Look has launched a G85 Cezal RS gravel race bike today, building on the G85 Cezal foundation it built earlier in the year.

It feels like new race-oriented gravel bikes are being released pretty much constantly, and the requirements for a competitive gravel race bike seem to get more specific and purposeful with every passing season.

Look launched its G85 Cezal all-rounder back in April, and we covered that launch with a first-ride impressions piece, after swinging a leg over the new machine in Italy.

Fast forward to now, and Look has given the Cezal a race tune and ‘RS’ model update with some boosted clearances and High Modulus carbon fibre.

The French brand says that the Cezal RS is ‘engineered specifically for riders seeking precision, reactivity and speed across medium and long distances’. Gravel racer Russell Finsterwald has played a hand in the bike’s development and rode to a top 20 Traka 360 result on a prototype of the bike earlier in the year.

It’s been a big year for racy gravel bike launches. Just recently we have covered the Factor Elara, Canyon Grail and Specialized Crux.

You will notice the Cezal has non-dropped seatstays for a more traditional look, and Look has given it relatively normal 50mm rear and 57mm front tyre clearances.

On paper, the bike may not look as cutting-edge as some of its competitors, and that mismatched tyre clearance figure may disappoint some, but Look argues it has drawn on real-world riding scenarios to come up with a highly competitive gravel machine that’s the right tool for the job.

Look claims the Cezal RS has been built around three core pillars: Versatile performance, responsive handling, and balanced component selection. The brand also said that it will provide a ‘competition-ready setup for 99% of race scenarios’.

Those core pillars sound sensible. We attended a pre-launch video call on the new bike, and it sounded as though creating a well-rounded bike informed by real-world race experience, not just one that would light up the comments sections, was a priority.

The RS has the same geometry as the G85 Cezal, and Look says it stuck with the non-dropped seatstays and a round seatpost to improve the bike’s handling, citing the need for real-world control over deep tube shapes.

The carbon fibre used in construction has been upgraded, though; the RS has a High Modulus (HM) carbon fibre layup, which saves a healthy 200 grams off the frame weight compared to the standard G85 Cezal.

Claimed weight for the medium frame is 1000 grams for the frame with hardware.

This HM layup provides a very stiff headtube, which Look says is stiffer than its Blade RS3 road bike.

The upgraded layup is said to boost bottom bracket stiffness by 19% and headtube stiffness by 20%.

The brand claims the rear seatstays ‘filter 15% of vibrations’, but there’s no further context on that number.

Tyre clearance is 57mm up front and 50mm at the rear. It can also be run with a double chainset setup with 45mm clearance. Looks says it wanted to retain shorter chainstays and a snappier ride quality over a bigger rear clearance number. A front suspension fork can also be fitted for more technical terrain.

The G85 Cezal RS will be available as a frameset and in two full build options.

The frameset will retail at €3,290 and include a Token T47 bottom bracket, flat-mount brake hardware, and a Look LS1 27.2mm seatpost.

The complete builds centre around SRAM XPLR gravel-specific groupsets.

The SRAM XPLR build has an RRP of €6,990 and will come with a 40-tooth chainring. Fulcrum Sharq C25 wheels, Hutchinson Touareg Race 45mm tyres and Deda Superzero carbon handlebar and stem. Claimed weight is 8.3kg.

The top-tier Red XPLR build comes in at €8,990 and will come with a racier 44-tooth aero chainring. It will also feature Fulcrum Sharq C25 wheels and the same Hutchinson 45mm tyres, but will come with the Look Aero carbon stem and RS 3 handlebar. Claimed weight is 7.9kg.

Look has launched a G85 Cezal RS gravel race bike today, building on the G85 Cezal foundation it built earlier in the year.

It feels like new race-oriented gravel bikes are being released pretty much constantly, and the requirements for a competitive gravel race bike seem to get more specific and purposeful with every passing season.

Look launched its G85 Cezal all-rounder back in April, and we covered that launch with a first-ride impressions piece, after swinging a leg over the new machine in Italy.

Fast forward to now, and Look has given the Cezal a race tune and ‘RS’ model update with some boosted clearances and High Modulus carbon fibre.

The French brand says that the Cezal RS is ‘engineered specifically for riders seeking precision, reactivity and speed across medium and long distances’. Gravel racer Russell Finsterwald has played a hand in the bike’s development and rode to a top 20 Traka 360 result on a prototype of the bike earlier in the year.

It’s been a big year for racy gravel bike launches. Just recently we have covered the Factor Elara, Canyon Grail and Specialized Crux.

You will notice the Cezal has non-dropped seatstays for a more traditional look, and Look has given it relatively normal 50mm rear and 57mm front tyre clearances.

On paper, the bike may not look as cutting-edge as some of its competitors, and that mismatched tyre clearance figure may disappoint some, but Look argues it has drawn on real-world riding scenarios to come up with a highly competitive gravel machine that’s the right tool for the job.

Look claims the Cezal RS has been built around three core pillars: Versatile performance, responsive handling, and balanced component selection. The brand also said that it will provide a ‘competition-ready setup for 99% of race scenarios’.

Those core pillars sound sensible. We attended a pre-launch video call on the new bike, and it sounded as though creating a well-rounded bike informed by real-world race experience, not just one that would light up the comments sections, was a priority.

The RS has the same geometry as the G85 Cezal, and Look says it stuck with the non-dropped seatstays and a round seatpost to improve the bike’s handling, citing the need for real-world control over deep tube shapes.

The carbon fibre used in construction has been upgraded, though; the RS has a High Modulus (HM) carbon fibre layup, which saves a healthy 200 grams off the frame weight compared to the standard G85 Cezal.

Claimed weight for the medium frame is 1000 grams for the frame with hardware.

This HM layup provides a very stiff headtube, which Look says is stiffer than its Blade RS3 road bike.

The upgraded layup is said to boost bottom bracket stiffness by 19% and headtube stiffness by 20%.

The brand claims the rear seatstays ‘filter 15% of vibrations’, but there’s no further context on that number.

Tyre clearance is 57mm up front and 50mm at the rear. It can also be run with a double chainset setup with 45mm clearance. Looks says it wanted to retain shorter chainstays and a snappier ride quality over a bigger rear clearance number. A front suspension fork can also be fitted for more technical terrain.

The G85 Cezal RS will be available as a frameset and in two full build options.

The frameset will retail at €3,290 and include a Token T47 bottom bracket, flat-mount brake hardware, and a Look LS1 27.2mm seatpost.

The complete builds centre around SRAM XPLR gravel-specific groupsets.

The SRAM XPLR build has an RRP of €6,990 and will come with a 40-tooth chainring. Fulcrum Sharq C25 wheels, Hutchinson Touareg Race 45mm tyres and Deda Superzero carbon handlebar and stem. Claimed weight is 8.3kg.

The top-tier Red XPLR build comes in at €8,990 and will come with a racier 44-tooth aero chainring. It will also feature Fulcrum Sharq C25 wheels and the same Hutchinson 45mm tyres, but will come with the Look Aero carbon stem and RS 3 handlebar. Claimed weight is 7.9kg.