Speedplay Frogs.

[Narayan Krishnamoorthy]

Hello all:

Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated! :)

Do any of you:

1) Use Speedplay frogs for randonneuring and what are your thoughts?

2) Have a pair of Speedplay frog pedals that I could borrow for a little while ?

I am currently trying on a pair of Speedplay X2s that I like and are great for my knees but they are murder to walk around on, but if that's what's required to get back to randonneuring then I have no problems walking like a hobbled duck.

Thanks.
Narayan

[Geoff Hazel]

I've been using them for years, no issues.  I have a spare set you can borrow.

I might even have some cleats for shoes, too.

Geoff H.

[adam...@spottedfoobar.com]

I may have a set too..might take me a bit to track down.  They were the last thing we tried before PBP as a hail mary for my repeated biomechanical issues.  Like ice skates.  Apologies to anybody i fell on at a control in France.  Post PBP we started from scratch and the Frogs were retired.

later,
Adam

[Paul Johnson]

For me, they allowed too much float, plus I found the cleats to be a little too fragile to be walking on w/out covers, and as with Adam, they were downright dangerous on the hard linoleum flooring of the typical gas station C/store.

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[Adam]

I use the speedplay zeros, but with the new aero cleat. It encases the metal cleat in a little rubber cover. So they are not slippery and actually the best I've tried other than spds.

I think the x series has the aero cleat too.

http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.zerowalkablecleat

[Lynne Fitz]

I'll add a +1 for the Frogs. I find their degree of slipperiness on floors depends on how well the cleats are recessed. Nearly killed myself in the fabric store once.

But I'd never change to anything else.

I walk on them "all the time"; and don't find them majorly fragile.

Only cleats I've ever used (since 2003, I might add. First clipless pedals ever.)

[Paul Johnson]

My comment about the fragility if these cleats/pedals may have been a little incomplete. I live out in the country and much of my riding is on what could be considered bad roads; chip seal, 'native surface' and gravel. The problem for me was that unlike most 'high tech' pedals this system had invested most of the 'tech' in the cleats and not in the pedal. Walking on dirt, gravel etc, particles of 'stuff would frequently get embedded in the cleat, inhibiting the movement of the springs making it impossible to either clip in or if you did get clipped in, to clip out. I actually had to take my foot out of the shoe and do a little pocket knife surgery once to clean out the connection before I was able to unclip the shoe.

No help that at that time I was wearing smooth bottomed road shoes (with the stiffest sole I could find. I went to Mtb shoes ( custom made with a very stiff sole) and SPD's and that has solved my foot problems. clearly And of course SPD's (the clears anyway) are brain dead simple and can be adjusted to give me the right, but not too much float.

Speedplays are obviously the right thing for a lot of people., I wasn't attempting to dissuade, just to add another data point, ..... my point is probably off the scatter chart.

Message-----
From: seattl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:seattl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lynne Fitz
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 10:14 PM
To: Seattle International Randonneurs
Subject: [SIR] Speedplay Frogs.

[Dominique B.]

Paul - I'm surprised, as there's no real springs in the Frogs, either in the pedal or the cleat. Their design is dead simple, and pretty foolproof (and "self-cleaning", according to Speedplay marketing geniuses) - there's a rubber bumper thingee in the cleats, I assume that's what you refer to as the spring, but it's all so tight that I'm surprised that anything could get jammed in. I don't doubt your experience, of course, so it _can_happen, but on the other hand, i have been using my frogs almost daily for probably 20 years, road and quite a bit of mountain biking (including, er, a fair amount of walking :-), and never once suffered a jam. (Au contraire from a pair of SPDs on a %$#^@ rental bike. :-)

Re slipperiness, yes, it all depends on the sole of the shoes. I wear Sidi Dominator, Lake or Keen sandals, Lake Big-Ass Winter Boots, or Giro Republic, no issue when walking, the cleats rarely even touch the ground - and stiffie performance quite up to my middle-of-the-road-or-single-track expectations. 

As you write - here's just another datapoint. :-) 

 dominique B.
Seattle, WA - USA
Grenoble, France
___/)_____O__/)__/)_

2017-03-27 16:53 GMT+02:00 Paul Johnson <pjinoa...@comcast.net>:

My comment about the  fragility if these cleats/pedals may have been  a little incomplete.  I live out in the country and much of my riding is on what could be considered bad roads; chip seal, 'native surface' and gravel.  The problem for me was that unlike most 'high tech' pedals this system had invested most of the 'tech' in the cleats and not in the pedal.  Walking on dirt, gravel  etc, particles of 'stuff would frequently get embedded in the cleat, inhibiting the movement of the springs making it impossible to either clip in or if you did get clipped in, to clip out.  I actually had to take my foot out of the shoe and do a little pocket knife surgery once to clean out the connection before  I was able to unclip the shoe.

