New Exakt pedal-based power meters combine the best of Look road pedals & SRM direct power measurement, in a light & compact pedal body, easily swappable from bike-to-bike. After a co-produced carbon crankset power meter last year, SRM & Look are back together to build the almost invisible Exakt power meter pedals.
Look+SRM Exakt two-sided power meter road bike pedals
The two relatively small companies who manufacture all of their products in-house came together a year and a half ago, with the French bike & component maker producing a premium European-made SRM Origin carbon crankset with SRM’s spider-based power meter. Now the partnership deepens with the co-branded Look & SRM Exakt pedals, promising the accuracy of SRM’s premium power meters in a more accessible package.
Accessibility for the two brands isn’t just about lowering the cost of direct power metering, but also making it easier for customers to use, to buy, and easier to move accurate & repeatable power measurement from one bike to the next.
The pedals are compact too. From the outside they don’t even look much different from the Look Keo Max pedals whose retention system the Exakt pedals employ. Look & SRM wanted to be sure that all the electronics fit inside the carbon pedal body so that they would be robust, easier to use, and easily swapped from one bike to the next.
Tech Details
To fit everything inside without increasing pedal stack at all, Look & SRM developed a new pedal axle and bearing system that places all of the direct measuring & transmitting electronics on the unique squared-off pedal spindle. Two pairs of strain gauges sit on opposite flat sides, beneath a pair of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
On the other two sides sit the controlling circuits & microprocessor, plus an antenna that wraps around next to the inboard seals.
Then power wiring goes inside the hollowed steel axle to reach external charging contacts set inside the 8mm pedal, where a small micro-USB dongle permits easy charging (of both pedals at the same time with a paired setup).
The Exact pedals communicate via both Bluetooth LE & ANT+ making it possible to connect to most cycle computers. They can even communicate direct to web connected Zwift devices without a need for a conventional head unit.
SRM rates the Exakt pedals for 100 hours of operation, which their engineering team promises with deliver at least 80 hours of real world conditions metering out on the road.
Now packing all those electronics onto the spindle meant rethinking how to keep the pedals spinning smoothly, with a longer than typical cantilevered section of spindle.
The unique Exakt pedals layout places a large needle bearing directly under the center of the pedal body, plus an oversized (for road pedals) ball bearing on the outside end of the spindle.
The last key bit of internal tech in the pedals is a dual set of internal & external labyrinth seals on the inboard side of each pedal, plus a blue-anodized sealed alloy cap on the outside of the pedals. Together they deliver IPX7-level waterproofing (1m submersion for 30min) that Look & SRM say makes the power meter pedals able to withstand riding in the wettest of conditions (but you won’t see pro mechanics pressure washing these pedals.)
The 155g per side carbon bodied pedals use a typical for Look 64mm wide/400mm2 stainless steel platform interface for long-wearing & stability. They use a Keo Max-style adjustable spring retention system and maintain the same Keo 11.9mm stack height. While the expensive electronics are housed on the unique axle, the pedal body is replaceable. Pro rider André Greipel crashed hard in Milan San Remo while riding the Exakt pedals, he broke his collar-bone, destroyed the carbon pedal body. But the power metering spindle was undamaged, and the team was able to rebuild the power meter with a new body in less than 10 minutes.
Direct Power Measurement & Dual-sided Accuracy
Look stressed the fact that when they decided to develop a power metering pedal, they needed to match SRM’s benchmark accuracy performance. So SRM developed the paired bridge strain gauge configuration for the square axle faces to isolate torque delivered into the pedals from all other forces. Then an external magnet on each pedal collects real measured cadence to turn torque data into Watts.
SRM assures us that the Exakt pedals measure power as accurately as the SRM crankset power meters +/- 2% and they can transmit that data up to 200 measurements per second via Bluetooth. Pre-production pedals have been raced in and used for training with Greipel, Adam Hansen & Warren Barguil starting with the spring classics up to now, who rely on their accurate power reporting.
App-based Setup, Install & Initial Calibration
The pedals use a mobile app for easy setup & initial calibration. To make the power metering work, you need to align the crank arms and the square spindle.
So you actually thread the pedals into your cranks with an 8mm hex key until they are tight, and then back them out until the mark on the pedal end is aligned with the cranks. Holding them aligned in place, the nut on the pedal side of the crank is then tightened with a 19mm cone wrench. It is a simple process actually (and there’s a decent amount of room for error), but the smartphone app then confirms that they are installed properly. The resulting Q-factor for the pedals works out to be 54.6mm, although it can change slightly for up to one half rotation of the spindle to align with the crank’s threading.
The app then guides you through a one-time calibration process, after which the zero offset should not change over time. The power metering is temperature independent, and so they do not need to be recalibrated with each ride.
Pricing & Availability
The Look+SRM partnership brings with it a new multi-channel delivery method for the Exakt pedals. From July 1 buyers can order the power meter pedals on a co-branded Look & SRM website, and have them shipped direct to the consumer or to be picked up in partner bike shops. Or buyers can get the pedals direct from Look or SRM dealers.
No matter which avenue you choose to buy the pedals, the pricing remains the same. The most affordable option is Exakt Single, a single-sided power measurement setup that ships a single right power metering pedal with a dummy left pedal using the same Keo Max based cleat retention, but without the internals for 800€. To get dual-sided measurement with left/right balance, the 1400€ Exakt Double includes two power metering pedals (the left talks to the right, the right talks to paired devices.)
Lastly, a premium 2180€ Exakt Double Bundle is available that also includes an Exakt-branded SRM PC8 head unit & a heart rate monitor. All use standard Look pedals, available with 0°, 4.5°, or 9° of float.
The new Exakt pedals are then both a made-in-France carbon Look road bike pedal & an accurate SRM power meter, with German-made electronics.
