Cycle Components - Look pedal replacement parts

On this page: Look Kéo axles

Look pedals are posted here
Look cleats are posted here.

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It was the Look ski-binding company that made clipless pedals easy to use and popular.

The first clipless pedals (that is pedals without toe clips and straps) were patented in 1895, but they never caught on. For nearly a century riders used quill pedals with toe clips and straps.

In the early 1970s Cinelli of Italy, famous for it bars, stems and frames, came up with a clipless pedal suitable for track use. It wasn't practical for road use because it required the rider to reach down to the pedal and pull on a lever to release the shoe from the pedal.

The French Look ski-binding maker had the brilliant insight to use its "twist-out" technology that allowed a skier to twist his foot to step out of his skis to create the first truly practical clipless bicycle road pedal. Patented in 1984, Look pedals got a giant boost when Bernard Hinault won his fifth Tour de France using Look's pedals in 1985.

Bernard Hinault winning the 1985 Tour de France prologue with Look clipless pedals.

In the late 1980s, French competitor Time began selling pedals that allowed the foot follow its natural tendency to rotate slightly through the pedal stroke. This rotation, called "float", was a godsend for many riders who suffered knee and ankle problems with cleat systems, including Look, that locked the foot in place.

Look quickly responded with a simple redesign of the cleat that allowed the Look pedal user's foot to rotate. Now, one can even specify how much float one wants: fixed, or no float, three degrees of float or even more.

With some changes, the fundamental design that Look pioneered in the mid-'80s remains the basic design of most road pedals today. Step in and twist out.

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Look Kéo pedal axles. New, $25.00/pair