No help that at that time I was wearing smooth bottomed road shoes (with the stiffest sole I could find.  I went to Mtb shoes ( custom made with a very stiff sole) and SPD's and that has solved my foot problems. clearly  And of course SPD's (the clears anyway) are brain dead simple and can be adjusted to give me the right, but not too much float.

Speedplays are obviously the right thing for a lot of people., I wasn't attempting to dissuade, just to add another data point, ..... my point is probably off the scatter chart.

Message-----

From: seattl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:seattlerando@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lynne Fitz

Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 10:14 PM
To: Seattle International Randonneurs
Subject: [SIR] Speedplay Frogs.

I'll add a +1 for the Frogs.  I find their degree of slipperiness on floors depends on how well the cleats are recessed.  Nearly killed myself in the fabric store once.

But I'd never change to anything else.

I walk on them "all the time"; and don't find them majorly fragile.

Only cleats I've ever used (since 2003, I might add.  First clipless pedals ever.)

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[Paul Johnson]

I am recalling a heavy wire or spring steel ‘spring’ which was the clamping mechanism that held the cleat to the pedal.  Twisting the shoe was the trick to stretching the spring so that the cleat released from the pedal.  But hey, that was a lot of years ago, and I am a special case. (aren’t we all).  As I said, they must be doing the job to still be on the market and popular for so long.

 

From: Dominique B. [mailto:nuitsb...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 10:59 AM
To: pjinoa...@comcast.net
Cc: Seattle International Randonneurs
Subject: Re: [SIR] Speedplay Frogs.

 

Paul - I'm surprised, as there's no real springs in the Frogs, either in the pedal or the cleat. Their design is dead simple, and pretty foolproof (and "self-cleaning", according to Speedplay marketing geniuses) - there's a rubber bumper thingee in the cleats, I assume that's what you refer to as the spring, but it's all so tight that I'm surprised that anything could get jammed in. I don't doubt your experience, of course, so it _can_happen, but on the other hand, i have been using my frogs almost daily for probably 20 years, road and quite a bit of mountain biking (including, er, a fair amount of walking :-), and never once suffered a jam. (Au contraire from a pair of SPDs on a %$#^@ rental bike. :-)

 

Re slipperiness, yes, it all depends on the sole of the shoes. I wear Sidi Dominator, Lake or Keen sandals, Lake Big-Ass Winter Boots, or Giro Republic, no issue when walking, the cleats rarely even touch the ground - and stiffie performance quite up to my middle-of-the-road-or-single-track expectations. 

 

As you write - here's just another datapoint. :-) 

 dominique B.
Seattle, WA - USA
Grenoble, France
___/)_____O__/)__/)_

 

2017-03-27 16:53 GMT+02:00 Paul Johnson <pjinoa...@comcast.net>:

My comment about the  fragility if these cleats/pedals may have been  a little incomplete.  I live out in the country and much of my riding is on what could be considered bad roads; chip seal, 'native surface' and gravel.  The problem for me was that unlike most 'high tech' pedals this system had invested most of the 'tech' in the cleats and not in the pedal.  Walking on dirt, gravel  etc, particles of 'stuff would frequently get embedded in the cleat, inhibiting the movement of the springs making it impossible to either clip in or if you did get clipped in, to clip out.  I actually had to take my foot out of the shoe and do a little pocket knife surgery once to clean out the connection before  I was able to unclip the shoe.

No help that at that time I was wearing smooth bottomed road shoes (with the stiffest sole I could find.  I went to Mtb shoes ( custom made with a very stiff sole) and SPD's and that has solved my foot problems. clearly  And of course SPD's (the clears anyway) are brain dead simple and can be adjusted to give me the right, but not too much float.

Speedplays are obviously the right thing for a lot of people., I wasn't attempting to dissuade, just to add another data point, ..... my point is probably off the scatter chart.

Message-----

From: seattl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:seattl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lynne Fitz

Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 10:14 PM
To: Seattle International Randonneurs
Subject: [SIR] Speedplay Frogs.

