Fixie Bikes – Retro Cycling Vintage

Look Pedals For Sale

Posted February 23, 2010 by admin in French, Pedals, professional cyclists, tour de france | No comments yet

The Look company started life in the 1950s in France as a company manufacturing ski bindings. Owned by famous French industrialist Bernard Tapie they expanded into other markets which included high performance cycle sport.

Clipless pedals had already made an appearance in 1971 with Cinelli's M71 which was based around a plastic cleat that slid into the pedal and was held in place by a small lever which had to be manually released. These pedals (similar to the later Addidas System 3) became known as the 'death cleats'  due to their inherent danger on the road when a rider was faced with an emergeny dismount scenario.

Look took this idea of a rider being connected to the bike but enhanced it in 1983 bringing out the first quick release clipless pedal. Known in France as 'pedale automatique' they borrowed ideas from Look's successful ski bindings and were quickly accepted by the professional peloton to the extent that Bernard Hinault used them when he won the Tour de France while riding for Tapie's La Vie Claire team using in 1985.

Look licenced their clipless pedal idea out to other manufacturers so that during the late 1980s and early 1990s component makers  such as Campagnolo had their own versions in each of their groupsets.

Shimano decided to design their own pedal quick release system to avoid paying royalties to Look and the SPD was born to which Look released an off road version of its pedal which was less successful due to the large plastic cleat not being suitable for running or walking sections and not being recessed.

In 2004 Look launched their new KEO range which offered users an even more refined riding experience. They now come in a variety of materials including aluminium alloy, plastic and carbon fibre. Titanium Look pedal axles are also available.

Related posts:

1. Shimano SPD Pedaling Dynamics