The new 2021 Look 795 Blade RS aero road bike looks almost exactly the same as it did when Look introduced the slippery design to us back around Eurobike two years ago. But inside it’s apparently an all-new bike thanks to new, more complex molding and a mix of even higher modulus carbon fibers. The result is 300g weight savings of the original frame, plus another 120g saved of the proprietary seatpost!
2021 Look 795 Blade RS aero road bike sheds serious weight!
Look’s 795 Blade RS looked like a pretty advanced disc brake aero road bike when we first got a glimpse of it at Eurobike, then followed up with more detail a couple of months later. It had been an early adopter of the sleekly integrated cable routing approach we see becoming the aero road norm only now, and even already had plenty of room for up to 30mm tires.
But Look was a little cagey on the frame weights, ultimately only quoting us a rim-brake model at 950g. Only later did we really know that the disc brake model was over 1300g. But now with revised carbon construction, Look has clawed back almost 25% weight savings for the disc brake frame – now hitting a painted frame weight claim of 1050g for a size medium.
Though let’s be honest, if the new 795 Blade RS frame kit is able to lose 420g just in revised carbon, it’s safe to have called the original heavy to start with.
So what’s new? How did they save that much weight?
Look says they trimmed 300g of the disc brake frame by completely rethinking their manufacturing of the bike. The outer steel mold doesn’t change (so it keeps the same UCI certification number), but they’ve started using a more accurate EPS molding tech that wraps the individual carbon plies over a hard polystyrene form before it goes into the main mold.
By doing so, Look produces a more consistent and smoother internal surface to the frame, with fewer imperfections, that means they need less extra material to achieve their desired strength and stiffness.
Add to that, Look has moved to a more premium mix of carbon fibers, doubling their use of hi-mod UD fiber and adding ultra hi-mod (UHM) fiber for the first time. Now, the 795 Blade RS is made up of 63% hi-mod (up from 32%) and 4% UHM to get the same stiffness as before with fewer layers of carbon, while still allowing them to adjust stiffness depending on frame size.
795 Blade RS – Tech details
The same details as before remain the same, including the five size range and uniquely adjustable effective seattube angle. What is interesting is that there is no longer any detail on the rim brake bike from the 2018 debut, that never made it to the UCI-approved list.
The 795 Blade RS features integrated aerodynamics with almost fully internal, but manageable routing through Looks’ own ADH aero alloy stem and into the semi-recessed headset – working with electronic or mechanical groupsets. The bike gets flat mount disc brakes, Speed Release thru-axles, a proprietary Aeropost 3 aero carbon seatpost with integrated clamp, a BB386 bottom bracket, and clearance for 30mm tires.
Look 795 Blade RS – Pricing & availability
Eight complete bikes fall under the revamped 795 Blade family, with four getting the new top-spec, lighter weight RS frame. That new lightweight frame is also available for 3300€ in chameleon, black metallic/red, carbon/champagne, and Pro Team white paintjobs.
The top spec 795 Blade RS Disc Chameleon sells for 10,000€ with a complete SRAM Red AXS build and 47mm Corima carbon wheels for a 7.3kg weight claim.
A 795 Blade RS Disc ProTeam sells for 9000€ with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Corima 47mm wheels at 7.5kg.
For 7500€, the 795 Blade RS Disc Champagne gets Ultegra Di2 and Look R38D tubeless carbon wheels for an 8kg weight claim.
And the 6000€ 795 Blade RS Disc Black Metallic with Ultegra mechanical & Look R38D wheels at 8.2kg will be the cheapest build to feature the lighter frameset.
In what appears to use the older 1.3kg frame, there are builds with Ultegra Di2, Ultegra mechanical, and a 795 Disc 105 mechanical build for just 3400€.
All of the new 2021 family of Look 795 Blade RS road bikes are already available to order through your local dealer network.
