Linking to the classic, even indirectly, adds gravitas, validity to a product. Mondrian and Look, a case in point.

But if you investigate it, it’s a bit odd, Mondrian was Dutch, Mondriaan, but he dropped an ‘a’ to sound more French, no comment. Linking Look and Mondrian seems obvious, or natural until you discover this. Maybe that’s the way they want it, there’s more to it all than meets the eye.

Mondrian is generally characterised by his use of geometry and primary colours, the abstract geometric. A love of primary colours in itself is not unusual, but Mondrian had such a loathing for green that he painted all the stems of flowers in his house black.

Clearly we all have our thoughts on beauty, and although beauty is more than skin deep, paint schemes tend to polarise opinion - see Vini Fantini, and the Klein Attitude if in doubt! This deals with appearance.

This is about more than that though, it’s also about classic engineering inspiration.

So, the short way round, is there nothing new under the sun, or is everything linked to something classic from another sphere, and does this make it better?

The reference to the Klein Attitude is no coincidence. This was the first true super bike, highly priced, highly prized and highly effective. It is also the first thing that comes to mind when considering the modern innovations of the road bike.

Although Trek bought Klein, and many similar crossover developments can be seen on the Madone, the Look 695 seems to be a closer relation.

The heart of the Klein was the fuselage, the integrated bottom bracket, the hugely oversized headset bearings, the unique combined bar and stem, and the monstrous fork. This translated into forward motion - lean on the pedals and you fire towards the horizon. In an age of skinny tubed steel frames this didn’t just steal the show, it made off with the whole theatre. It had attitude, it was Attitude.

Now, this is no bike review, and the Look 695 is not breaking ground in the same way as the Klein back in the 1980’s. But the features that made the Klein great are mimicked here and added to, with the integrated crankset (see Magic Motorcycles Cranks, now appearing on a Cannondale near you). This makes for the feel of the fuselage - something more than a simple frame & fork, more of a concept. And concepts, I think, is almost where we began with Mondrian.

Reviewing bikes and parts is not a road (or trail) Le Sportif is heading down. It’s too subjective, what I love you may hate, what is great for someone with long arms may not be suitable for someone with a short torso. Reviews can make or break a company or product, and really, not being engineers or designers, or anything much, other than riders, all we can say is we like what we ride and we ride what we like.

So after the disclaimer, all that remains to be said is this, the Look 695 Mondrian is a beast, a beautiful rocketship powered by inspiration, passed from Mondrian to Look, and from Look, by way of Klein, to you, accelerating all the while.

It’s something that looks almost familiar, something we can all almost understand, but dropping £10k, or thereabouts, on a bike is not something that we are all financially capable of, but if you get the chance, do.

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