In this review I look at “City/Urban” flat pedals for recreational riders from the French brand Look with grippy surfaces from the Italian brand Vibram. You may already be wondering why I bought a pair of these pedals. I picked up the Look Geo City Grip pedals because I wanted a flat pedal that didn’t have any sharp surfaces, but would still have some grip. I was planning to put these on my Tumbleweed Prospector bike for some non-technical terrain riding and bikerafting trips with the goal of not having to remove/install the non-drive side pedal for the rafting parts. The pedals on my RadRunner utility e-bike also needed replacing so I figured that if they didn’t work out for my initial plan, they would definitely find a great home there.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Look Geo City Grip pedals are a large platform flat pedal with grippy Vibram rubber tread where you would expect to find knobs or pins of a typical flat pedal. It’s worth taking a quick look at the two companies that make the technologies found in these pedals.
Look started in 1951 as a French producer of a new style of ski bindings, but it is known widely to cyclists for introducing the first commercially successful clipless bicycle pedals in 1984. Bernard Hinault won the 1985 Tour de France and Greg LeMond won the following year with the new pedals. Other companies have produced their own takes on this pedal style (e.g. TIME and Shimano SPD-SL), and the legacy continues to this day as the delta style cleat road clipless pedal is the predominant interface used by performance oriented road cyclists. Look still makes premium clipless pedals, but they also make a range of flat pedals including those I’m discussing today.
Vibram is an Italian company started in 1937 whose founder invented the rubber lugged sole when he designed new mountaineering boots. Vibram really jumped into the spotlight after 2005 when it introduced their highly polarizing FiveFingers minimalist shoes which may be the only modern footwear more controversial than Crocs. To this day, many hiking footwear manufacturers use Vibram branded soles as a mark of high quality. My favourite sandals, the Bedrock Sandals’ Cairn 3D PRO II Adventure Sandals feature Vibram soles. I will be riding with Vibram soles on these Vibram surfaced pedals a lot of the time as they are my go to flat pedal footwear for non-technical riding in warm environments.
These companies are known for producing revolutionary products in the past and continue to produce high quality products in their respective areas. Below I’ll tell you how this spaghetti western of a pedal that combines work from both companies adds up.
The Good
The Look Geo City Grip pedals are a large platform flat pedal with a grippy Vibram rubber tread where you would expect to find knobs or pins of a typical flat pedal. The resulting pedal has no sharp surfaces anywhere so you don’t have to worry about the pedal scratching your legs when off the bike or in my additional usage, my packraft. Can a pedal surface like this provide enough grip? I think the rubber grip surface works well for the intended purposes of the pedal as an urban/city pedal. There is more float than I’m used to to, but it didn’t take long to get used to. As surfaces get bumpier the lack of grip compared to a typical platform pedal with metal pins becomes apparent. They work great for the intended purpose, but I wouldn’t recommend riding them on rocky singletrack.
While the pedals may in some ways resemble cheaper recreational style pedals on the outside, that’s not what you will find inside. The pedals have the same internals as Look’s rugged mountain bike pedals with a solid chromoly steel axle and stainless steel bearings. The pedals turn with a delightful smoothness and there is no play in the platforms in any dimension. They felt solid even when sprinting hard. These pedals also have the same 3 year warranty as all Look pedals.
The pedals are dual sided and have reflectors built in so that they are visible from both the front and back of the pedals. This is a nice safety feature given their intended use. Look also offers the same pedals in a “VISION” version with removable USB rechargeable lights in place of the reflectors for added visibility. You can also upgrade the non-lighted version with the lights purchased separately.
The pedal grip surfaces are replaceable and there is an option for a grippier “Trail” surface. I haven’t had the opportunity to compare the two grip surfaces yet, but it does look to be an option with a bit more grip.
How did they work for my intended purpose? Great! I started by taking them out for a 50 mile ride round trip to a lake for a 3 mile flat water paddle. There was no need to remove that non-drive side pedal when loading the bike onto the packraft. This may not sound like much, but for my casual bikerafting and training it saves both time and the hassle of removing and then re-installing the pedals. It would also be great on a longer bikerafting trip like the Texas Coast Bikerafting Route. There the pedals have plenty of grip for all day beach riding and it removes the need of carrying a pedal wrench, cleaning all the sand away, and re-greasing when re-installing the pedals after each short crossing by raft.
