LOOK invented the clipless pedals back in 1984. The concept was floating around earlier, in fact as far back as 1895, but LOOK’s approach was the first commercially successful application. Bernard Hinault won his fifth Tour de France in 1985 with the first LOOK Automatic Pedals. I’ve been using the road pedals for some time, and have them on the road bike and track bike. I absolutely love them, especially the KEO Blade pedals. An incredibly substantial and solid platform, and a very solid locking mechanism. They are also light, very light. It occurred to me to try the mountain pedals, specifically the Quartz Carbon Ti, based on my satisfaction with the road pedals. I have experience with mountain pedals such as Shimano and Crank Brothers, but have never been completely happy with either. For the cross bike, I decided to give the LOOK pedals a try, and based on two weeks of riding, it was the correct choice. Like the road pedals, they have very solid platforms. They are also very easy to engage, so much so, that I already feel as if I’ve been using them for years. It’s all automatic and easy. The ultimate test will be how they handle mud, and as soon as we have some rain in sunny Southern California, I’ll put them to the test. For now, I’m happy to stick with the company that invented the Automatic Pedal.