Inside the Look factory

After showing off the KeO Power pedal-based powermeter, Look took us on a tour of their factory in Nevers, France. This factory is focused on KeO pedals, and also includes workspace for the company's engineers, R&D department, designers, and customer service. Look carbon frames are mostly built in a factory in Tunisia, but are finished in Nevers. Photo: Caley Fretz

Look's charismatic GM Thierry Fournier (left) led our tour of the Look Factory. Photo: Caley Fretz

Look builds every set of KeO pedals here in this room in Nevers, France. Photo: Caley Fretz

The room is split into left and right sides, which each work on one pedal side. This woman is putting the spring assembly on left pedals. Photo: Caley Fretz

Pedal body skeletons await spring assemblies. Photo: Caley Fretz

Assembling axles, with a smile. Photo: Caley Fretz

Squirting grease into the axle assembly. Photo: Caley Fretz

Stacks of completed pedals in between the assembly stations and the packing stations. Photo: Caley Fretz

Packing Quartz mountain bike pedals. Photo: Caley Fretz

Obligatory blouses, even for the men. (Not really, it means you have to wear a white smock) Photo: Caley Fretz

While the rest of the factory floor is clean, the room in which the KeO Power pedals are assembled is immaculate. Each one is assembled by hand. Photo: Caley Fretz

The axles come to Look pre-assembled (Polar deals with the electronics), but the pedals are completed, tested for accuracy, and calibrated by Look. Photo: Caley Fretz

A torque wrench tightens the axle to specifications. The KeO Power has an extra seal to protect the electronics, so they have a bit more drag at first, but Look says it goes away in a day or two of riding. Photo: Caley Fretz

This device tests and calibrates every power pedal before it exits the factory. It must read within 1% to pass. Many fall outside that mark when they are first assembled, making calibration necessary. Photo: Caley Fretz

This particular pedal didn't pass due to "pedale non conforme." The 196.641 at the bottom needs to read at least 198. The calibration process is automated. Photo: Caley Fretz

The carbon blades used in the latest Look pedals are made in Nevers as well. Perfecting the blades was incredibly difficult, according to Look. Even now, about a quarter of the blades produced don't make it through the stringent quality control process. Photo: Caley Fretz

Blades are fatigue tested on this machine, which bends them repeatedly for 2,000,000 cycles. Photo: Caley Fretz

The track cranks for the London Olympics are currently under development. We got a sneak peak of the Olympic track frames as well, but were forbidden to take photos. Photo: Caley Fretz

Look builds most of their frames in a factory in Tunisia, rather than somewhere in Asia. They have their own factory there, about two days away by truck. The frames come from the Tunisian factory with a layer of clearcoat for protection and to make it easier to spot defects. Photo: Caley Fretz

The clearcoat is then sanded off, preparing the frames for finishing in Nevers. Photo: Caley Fretz

Workers apply decals and paint carefully. Photo: Caley Fretz

A matte clearcoat will go on the hanging 25th anniversary frame. Other paint work gets a shiny clearcoat. Photo: Caley Fretz

A numbered special edition frame is almost ready for clearcoat. Photo: Caley Fretz

Minor assembly of the frame, installing the headset and stem, and crankset, occurs in-house. Photo: Caley Fretz

Look's top-tier 695 uses an enormous 65mm bottom bracket shell and proprietary crank, the Zed. Photo: Caley Fretz

Forks await assembly. Photo: Caley Fretz

The Zed crank assembly is like no other, so they are usually installed in the factory. Photo: Caley Fretz

The final touchup work on a 695 frame. Photo: Caley Fretz

Completed national frames. Photo: Caley Fretz

A special edition American paint job. Photo: Caley Fretz

Fatigue tested and QC rejected pedals fill a dumpster outside. Photo: Caley Fretz