The Bad
These pedals are quite heavy at 590 grams for a pair vs 370 grams for a pair of Race Face Chester flat pedal knockoffs (Fooker Amazon brand) that I had installed on the bike prior. That’s some significant heft for a set of pedals. For e-bike applications, you may not care about the extra weight. The tradeoff for that weight is the grippy rugged rubber surfaces and the beefy mountain bike pedal internals.
There wasn’t anything included in the box other than the pair of pedals. No pedal washers are included in the box. No install or maintenance instructions either (there is a QR code to provide a link to the instructions). I understand the desire to reduce waste by not including written documentation, but I think a little bit of documentation in the box would be useful (it could even be printed on the inside of the box so it doesn’t waste paper). For example, I had no idea the surfaces were even replaceable until I was looking up some info online to write this review.
There is no surface for using a pedal wrench, and the pedals have to be installed with an hex wrench. I like pedals that have the option to use both as a pedal wrench with a cheater bar can be useful if they ever get stuck on a crank (hex sockets can deform under desperate wrenching). The use of the larger 8 mm vs 6 mm hex socket on the pedal spindles does alleviate this concern a bit.
The Ugly
The only serious gripe I have about the pedals is the MSRP. These pedals normally retail for $81, but I picked this pair up from REI’s annual bike sale for just under $17. For perspective, the clipless pedals on my road bike (Shimano PD-A600, I don’t ride SPD-SL) were $55 and the the clipless pedals on my gravel bike (Shimano PD-M520) sell for around $45 (they are seven years old and don’t remember what they cost back then), and the flat pedals on my mountain bike (Race Face Chester knockoff Fookers) were $21. While the grip surfaces will last a very long time, the replacement grips are ridiculously expensive at $44. The Vibram replacement surfaces are available in several hideous colors other than black. I’m kind of joking. I’m sure someone out there has a touring setup with all their bike components and bags matching the funky fluorescent camo colored pedals.
Final Thoughts
The question of whether these pedals are a good deal is a bit of a conundrum. The pedals definitely give an odd vibe. The axles, bearings, and Vibram surfaces are high quality and built on the solid platform of Look’s beefy mountain bike pedals. At the same time, the composite bodies and reflectors give a visual appearance that makes me think of cheap flat pedals, even though they are not. And don’t forget that MSRP for the pedals and the Vibram replacement grips. The price is quite high, but the pedals are designed and manufactured in France by Look and use grips from Vibram so it’s not totally unexpected.
I think these pedals are great for a utility bike, flat pedal touring, urban/beach cruiser, or a commuting e-bike. On an e-bike, the weight would not be detracting and for more casual riding it wouldn’t matter either. The reflector surfaces provide additional safety in the early morning, late evening, and night. The pedal surfaces have sufficient grip in both dry and wet conditions for riding pavement, gravel, sand, bike ways, and multi-use trails. The modular nature (can change grip surfaces or add lights) built on top of high quality internals (same as what is in their mtb pedals) is nice. They work great for my intended niche bikerafting and touring. No need to remove the pedals when loaded on the raft and no accidental leg scratches which can happen with studded flat pedals.
Who is going to buy a $81 pair of pedals for a beach cruiser or urban utility bike? Fortunately, that is a question for Look and not me to answer. For the highly discounted price that I paid (~80% off at $17), I actually wish that I would have bought an extra pair. For the retail price, I wouldn’t recommend these, but if you need a pedal with these characteristics and find them on sale, jump on them.
Specifications
- Pedal Type: Flat
- Intended Use: Recreational Urban Cycling
- Pedal Body Material: Composite
- Pedal Spindle Material: Chromoly Steel
- Pedal Bearings Material: Stainless Steel
- Pedal Surface Material: Vibram Vulcanized Rubber
- Weight: 590 grams for pair (claimed and measured within a gram on my scales)
- Platform Dimensions: 107 mm x 103 mm
- Pedal Q Factor: 63 mm
- Warranty: 3 years
- MSRP: $81.00
- Price Paid: $16.93
