This Bike of the Bunch is my mate Jeff Provan’s LOOK KG 196. The KG 196 model was designed in the early 90s and it was LOOK’s first monocoque carbon frame whose material structure consisted of carbon, kevlar, ceramic and aluminium. LOOK had engineered this frame for both road and track racing and some of the key features of the frame included adjustable stem and integrated fork. Additionally, this frame was used by Team ONCE in 1993.

LOOK has a long history of innovative designs. In recent years they’ve broken the mould again with their new 675 model which features a distinctive “A-stem” that is integrated into the top tube of the frame to bring a new aesthetic to the market. This vintage KG 196 may be a head-turner now, but with it’s adjustable headstem, integrated fork, monocoque frame, and compact rear triangle, it may have not been so well received back in 1993.

LOOK still pushing the boundries of bike design with their 675

Only a few years ago, Jeff came across this frame and with the help of Shifter Dan they managed to source parts to build a full bike as used by Team ONCE in 1993. It is a rarity to come across a bike today that has a Mavic groupset on it and this bike was no exception. Jeff’s LOOK frame had the Mavic 841 groupset. Mavic had been involved in the development of mechanical groupsets since the late 70s. Furthermore, in 1992 Mavic introduced it’s first electronic groupset, Zap, and later in 1999 the Metronic wireless electronic shifting prototype at Tour de France. If you’re interested in finding out more about the history of Mavic’s long forgotten groupsets then Disraeli Gears has it all.



