Taking their integrative approach to frame and parts to the next level, the Look 695 AeroLight road bike brings the French brand into the aero bike game.
In the past, Look has integrated everything from the stem and seatpost into the frame to melding track pedals with their ZED cranks. A lot of what’s used here was introduced on the standard Look 695. Now, they’re integrating brakes into the fork and reshaping the 695’s tubes to cheat the wind, all built with a new lightweight 1.5K high modulus carbon. Check the closeups below…
The HSC 7 Aero fork sticks the custom brake arms in the center of the legs, putting them entirely inline with the shape to smooth air flow. The entire fork is just 320g and uses continuous fibers from the legs through the full 1.125″-to-1.5″ tapered steerer. The lower bearing is placed directly on the crown and it uses their Head Fit 3 threaded assembly to tighten it into the frame while allowing stem height adjustment without loosening the fork.
Rear brakes are mounted just behind the bottom bracket, which uses their 65mm diameter bearings and one-piece ZED2 carbon crankset. For the record, the crankarms/spindle assembly is just 320g!
The stays and seatmast/post are all aero shaped, too. The E-Post comes with three different elastomers (hard, medium and soft), which insert between the post and frame to completely isolate it from road buzz. For 2014, the E-Post is now compatible with Shimano’s internal seatpost Di2 battery.
Even the stem is an aero part of the bike, helping in three ways. First, the faceplate is smoothed over into a new clamp design with hidden screws. Second, it has a massive range of adjustable tilt, from -13° to +17°, helping the rider get lower when it counts. Lastly, it helps hide the front brake cable, which runs discreetly inside the steerer all the way to the brake. All that and the whole thing comes in at just 160g claimed. That’s 20g less than their similar C-Stem, but with more range.
The rear brake’s cable runs inside the downtube and BB shell, and Look’s technical docs say the design provides smooth, one finger braking with more power than most people would expect from “aero” brakes.
As a frame pack, the kit will weigh in at 2,550g for frame, fork, brakes, post, pedals and crankset. Retail is €4,599. Six sizes are offered (XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL) and five colors:
Left to right: Premium Pro Team, Premium Reflect and Premium Heritage. Below: Flash Blue and White Acid
