Look 795 Blade RS frameset

The new Look 795 Blade RS is all about speed, with its design focusing on stiffness and aerodynamics yet without a huge sacrifice to overall comfort. An impressive combination to achieve, and a very nice bike to ride – whether you're racing or just out for a razz.

• Pros: Massively efficient; sublime handling through the corners
• Cons: Not the most exciting bike when it comes to feedback; tall front end

The ride

Look has been at the forefront of the use of carbon fibre for longer than most and it's that expertise that shows through on the ride quality of the Blade RS. Using varying grades of carbon fibre (more about that in a moment) and the way they are laid up means Look has created a bike that is ruthlessly stiff when you drop the hammer but with next to no road vibration or crass banging or rattling over rough surfaces. The 795 has a beautifully smooth ride quality similar to that of a titanium frame.

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This means you can cover a good distance at speed without really noticing it, and even on four to five-hour rides I got off the bike feeling fresher than normal without realising where the time had gone.

The only thing that did dampen my excitement a little was how the bike feels when you put in hard efforts like sprinting or powering up short, sharp climbs. You can't argue with the computer on your handlebar, the numbers show that the Blade is really shifting, but I didn't get that feeling as a rider. Maybe the way the carbon is laid up to create that smooth ride has just taken too much of the edge off for my personal taste, but if you like a bike that screams and shouts a bit about what is going on underneath the tyres then you might find the Blade a little tame.

I'm not knocking its performance – it's impressive – I just like to feel a little bit more involved. You can't have it all, though, and I'm not sure I'd swap that smooth ride over the long distance for a bit more fun... Would I? Nah, probably not.

For such a race-orientated frame the Look has some very compact geometry rather than the usual long and low-slung style of a race frame.

On this large model you get a 545mm top tube and a 180mm tall head tube, but the fact that the top tube blends into the stem cutout shape does give the bike quite a tall standover height. If I was out for just an hour-long hard blast I did find the Blade RS a little cramped, especially when descending when you really want to stretch out to lower your centre of gravity through the technical sections.

That's not to say that this hampers the bike overall, I just felt a bit restricted compared with my normal range of movement.

The handling is precise without being twitchy, and the way it behaves on the road gives you lots of confidence to just let the bike go and see what happens. You are often rewarded with a wow! when cornering as you carve a smooth line through the apex and out the other side.

Even when you are caught out by a rough line or have to tweak your road position, the Look responds with little drama.

The taller front end makes for a good climber, giving you a more upright position like an endurance bike so you can sit and spin up the hills. Its stiffness comes into play here too if you want to get out of the saddle for a power climb.

Frame and fork

Look has manufactured the 795 Blade RS from a mix of High Modulus (HM), Intermediate Modulus (IM) and High Resistance (HR) carbon fibre grades, with each bringing different properties to the overall ride.

The HM fibres have a very high stiffness rating, which is great for power transfer, but they are brittle so Look says that their placement is considered wisely. For parts of the frame that are likely to see high levels of stress from riding or even being crashed, the use of the HR grade comes into play as it can take decent amounts of deformation. This deformation can also be used to bring a little bit of give to the frame and fork, as well for added comfort like in the curved seatstays.

The IM grade of carbon is kind of a happy medium, so can be used elsewhere in the frame to keep the overall ride balance.

As I said earlier, the Blade has brilliant levels of comfort and that is most noticeable at the rear end. On both the disc and rim-braked models Look has removed the rear brake bridge between those curved seatstays which, coupled with the carbon layup, gives vertical compliance while maintaining lateral stiffness (yeah, yeah, that old chestnut) to reduce road buzz and improve rear wheel traction. Look says the Blade doesn't need to rely on a flexible seatpost thanks to this, which improves pedalling efficiency.

Whatever the planning, it does really work in the real world, and the novel way Look has designed the mount for the rear calliper hasn't affected braking performance or stiffness.

Aerodynamics is one of the key factors when it comes to the Blade RS's design and you can certainly see that from all the varying tube shapes and the way they blend into each other.

At the front end, the stem is integrated into the top of the head tube and the fork integrated at the bottom.

The seat tube is also scalloped to hide the rear wheel, like a time trial bike, which is quite apt as the Look AeroPost 2 seatpost offers four saddle positions, from a relaxed 71.8 degrees to a time trial or triathlon-friendly 78.4 degrees, which gives the Blade a fair amount of versatility.

As you'd expect, the Blade RS comes with full internal cabling for a smooth and clean look and I'm happy to report that no matter how rough the road, there is no pinging or rattling of the cables against the inside of the frame.

Like a lot of performance frames, the Blade RS has a massive junction between the down tube, seat tube and chunky chainstays for maximum stiffness which also sees it use a press-fit bottom bracket; that won't be to everyone's taste, but I certainly had no issues with creaking even after riding it in the wet.

Overall, the Blade RS is a quality frameset that is very well built and finished.

Value

In the UK, the 795 Blade RS is only available as a frameset – that includes the frame, fork, headset, AeroPost 2 seatpost with two post heads, the ADS stem (six sizes, 80-130mm) and 50mm worth of headset spacers – for £3,000, which puts it up against the likes of the Pinarello Prince FX. While I liked the Pinarello, I'd say that the Look brings much more to the ride across the board, especially in the stiffness versus comfort stakes.

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The build we have in for testing is a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, Corima deep-section wheels and a Look carbon aero handlebar, which is available in Europe with a rough conversion of around £7,445. That puts it very much in the superbike category.

The weight of 8.01kg isn't exactly groundbreaking with all that fancy kit on board, but that is often the compromise when it comes to bikes with an aerodynamic theme.

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Price-wise, it also compares quite well to the 3T Strada frameset, a similarly designed aero bike that excels in comfort and performance and costs £3,700.

Conclusion

Overall, the Look is a very nice bike to ride in a range of circumstances, and up against the opposition it does pretty well on the price front considering all of the technology and materials used in its construction.

Verdict

Offers an excellent balance of stiffness and comfort at a pretty good price considering the technology and materials involved