Look Trail Roc+ Flat pedal review

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The Look Trail Roc+ Flat pedal has a forged aluminum body, two cartridge bearings, a needle bearing, 10 replaceable pins per side and is made in France.

  • Brand: Look
  • Product: Trail Roc+ Flat Pedal
  • From: Look
  • Price: £159.90
  • Tested: by Benji for 3 months
I removed the centre pins to eek more concavity

Pros

  • Cool aesthetic
  • Well constructed
  • Pedal body is tough

Cons

  • Lack feel
  • Tall pins get bent
  • Sit very close to crank

Look are well known for their clip-in pedals, especially ones for dropbar tarmac-going bicycles. The Look Trail Roc+ Flat is their premium flat pedal offering and is made in France, just like their premium clipless models. This French-made-ness partly explains the high price tag.

Weight wise, they came in a 406g.

In terms of construction, it’s a forged aluminium body (103 x 101mm) with a chromoly axle inside spinning on two roller bearings and a needle bearing. They have ten pins per side (you’ll notice I reduced this to nine pins per side because I removed the centre pin).

They don’t offer much in the way of concavity. Even when assessing them in the correct way (ie. top of pins to centre of pedal body as opposed to just assessing the pedal body). These are a pretty shallow pedal. By my measuring, the amount of concavity on offer is around 4.25mm. As comparison, a DMR Vault‘s concavity is around 6mm.

They are quite a striking looking pedal with a certain élan to them. Sort of a Euro-fied Burgtec vibe with their stepped edges. They are available in black, silver or orange.

On the trail there’s decent traction on offer from the tall skinny pins. The pins are effective sole grabbers. I did find that because the pedal body sits so close to the crank arm, I had to frequently look down and reposition my foot so that I was engaging the full complement of pins; my soles were always missing the inner pins.

And you can see for yourself the amount of bent pins that I’ve ended up with. It’s always hard to say whether any other pedal would have fared any better during the same test rides but frequent bending is often an issue with any pedals that have tall pins.

At least the pedal body itself has remained damage free so replacing pins is fine. And the bearings still feel impressively smooth and un-baggy.

With flat pedals there is always a compromise required. Feel, traction, durability – pick two. These Look Trail Roc+ flat pedals have okay traction and good durability (well, the bearings do anyway). They just don’t have feel.

Bent pins abound

Overall

Whilst the level of construction is impressive on these made-in-France flatties, they aren’t quite there in terms of feel. They lack concavity. The traction on offer is good, so long as you don’t mind having your foot sitting very close to the crank arm.

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Review Info

Brand: Look
Product: Trail Roc+ Flat Pedal
From: Look
Price: £159.90
Tested: by Benji for 3 months

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

More posts from Ben

Home Forums Look Trail Roc+ Flat pedal review

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Look Trail Roc+ Flat pedal review
  • 1
    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    So even once discounted to 50% of their rather optimistic price they still wont be worth buying. Good to know

    1
    Shackleton
    Free Member

    Funny how people are different. Due to injury I recently started riding on flats again and couldn’t work out why the DMR V11s I picked up felt so bad when everyone else seems to rave about them (as far as plastic pedals go). After reading an NSMB article I tried some oneup composites and they feel great despite being roundly panned in the media. The difference? The oneups lack concavity and the way I place my feet, with the ball of my foot well in front of the axle, planar pedals work better than concave.

    So from my perspective I think that using concavity as a judging criteria for pedals is a bit like complaining that clothes don’t fit! They aren’t wrong, they just aren’t designed for you, let someone who can use them evaluate them. (Sorry, spent ages looking at pedal reviews and every flat pedal seems to have “concavity” being the overriding criteria for judgement……….)

    Mark
    Full Member

    That would be because the optimal foot position for efficient pedalling is generally with the ball of the foot over the axle. That’s why SPD cleats are positioned where they are. There’s obvs some variability around that but it’s a general principal. Concavity helps not only with the comfort of having a lumpy part of your foot fit into a bit more space but the concavity of the pedal helps you locate your foot on the right part of the pedal.

    So, Id argue that concavity is a valid point of judgement of a pedal.

    1
    Shackleton
    Free Member

    I think that we will have to disagree. It may be more efficient (roadie influence?) but my cleats haven’t sat under the ball of my foot for years and it appears that a flat pedal that tries to make me do that doesn’t work. Locating the correct foot position on my flat pedals also works using the front or back of the pedal body so concavity isn’t required for that.

    Although we may be in the minority, there do seem to be quite a number of people that I’ve met, or who grumble on forums, who don’t suit very concave pedals, and this user group is rarely covered in reviews. Using concavity to identify who it may suit seems a fairer mode of assessment than marking it down due to lack of concavity.

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    the optimal foot position for efficient pedalling is generally with the ball of the foot over the axle

    That was accepted wisdom years ago but these days many argue for a more forward foot position. This isn’t only on flat pedals, cleat slots have got longer to allow more adjustment too.

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    I’ve never been a roady or an XC rider and I pedal with my arch.

    Does anyone make convex pedals?

    igm
    Full Member

    Even roadies are moving the cleats back from the ball.

    I wonder if it was originally governed by the practical length / fit of a cage in the days of cages and straps.

    dc1988
    Full Member

    OneUp are convex, I’ve seen some very good reviews for them due to that reason but some people prefer concave.

    Shackleton
    Free Member

    The body of the composite oneups are convex but the pins make it flat (I’ve checked). I guess they become convex if you can push your shoes onto 3-5mm of pin! Still, whatever shape they are, they work well for a more arch centric foot placement.

    Apparently kona a wahwah2, marin oso and squidworx pedals are similarly “flat” (not concave) if you want other options.

    kormoran
    Free Member

    Age 5 I learnt to peddle in wellies, using the ball of my foot over the pedal axle and the heel of the boot snugly pushed up against the side of the pedal so as to prevent my foot sliding forward. Having mastered the technique by age 6, I have never looked back although I have upgraded from frog eye wellies to something more appropriate.

    LAT
    Full Member

    it’s good to see photos of the dimensions in the review 👍

    a dimension that i’m interested in for flat pedals is crank arm to the outside edge of the pedal.

    oh, and that is a very high price!

    jeffl
    Full Member

    Really interesting point about foot position. I always used to be a ball of foot on pedal rider. But over the years I’ve moved to an arch of the foot over the pedal as I find it offers better grip when clattering over rocks and such like. This is on a hardtail in the peaks.

    A convex pedal sounds interesting.

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    @kormoran

    although I have upgraded from frog eye wellies to something more appropriate.

    I’m struggling to imagine anything better tbh!

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