We recently posted about the new Tour de France Edition of the Look Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic pedal, so it is a perfect time to bring you the review of the Keo Blade Carbon we’ve been riding on a longterm review. It’s essentially the base version of the pedal without ceramic bearings or a titanium axle, but still has the carbon body you see throughout the product line. It is my first time on Keo’s, though I started on Look pedals way back when in the relatively early days of clipless. Read on to hear how they performed and my thoughts on the latest design from the French brand.
Look is one of the pioneers of clipless pedals from back in the 1980’s. Bernard Hinault won the 1984 Tour de France on them, and other riders and teams have gone on to countless wins in pro races all over the world. The Delta pedals, and now the smaller Keo line continues the same basic principles using a triangular-shaped cleat that hooks into a front lip and then you overcome a spring on the rear retention clip that hooks into a clip on the back of the pedal. To get out, you twist your foot to overcome the force of the spring and push the rear retention hook enough to disengage. It’s a simple always closed concept used by many other brands in one form or another, as compared to Time’s always open design that we will touch on in a future review of their pedals. I’ve ridden both, and think they both have their advantages.
The Keo Blade design, which is about three years old now, uses a carbon blade instead of your traditional metal spring. It acts as a leaf spring, applying a certain amount of pressure against the rear retention clip to hold your foot in place. The interchangeable blades provide different amounts of force for the retention system, allowing you to fine-tune how easy or hard it is to get in and out of the pedal. The Keo Blade Carbon comes with the 12nm blade installed, and a 16nm blade if you want a harder release tension. 20nm blades are also available for the track. The blade slides into a lip on the front of the pedal and is formed to go around the axle. On the opposite end, it hooks into a lip on the rear retention clip so that when force is applied to the rear clip, it pushes the ends together, forcing it to flex. From my experience, it is a pretty effective design, although it lacks the easy adjustability of other pedals. To change the retention pressure, you have to swap blades, while it is a turn of a screw for other brands.
There are three models of the pedal. The Keo Blade Carbon is the base and comes with a Chromoly axle and standard steel bearings. This is what we are reviewing. There is also the Keo Blade Cabon Ceramic, which adds ceramic bearings for less drag and a longer service life of the bearings. The top of the line is the Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic Ti, which replaces the Chromoly axle on the Ceramic with a titanium axle. At least it is pretty easy to understand the differences between the pedals based on their names.
The body of the Keo Blade Carbon is made of what it sounds like, carbon fiber. It is topped with a metal plate to protect the body from the cleat during clip in and out. All of this is the same, regardless of what level of Keo Blade Carbon you get. The base provides a base of 700mm2, creating one of the larger platforms for a road pedal on the market. This provides stability while pedaling, giving the Keo Blade Carbon a rock-solid feel.
Over the last year, I’ve had a chance to ride the Keo Blade Carbon with a number of shoes on the road and some light gravel. During that time, I tried a few different cleats and changed the blade to feel the difference in the retention pressures.
When clipping in, there is a definite click so you know you are in. It isn’t all that hard to overcome the 16nm of pressure and getting out of the pedal is smooth and intuitive from other pedals I’ve used. I also rode the 12nm blade, which felt secure, but I prefer the higher resistance of the 16nm for more spirited riding. After some miles to break the bearings in, the pedals seemed to fall nicely with the front of the pedal pointing up. Being a single-sided pedal, this is important as it makes it easier to clip into the pedal from a stop.
While clipped in, I felt like I was secure in the pedal. The cleat/pedal interface fit pretty well together, though there is a slight rock side to side that I could feel with the stock 4.5-degree float cleats. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as it allows a little bit of room for movement in your natural pedal stroke. I felt stable though, so for me, it wasn’t an issue. I have heard some complaints about noise from the cleats, but this was never an issue for me, even during some dirty gravel rides.
I did have an issue with the pedals, and another with the cleats. I did unfortunately crack a 16nm blade in the middle of a ride about 6 months into the review. It is rather unfortunate because when it loses its rigidity, the retention is compromised. I was able to finish the ride, but had to be very careful when pulling up or standing when pedaling. Swapping the blade was relatively easy though, with using two Torx bits to unthread a bolt from its sleeve and pulling both out from the pedal. Replace the blade, and put it all back together. It’s easy, but not something that you’re going to do on the side of the road. Replacement blades sets are between $20-$40, which isn’t bad, but I would hope they normally last longer than 6 months.
As for the cleats, I tried the stock cleats that came with the Keo Blade Carbon, and the “Grip” cleats. I picked up the Grip cleats because the stock cleats can be slippery. There were a few times on the road that I went to push off, and my foot slipped. The Grip cleats helped, but if you do even a little bit of walking, the rubber grippers on the bottom will wear off. Now keep in mind, the only cleat that I ever felt comfortable walking is Speedplay’s walkable cleats, but the Look cleats just seemed a little slicker than others I’ve used.
The cracked blade aside, the Look Keo Blade Carbon pedals have performed pretty well. Even after some nasty, wet rides, the bearings spin smoothly with no flex or grinding when pedaling. At 298g for the pair with cleats, they are pretty competitive with other pedals on the market, especially at the price of $150. If you really feel that you need to lighten up though, the Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic Ti version comes in at claimed 265g per pair with cleats, saving you about 35g. Considering they are $225 more than the standard pedals, I personally can’t justify the extra money for the decrease in weight and the ceramic bearings.
For my first time back on Look pedals since the old school Deltas, the Keo Blade Carbons bring a familiarity back to the bike I haven’t felt in years. The Blade system brings a different take on how retention systems can work, creating a sleek pedal. If you set and forget your pedals, the Look Keo Blade Carbon is a great option.
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