 for the Keo Blade pedals.
These feature a carbon pedal body matched to a chromoly steel axle with steel cartridge bearings.
The Keo Blade Ceramic Ti pedals top the new range, priced at £299.99 / $389 / €310. As the name suggests, these feature ceramic bearings and a titanium axle.
BikeRadar’s senior technical editor, Ashley Quinlan, has been putting the mid-range option through its paces this past month. Follow the link to read his full review of the new Look Keo Blade Ceramic pedals.
Look’s fastest-ever pedal
According to Look, the updated Keo Blade pedals are more aerodynamic than ever before thanks to a “lower frontal surface” and an “all-new leading edge profile”.
As noted, these changes are claimed to confer a “two per cent” improvement to aerodynamic efficiency compared to the previous Keo Blade pedals.
Look says the aerodynamic shape of the new Keo Blade pedals was first developed using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modelling.
The final design was then taken to a wind tunnel to be benchmarked against key competitors, such as Wahoo's Speedplay Aero pedal.
According to Look, the Keo Blade was the most aerodynamic pedal it tested, though it hasn't provided any figures to illustrate the claimed difference in performance.
Wide yet light and durable
Perhaps the most notable change versus previous Keo Blade pedals is the enlarged pedal body.
According to the Look, the pedal body area has increased from 700 to 705mm2.
To our eyes, the new pedals look a little more akin to Shimano’s higher-end SPD-SL pedals, such as the Dura-Ace PD-R9100, albeit with the bottom filled in for aerodynamic purposes.
Look says this should help to reduce incidences of 'hot spots' on your feet and improve pedalling stability.
Despite getting a little bigger, Look says the pedals remain compatible with existing Look Keo cycling cleats.
The Keo Blade pedals remain competitively light, starting at just 95g per pedal for the flagship Keo Blade Ceramic Ti.
This is mainly thanks to the lightweight, carbon fibre pedal body, meaning the cheaper versions aren’t much heavier, despite swapping the titanium axle for chromoly steel ones.
As such, the Keo Blade and Keo Blade Ceramic share a claimed weight of 115g per pedal.
Look says it has also paid particular attention to the durability of the new pedals.
A new spindle design, alongside updated, dual-sealed bearings and a reformulated grease, is claimed to offer superior resistance to water intrusion.
Look also says the area that contacts the Keo cycling cleats has been updated to a “high-grade stainless steel”, while the composite pedal body is claimed to have “200 per cent higher robustness and impact resistance”.
The retention lever is also said to have been updated to help improve cleat durability.
Easier to clip in to
While many experienced cyclists may take it for granted, learning how to use clipless pedals is typically a steep learning curve.
Given this, Look has also looked to make the new Keo Blade pedals easier to clip in to.
Compared to the previous-generation pedals, Look says the new Keo Blade range offers “60 per cent easier clip-in rotation due to an improved weight balance”.
It’s not entirely clear what that means, but the upshot is, according to Look, the new Keo Blade pedals allow for quicker disengagements (clipping out) without compromising pedalling security or introducing unwanted movement when clipped in.
Look Keo Blade pedal range
The new Look Keo Blade pedal range is available now.
There are three pedals in the range, with prices starting from £139.99 / $174 / €145 for the base model, the Keo Blade, and rising to £299.99 / $389 / €310 for the Keo Blade Ceramic Ti.
All pedal sets include a pair of Look Keo Grip cleats with 4.5 degrees of float (0 and 9-degree float options are available separately).
Look Keo Blade
- Price: £139.99 / $174 / €145
- Body: Carbon
- Axle: Chromoly steel
- Bearings: Steel
- Retention spring stiffness: 8Nm
- Contact surface area: 705mm
- Q-Factor: 53mm
- Stack height: 14.8mm (pedal 8.5mm + cleat 6.3mm)
- Cleat type: Look Keo
- Claimed weight: 115g
Look Keo Blade Ceramic
- Price: £199.99 / $174 / €145
- Body: Carbon
- Axle: Chromoly steel
- Bearings: Ceramic
- Retention spring stiffness: 12Nm
- Contact surface area: 705mm
- Q-Factor: 53mm
- Stack height: 14.8mm (pedal 8.5mm + cleat 6.3mm)
- Cleat type: Look Keo
- Claimed weight: 115g
Look Keo Blade Ceramic Ti
- Price: £299.99 / $389 / €310
- Body: Carbon
- Axle: Titanium
- Bearings: Steel
- Retention spring stiffness: 16Nm
- Contact surface area: 705mm
- Q-Factor: 53mm
- Stack height: 14.8mm (pedal 8.5mm + cleat 6.3mm)
- Cleat type: Look Keo
- Claimed weight: 95g
