LOOK

LOOK started in 1951 in Nevers, Burgundy, producing bladders, frames and components for racing bikes. Founder Jean Beyl, a passionate skier, broke a leg in a fall and blamed the laces that held his shoes to his skis: the plated anti-fracture binding he devised from his hospital bed, followed by the N17 pivot binding of 1963, led the company into cycling, where the PP65 of 1984 became its first automatic pedal.

The hand-built KG 86 of 1986 was the brand’s first carbon frame and went to the Tour de France with Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond. Now named LOOK Cycle, after the ski-binding business was sold to Rossignol, the company still works from Nevers, where more than 98% of pedal production is handled by its own employees, and its catalogue runs from KEO pedals and power meters to road, gravel, track and e-bike frames.