Fragile Look Pedals

Mike Willcox1
Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
edited October 2007 in Workshop
Regular members on the old C+ forum will know that I have suffered Look pedal failures on two occasions resulting in heavy falls and injuries. The pedal has sheared off the crank when out of the saddle. Well rather than buy another pair of Look pedals I purchased a pair of cheap Campagnolo branded pedals but with the Look style mechanism and same sized cleats.

Yesterday on a Roundabout my left pedal sheared off again and I found my self hitting the deck once more only this time with a load of heavy traffic bearing down on me. Luckily I managed to get my bike and myself out of the way, and pick up my water bottle and sunglasses that had skidded along the road.

No real damage apart from a couple of deep bruises and grazes and a lot of stiffnes this morning.

These pedals had sheared off in the same way as before. My left shoe was left with pedal still in the cleat. Surely there must be a design fault here. I wouldn't go anyway near anything to do with Look pedals ever again.

Comments

  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    I have used Look in the past without incident, but I do know somebody who had exactly the same experience as yourself earlier this year and had a nasty crash as a result. Be interesting to hear if others have had problems or there were just a few isolated failures.
  • Ste_S
    Ste_S Posts: 1,173
    I've ridden around 5000 miles on a pair of Look Keo classics, no complaints so far
  • primalcarl
    primalcarl Posts: 579
    Doesn't sound good Mike. Can I ask how heavy/tall you are and what Look pedals they were? I'm using Look Keo Carbons
    www.csimages.info
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Sounds as though your pedalling style is causing an unusual load on the pedal leading to accelerated failure - what part of the pedal is giving out? Suggest you try a different design of pedal with increased float that prevents you from putting a side load on the spindle/bearing interface e.g. Time have a more natural free float. I've never seen a pedal fail in the mode you're saying in over 20 years.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    I'm 6 ft tall and currently weigh about 13st 10lbs.

    On each occasion I was out of the saddle accelerating, which accounts for me losing control and crashing. I have also broken a chain doing the same thing. Either I'm extremely powerful or the equipment is extremely dodgy. Could be a bit of both. :D

    I've taken the pedals of my TT bike and will continue to ride with them through the winter. They are Shimano Dura Ace costing £120 a pair. They are lovely to ride on but are probably too good for training purposes. I would be amazed if they broke as well.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    Bad luck - I've use da pair of Look PP196 Teams and Campag C Record Carbon Looks for over 10 years and both pedals are still fine !
  • rossbarney2003
    rossbarney2003 Posts: 167
    I just recently got a set of look pedals and cleats. So far I think the pedal is alright (bearing in mind I haven't used them in a proper ride yet since i'm new to clipless pedals) but I found the cleats I got with them were crap. The left cleat actually snapped the first time I used them!
  • wildmoustache
    wildmoustache Posts: 4,010
    sorry to hear it mike. quite strange as i know lots of look riders without problems but like monty says, it sounds like something related to your pedalling style (maybe just the sheer wattage???)

    i ride keo carbon ti's with no problems at all.
  • Garybee
    Garybee Posts: 815
    Do you have any pictures of the pedal/axle where it broke? Also, have you had the same cranks fitted to the bike that all these failures occured on?
    Hypocrisy is only a bad thing in other people.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Mike what are you doing with these pedals man? I have always used Look and wouldn't use anything else quite honestly.
  • MartinL
    MartinL Posts: 102
    I had a left hand PP247 pedal axle snap in exactly the same manner. IIRC there was a milled collar on the axle where the bearing presses against, and the axle failed at this point. I've got the bits in the garage so I'll try and post a photo tomorrow
    http://www.abertillery-wheelers.com
  • MartinL
    MartinL Posts: 102
    Here's a couple of pics

    http://www3.webng.com/awheelers/Photo/img_0636.jpg
    http://www3.webng.com/awheelers/Photo/img_0638.jpg
    http://www.abertillery-wheelers.com
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    MartinL wrote:
    Here's a couple of pics

    http://www3.webng.com/awheelers/Photo/img_0636.jpg
    http://www3.webng.com/awheelers/Photo/img_0638.jpg

    Same place as me each time.
  • Barney 2
    Barney 2 Posts: 68
    Have you returned any to the manufacturer? Sounds like a design/material problem and looking at Martin's photos his has snapped where one would expect.

    I have coverd 1,700miles on a pair of Keo Classics including one fall which snapped the cleat but no obvious damage to the pedals yet.

Categories