Long rides and pedal systems — Frogs vs SPD

[Jamie]

I was wondering if someone could help me with some perspective here. I've been riding Speedplay Frogs for a few years, prior to that I was mainly in the Mountain Bike community riding M540-SPDs. 

I went with the Frogs for the longer distances of the Randonneuring events, since I imagined that they had a better or "bigger" platform than the SPDs. My thinking was that even the Shimano Touring pedals (the A-520 style) only provided the same platform as the standard dual entry MTB style. I'm not interested in Road pedals, since I want a recessed cleat.

I wanted a bigger platform to avoid hotspots, although I also believe hotspots are largely dealt with via good soles and I run Specialized's carbon Expert MTB shoes. My experience with the Frogs has been fairly good, I love the easy float. The main issue I have with them is that from time to time, if I am tired or distracted, I don’t disengage properly {I'll explain this below for those interested} and there is no forgiveness in the Frogs for such foolishness, so one stays very connected to the bike as one falls over onto the road at a stop light. I have ways around this, of course, disengaging early and all that. When I used the SPD MTB pedals, that forgiveness was enabled by a change in tension. 

So here is my question, just thinking of the longer rides experienced in a Brevet series, does anyone have a sense that the Frogs vs SPDs make a difference at all when it comes to long distance foot comfort?

Explanation/Review about Speedplay Frogs and Disengaging: 

Having used clipless pedals for a long time I am fairly confident in saying that the Frogs disengage really well, most of the time. But I have found that if you happen not to have an exactly lateral movement when twisting off the pedal, the cleat sometimes sticks on the pedal and this induces a little panic as you're balancing there and the intuitive response is to use more force, but that only makes it stick more. I should point out that this mainly happens when I am suddenly in need of disengaging, not when I have time to spare (which can actually be a problem, since that's when you really do need to disengage fast).  

By "exactly lateral" I mean that if there is any noticeable upward or downward angle in your disengaging, it won't disengage. So yes, I have gone over in traffic at a stop light because of this. I run Speedplay Zeros on another bike and have never gone over or had this problem, and I run SPDs on my MTB and again never had the problem. I emphasize that I have never fallen with clipless pedals before, only after using the Frogs. I deal with this by simply trying to avoid having to disengage in a hurry, but the nature of this means that it's an unpredictable scenario.

[Roland Bevan]

Hi, Jamie. I don't really have an answer to your primary question (Frogs vs. SPD), as I have been a long-time user of Frogs and now I'm also using Bebop pedals/cleats and flat pedals/straps as well (I can give you feedback on those if you'd like :-)). I last used SPDs many years ago and originally switched to Frogs for the smooth float which signficantly helped my knees. I've never had an issue clipping out with Frogs; I would describe it almost like "twist your foot and you fall out of the pedals". In fact I've had a bit of a hard time with the Bebop pedals, feeling (much like you describe) that I have to keep my foot parallel to the pedal when twisting out, or it tends to bind and get stuck.

Two suggestions on the Frogs for you if you haven't tried them (since you indicate you're a long-time user, you probably have, but just in case...):

1) You can rotate the cleat position as it attaches to the shoe to change the angle at which it disengages. Have you tried that? This may make it easier to reach the "disengagement position" when in a hurry, but obviously you want to keep clipped in during your normal range of motion so it's a balancing act.

2) It is recommended to use a "dry" style lube, like Tri-Flo teflon, on the cleats and pedals. Have you tried this to see if it helps your problems clipping out? With the Bebops I found that the "sticking" behavior occurs even if I lube the pedals/cleats, but doesn't exist when riding in the rain. Go figure...

Additionally, check your shoe soles to see if there are any wear spots which might indicate that the shoes are binding on the pedals when "torqued" by your feet. The Frog pedal/cleat interface is about as simple as you can get, with no springs holding you in there should be very little friction or resistance to twisting.

Hope this helps,

  -Roland

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[James Logan]

I use Frogs because the float is important to me.  The only trade-offs for me is when the plastic body gets worn (and/or the cleats get chipped – either by clipping in wrong and/or from walking on hard surfaces), sometimes my feet will fly off at high RPMs.   They probably are a bit higher maintenance than SPDs (despite having less moving parts) – having a grease gun and greasing them periodically is a good idea.  However, the platform is big enough, I had the bearings seize in one and never noticed it until rebuild time (the bearings ‘just’ cut grooves in the spindle).

 

I haven’t had the disengagement issue you have.

 

In addition to my randonneuring bike, I plan to put them on my carbon club riding bike next year, and forgo road cleats (it is sliding into being my ultra-racing bike).

 

Jim Logan, PA

Pittsburgh

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