The Look A396 pedals on my Mercier road bike are showing some age. Besides being scraped from several unplanned side crashes at rest stops the bearings were slow and stiff. I received a coupon for 25% off at Bike Barn from Nuride.com and was trying to think what did I need. Answer: Look Keo Sprint pedals.

Weighing 130g and made of some composite material the pedals look sweet. Itching to get them into service I installed them on the Mercier Friday evening. The first thing I learned is it takes a large hex key to tighten them on the crank arms. I rummaged through my assorted bike tools and finally found the correct hex key.

Next I installed the cleats on my Diadora shoes. Interesting that Look offers three different cleats but none of the literature tells you what is in the box except the box itself. The cleat options: silver with 4.5 degrees rotation, red with 9 degrees and black with 0 degrees. Silver cleats were in the box. Fortunately I had a pair of red cleats from a previous mis-buy so they went on the shoes.

Saturday’s ride was a perfect test ride. When I installed the red cleats I moved them back on the shoe about 1/4″ since the current position seemed like I was on my tiptoes sometimes. 59 miles later the pedals were a nice ride. Exiting the pedals takes a different motion than the A396 pedals and a couple of times I was not sure I would get released before I toppled over but I escaped each time without an incident.

The Sunday ride confirmed the feel and workings of the pedals. After adding new stuff  I seem to be pedaling faster.

More impressions will follow as the miles add up.