LOOK – KEO 2 MAX CARBON Pedals Review (Long Term 2 Year Test)

By Rick Schultz

Price MSRP: $135.00

KEO 2 MAX CARBON – LOOK Cycle

Source: Bike shops, Websites

Features: 500 sq.mm. contact area, Carbon Pedal Body

How Obtained: Manufacturers sample

Summary: Good pedal, for outside riding.

Hot

• Solid platform, no rocking of the foot when applying power
• No issues with the carbon, no cracking, no issues

Not

• See Below

Going over to LOOK’s Pedals page, they have 7 product categories; road, MTB, gravel, urban, trekking, power meter ( joint collaboration with SRM) and spare parts. Most reading these reviews would probably be interested in the road lineup of pedals.

LOOK further defines their road line into race, gran fondo and comfort.

The KEO Blades are under the race line and the KEO 2’s are under the gran fondo. There is no direct comparison with Shimano, but the Blades are their top of the line and I would compare the KEO 2’s to an Ultegra level equivalent. The KEO 2 line consists of 2 models, KEO 2 MAX and KEO 2 MAX Carbon, basically identical except for the material that makes up the pedal body.

PEDAL	MATERIAL	WEIGHT Each pedal / Pair + cleats
KEO 2 MAX	Composite – My guess is fiber glass injected nylon	130g / 328 g
KEO 2 MAX CARBON	Carbon – My guess is carbon flock injected nylon	125g / 312 g

Due to the C-19 lockdowns, I have been cycling indoors for the past two years. I have been using this pair of LOOK KEO 2 MAX CARBON pedals on my Cervelo. The Cervelo is mounted to a WAHOO KICKR trainer mounted to the ROUVY cycling app. The aftermath is that these pedals are almost completely rusted, I have repacked them with grease twice and the carbon pedal nut won’t come off anymore.

The Good

1. Solid platform, no rocking of the foot when applying power.
2. No issues with the carbon, no cracking, rock solid.

The Bad

1. They are not waterproof, which means that sweat easily gets past the pedal nut and into the axle body causing the pedal axle and bearings to rust. To make them last as long as possible, I have completely filled (100%) and repacked the pedal body with grease. The thought here is that there will be no room for the sweat to flow into.
2. After disassembling twice to repacking the axle body, the carbon pedal nut is stripped and will not come off, so they are shot.

FYI – Shimano Ultegra pedals use a steel pedal/axle nut and are a more robust design. But, you pay the price as the Shimano PD-R8000 pedals list for $200 (but you can usually find them for $135-$150 USD).

Now, to be fair, indoor training is extremely hard on the equipment. Sweat gets into everything and the entire force of the pedal stroke is transmitted to the rear dropouts. Out on the road, the bike sways back and forth a little, on a trainer, the bike is clamped tight. These pedals excell outdoors in the dry but are not really made for indoor training.

So, it’s a little tough to write a review for a product which is outside of its intended use. But, looking at the Ultegra pedal, I think it would survive a lot better in any environment.

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Coach Rick Schultz is an avid cyclist who trains, races and coaches in Southern California. Rick is an engineer by trade, and in addition to being a coach, he’s a bike fitter and prolific product reviewer. He’s the author of Stretching & Core Strengthening for the Cyclist and Bike Fit 101: Your Toolset for a Great Bike Fit in the RBR eBookstore. Check his product reviews website, www.biketestreviews.com, and his coaching site, www.bikefitnesscoaching.com. Click to read Rick’s full bio.