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Look Quartz mountain bike pedals review

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$119.68

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Look Quartz mountain bike pedal

BikeRadar verdict

3 out of 5 stars

"A solid improvement on an already light pedal at a good price"

3 comments
Mon 20 Jun 2011, 5:00 pm BSTBy

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If you want a lightweight pedal on a budget then it’s hard to better the Look Quartz. There is a trade off – if we’re being really picky it isn’t as silky smooth about the axle as the best Shimano pedals and after a few weeks of early winter grit we reckon we’d need to be more fastidious with our maintenance.

If you’re used to riding with SPDs you'll find the entry and release less positive but once you’re over that it rides well and has excellent mud clearance, which was a huge benefit on heavy clay trails. An added advantage is that, unlike many pedals at this price, the Quartz comes with shims as standard. This means that if your shoes have a deep recess you can adjust the height of the cleat to get the perfect setup, rather than wait for the soles of your shoes to bed in to the right level.

It’s a tiny amount of hassle at the outset that saves wear on your shoes and exacts maximum efficiency from your pedals – but in our eagerness to get out the door, how many of us actually bother? Overall this pedal offers an excellent price, weight and performance combination and is ideal for folks with bad knees.

This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.

What's the score with BikeRadar reviews? You can find a full explanation of our ratings here.

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User Reviews

There are 3 reviews on this post

Showing 1 - 3 of 3 comments

  • I tried the originals of these and switched back to Time 3 months later, frustrated with the ghost releases and actually having to reshim the cleats as they wore in.

    Sounds like with the spring tension they've gone too far the other way.

    Time are lardier, but I can't get on with the action on the Looks and it doesn't look like they've fixed them yet

  • I really like these pedals. I just switched over from SPD's this year. Tried the 1st generation and the spring tension was way too weak. The 2nd generation pedals are excellent. I haven't had any issue with premature release like the 1st generation did.

    In my opinion they are a cross between Crank Brothers Candy and Time ATAC pedals. I have one knee that is finicky. These pedals are the perfect fix for that problem.

    Weight to price ratio is excellent. Smooth bearing like my Look road pedals with a positive snap in in any weather condition.

    I like the shimmed cleat setup. Yes, it does require you to take some time to get it right, but the engagement with the pedal is very solid once you have the shim height setup correctly. No more cutting your shoe sole down to make the pedals fit your shoe. The shim also saves your sole from bar wear unlike Crank Brother's pedals that sell the optional sole saver plate for $10.

    Great product after Look did their homework the second time around.

  • Does anybody know how the float and release feel on these vs. the Crank Bros. and Time ATAC’s?

    I like the float on the Crank Bros. (the wear of the cleat quickly gives you more than the spec’d 6deg.) vs. the Time’s (which seems less than the advertised 5deg). I also prefer the lower release tension of the Crank Bros. vs. the Time’s.

    Would stick with the Crank Bros. but they have some deal-breaking problems (very finicky entry – the Eggbeaters rotate “away” from the cleat and the position of the Candy’s wings need to be in the right place which doesn’t alway happen quickly, the ease of release seems to vary greatly due to the slop in the mechanism as if pedal/sole contact sometimes can make it much harder to release depending on where I am in the pedal stroke, and they release if the bottom of the pedal hits something).

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Specification

Name:
Quartz pedals (11)
Built by:
Look
Price:
$119.68

Weight (g):
279 g
Available Colours:
Grey, Red, White
Material:
Polyamide, Steel

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