Look even has a number for weather resistance, with a 120% improvement in stopping water getting in. I've certainly had no issues after a fair few biblically wet rides. The Keo 2 Max Carbon are supplied with Look’s gripper cleats, the difference being a rubber pad at the front and rear of the cleat. These provided a bit more grip than the standard cleat supplied with the Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic but the grip section was again very short-lived compared to the Shimano cleat. And after a single slip on a smooth surface, one of the grippers was cleanly removed from the cleat. The cleats supplied with the more expensive pedals have a harder wearing section on the retaining sections of the cleat so these fared better - wearwise - but were the worst on test for grip when walking. It seems Look customers must choose between cleat wear or grip, unfortunately, you can’t have both. Look has developed a Keo Fit system where suitably-equipped dealers can get your cleats set up just so, and also give you specific advice about which of the float options best suits you. I didn't try this as I already had Keo cleats set up on a pair of shoes so just used them as they were, but it could be a useful service if you're changing over.

As with all of the pedals on test, the installation was straightforward: regular thread on the drive-side, reverse thread on the other and an Allen key to tighten them up. Cleat setup has been the main differentiator with how straightforward or difficult each pedal has been to set up. All the Look pedals feature a three-bolt cleat, similar in setup to Shimano’s SPD SL platform but with a few differences. The material of the Look cleat supplied with the Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic pedals is a hard grey plastic, with harder wearing white sections at the front and rear of the cleat. These offer 4.5 degrees of float (the amount you can twist your foot while remaining clipped in), but 0-degree and 9-degree float options are also available aftermarket. Burt agrees, adding that he thinks the longer-axle version came about “because we used to request them specially made for Mark Cavendish” when he worked for British Cycling. When viewed side by side, it’s easy to see the big leaps forward look has made with the second-generation kéo blade: when viewed side by side, it’s easy to see the big leaps forward look has made with the second-generation kéo blade 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. 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.” Once you have your cleats set up and you’re ready to ride, the experience on the bike is an enjoyable one, clipping in is positive and secure, there’s that previously mentioned very wide steel platform to support your foot and stop any off-axis roll while you’re pedalling. The fitted 12 Nm springs offer a nice clipping in and out tension with a 16 Nm carbon ‘blade’ spring included with the set. I didn’t try swapping the springs over as I found the included ones to be of adequate tension. It’s a relatively simple procedure to swap from one tension spring to the other, involving 2 Torx keys, a pin drift and a torque wrench, but this is still much more complicated than either of the other two Look pedals on test or any of the Shimano pedals. Wahoo, meanwhile, does not offer any adjustment to the release tension, short of swapping cleats altogether. 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. Engagement and disengagement are pretty trouble-free and will be familiar to those who've used other Keo pedals; the shape of the jaws are pretty similar through the range. Unlike the coil-sprung models, the weight of this pedal isn't so concentrated at the rear, but they hang at a similar angle so it's relatively straightforward to clip in without looking, something that can be an issue with Time Xpresso pedals, for example. One thing that I really liked about the blade design is that the underside of the pedal is flatter and less treacherous than most road pedals if you put your weight on it having missed the clip-in. 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?

If you’ve got the luxury of spare cash, you could buy a pair of the base model of each system, see which you prefer the feel of and sell the others on.The axle of the updated Blade Carbon pedals has been redesigned, the distance between the roller and needle bearings having been increased by 25%. Look says that this provides more rigidity to the entire length of the axle and, as a consequence, improved power transmission. Look also claims that its new axle design allows a gain of about 2 watts at 100rpm. Will you notice this in use? I can't say that I did.