Look has built high-end race bikes for over 40 years, but the G85 Cezal is the French brand's first serious gravel offering, a carbon race bike with a Gallic twist, suspension-corrected geometry, and a playful character that makes itself known if you're willing to explore more challenging terrain.
Based in Nevers, Burgundy, since 1951, Look is a brand synonymous with innovation. Its résumé is long enough and prestigious enough that any move into a new category is newsworthy. The clipless pedal, carbon framesets in the professional peloton, Bernard Hinault's 1985 Tour de France victory, these are the reference points that a brand-new gravel bike has to carry with it, for better or worse.
The G85 Cezal doesn't try to ignore that heritage. It is, in Look's own framing, apparently a road bike that has decided the rules no longer apply. Road-bred precision that meets a playful MTB spirit. The name Cezal comes from a place in central France, a stretch of endless fast tracks and raw landscape that encapsulates what gravel riding actually represents to the French brand.
And its race intentions aren't just in the marketing text; it's already won an event, with Russell Finsterwald taking victory as a privateer in the Belgian Waffle Ride in February, and will be in action again at the upcoming Sea Otter event in Monterey, California. He has worked extensively with the development of the Cezal and had this to say: “Early on in my conversations with Look, it became clear they were serious about re-entering the gravel space. The G85 Cezal delivers on that in a big way. It checks all the boxes of a modern gravel bike: generous tyre clearance, geo-corrected to accommodate a suspension fork and a racy platform.
“What’s stood out most to me is the balance of handling and comfort. Look has managed to keep the bike lively while significantly improving stability, thanks in part to the slacker head angle. It's been a real treat riding the new G85 these last few months, and I'm excited to see it become officially available to the public!”
But the Cezal isn't a bike to be pigeonholed as a bike just designed for racing, and the compromise that often entails; in fact, look, claim this bike works just as well for all-rounders and even bike packers too. I got to spend some time with Romain Simon, the Bike product manager at Look, and his infectious enthusiasm for the bike showed a real passion for the project: “With the G85 Cezal, we wanted to move away from the white lines and marginal gains, returning to why we ride in the first place: expression. We’ve taken the carbon expertise that has dominated the road and given it a rebellious, playful soul. This bike doesn’t ask you to follow a path or a trend; it adapts to your style, your terrain, and your rules."
The frame is built from Look's UD high-modulus carbon, using the same composite expertise that has underpinned the brand's road range for decades. The geometry has been developed specifically for gravel rather than adapted from a road template, and the details reflect a reassuringly modern take on off road riding: a reasonably slack 70-degree head tube angle with 50mm of trail produces a front end that is, in Look's words, composed but playful, more stable under load on loose surfaces than a road geometry would permit, but still quick enough to reward an aggressive line through a tight corner. The seat tube runs at 74 degrees, centring the rider efficiently over the pedals. Short chainstays, at 425mm for a medium, keep the rear end responsive without sacrificing stability.
The geometry has one further quality that really caught my eye and signals the bike's intentions in an ever more crowded market: it is designed to work with suspension forks with up to 60mm of travel. That suspension-readiness is not a token gesture. The fork is a UD HM carbon unit with 57mm-plus tyre clearance, and the frame geometry has been engineered so that adding a suspension fork does not compromise handling balance. In practice, the tyre clearance alone (50mm in 1x configuration, 45mm in 2x in the rear) is enough to deal with most tracks and trails, but adding suspension increases its versatility further and adds a degree of future proofing sometimes ignored by other brands.
The 3D Wave Flex System is the frame's other significant compliance feature, and it is more interesting than the name suggests. The rear stays incorporate a wave pattern in the carbon tube profile, a design that, according to Look's own modelling, produces 15 per cent more vertical flex than a straight tube of identical material and fibre orientation with no change in lateral stiffness. The flex is directional: vertical to absorb road buzz and trail chatter, but not lateral, where rigidity is needed. On the rougher sections of my Tuscan test ride, the rear end felt planted, both comfortable and compliant, though I'd need more time on the bike to work out whether that's down to the frame, or wheel and tyre choices.
First ride impressions
The overall impression after one ride in the Tuscan hills is of a bike that feels simultaneously more settled and more alive than the geometry numbers alone would suggest. It sits into loose corners with a confidence that takes a moment to trust, but once you do theres a strong urge to push harder each time. Most of my ride was on wide-open smooth gravel, though I did venture onto a few more technical singletrack sections, and it's here that the bike's playful nature came to the fore. Its not the same as riding a mountain bike, though it does flick from line to line more willingly than most drop bar bikes, and gives the sense of composed control, letting you get on with choosing the ideal path without the feeling of just hanging on to it and hoping for the best.
The frame features the now almost de rigueur down tube storage box. It is not a new concept in the category, but the execution here is clean and well done, and unusually is supplied fully equipped which is nice, though I'm sure like me most people have a personal preference on what to pack as crucial spares and tools: the opening does not interrupt cable routing, the pouch closes securely, and the whole thing adds nothing to the frame's visual clutter and, unlike some others, there was no rattle or noise coming from it during my test ride.
The test bike ran SRAM Force 1x13, with a 40T chainring and a 10-46T cassette, a groupset I love and, for me, the very best option available for gravel bikes. The Fulcrum Soniq Carbon 2WF wheels were a composed, well-matched choice for the frame: not so light that they felt fragile on the rock sections, not so heavy that they blunted the bike's natural speed on the descents and rolling sections. The Look LS3 stem and Deda SuperZero Gravel bars are sensible stock choices, though the optional Look Aero Carbon stem and bar upgrade, available for €790, is available for anyone wanting to convert the G85 Cezal into something more race-oriented.
A full review will follow later this year, when there is time to spend proper days on home trails around Sheffield and the surrounding Peak District, the kind of terrain that will ask questions the Tuscan hills, beautiful as they are, were too well-mannered to raise. Gritstone descents and moorland tracks in classic Northern UK weather can sometimes give a very different impression to riding a bike on the champagne gravel found in Southern Europe, and I can't wait to see if that playful character translates beyond a press launch.
What my first ride did establish is a very good baseline, its a bike that rides with a genuine confidence-inspiring character, as well as the high-performance sensations you'd expect from a brand thats built race bikes for decades, but it still had that defiant French flair that is a signature of all Look bikes.
LOOK G85 CEZAL- KEY SPECIFICATIONS
- Frame: UD HM Carbon, suspension-corrected geometry
- Fork: UD HM Carbon, 57mm tyre clearance, 60mm travel ready
- Compliance system: 3D Wave Flex System (rear stays, 15% additional vertical flex)
- Tyre clearance: 57mm front, 50mm (1x) / 45mm (2x) rear
- Head tube angle: 70° / Trail: 50mm
- Seat tube angle: 74°
- Chainstay length (M): 425mm
- Bottom bracket: T47
- Dropout: UDH
- Down tube storage: Integrated box + pouch
- Cockpit (stock): LOOK LS3 stem + Deda SuperZero Gravel bars
- Cockpit (optional): LOOK Aero Carbon stem and bars — €790
BUILDS AND PRICING
- G85 Cezal - SRAM Force 1x13 (Speckled Purple/Neon Orange): €6,490
- G85 Cezal - Shimano GRX Di2 2x12 (Speckled Sand/Black): €5,730
- G85 Cezal - Shimano GRX 820 1x12 (Petrol/White): €3,490
- G85 Cezal frameset only: €2,490
For all the details visit Look's website.