I'll add a +1 for the Frogs.  I find their degree of slipperiness on floors depends on how well the cleats are recessed.  Nearly killed myself in the fabric store once.

But I'd never change to anything else.

I walk on them "all the time"; and don't find them majorly fragile.

Only cleats I've ever used (since 2003, I might add.  First clipless pedals ever.)

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[don person]

That is how the road cleats work. The Frog is quite different. The spring has no affect on the release.

Still places where sand can jam the works and using the Frog cleat on a road shoe is not going to work well off the bike.

Don Person (shiggy)
http://mtbtires.com

[Bill Gobie]

Since Dominique mentioned Giro Republic shoes, I will say I am very pleased with the mountain version I own. The cleats are well recessed and do not touch the ground. The treads are easy to replace, although one tread piece lost a retaining screw shortly after I got the shoes. A bit of thread locker has kept the screws in place.

Bill

On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 1:53 PM, don person <don.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

That is how the road cleats work. The Frog is quite different. The spring has no affect on the release.

Still places where sand can jam the works and using the Frog cleat on a road shoe is not going to work well off the bike.

On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 11:58 AM Paul Johnson <pjinoa...@comcast.net> wrote:

I am recalling a heavy wire or spring steel ‘spring’ which was the clamping mechanism that held the cleat to the pedal.  Twisting the shoe was the trick to stretching the spring so that the cleat released from the pedal.  But hey, that was a lot of years ago, and I am a special case. (aren’t we all).  As I said, they must be doing the job to still be on the market and popular for so long.

 

From: Dominique B. [mailto:nuitsblanches@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 10:59 AM
To: pjinoa...@comcast.net
Cc: Seattle International Randonneurs
Subject: Re: [SIR] Speedplay Frogs.

 

Paul - I'm surprised, as there's no real springs in the Frogs, either in the pedal or the cleat. Their design is dead simple, and pretty foolproof (and "self-cleaning", according to Speedplay marketing geniuses) - there's a rubber bumper thingee in the cleats, I assume that's what you refer to as the spring, but it's all so tight that I'm surprised that anything could get jammed in. I don't doubt your experience, of course, so it _can_happen, but on the other hand, i have been using my frogs almost daily for probably 20 years, road and quite a bit of mountain biking (including, er, a fair amount of walking :-), and never once suffered a jam. (Au contraire from a pair of SPDs on a %$#^@ rental bike. :-)

 

Re slipperiness, yes, it all depends on the sole of the shoes. I wear Sidi Dominator, Lake or Keen sandals, Lake Big-Ass Winter Boots, or Giro Republic, no issue when walking, the cleats rarely even touch the ground - and stiffie performance quite up to my middle-of-the-road-or-single-track expectations. 

 

As you write - here's just another datapoint. :-) 

 dominique B.
Seattle, WA - USA
Grenoble, France
___/)_____O__/)__/)_

 

2017-03-27 16:53 GMT+02:00 Paul Johnson <pjinoa...@comcast.net>:

My comment about the  fragility if these cleats/pedals may have been  a little incomplete.  I live out in the country and much of my riding is on what could be considered bad roads; chip seal, 'native surface' and gravel.  The problem for me was that unlike most 'high tech' pedals this system had invested most of the 'tech' in the cleats and not in the pedal.  Walking on dirt, gravel  etc, particles of 'stuff would frequently get embedded in the cleat, inhibiting the movement of the springs making it impossible to either clip in or if you did get clipped in, to clip out.  I actually had to take my foot out of the shoe and do a little pocket knife surgery once to clean out the connection before  I was able to unclip the shoe.

No help that at that time I was wearing smooth bottomed road shoes (with the stiffest sole I could find.  I went to Mtb shoes ( custom made with a very stiff sole) and SPD's and that has solved my foot problems. clearly  And of course SPD's (the clears anyway) are brain dead simple and can be adjusted to give me the right, but not too much float.

Speedplays are obviously the right thing for a lot of people., I wasn't attempting to dissuade, just to add another data point, ..... my point is probably off the scatter chart.

Message-----

From: seattl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:seattlerando@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lynne Fitz

Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 10:14 PM
To: Seattle International Randonneurs
Subject: [SIR] Speedplay Frogs.

I'll add a +1 for the Frogs.  I find their degree of slipperiness on floors depends on how well the cleats are recessed.  Nearly killed myself in the fabric store once.

But I'd never change to anything else.

I walk on them "all the time"; and don't find them majorly fragile.

Only cleats I've ever used (since 2003, I might add.  First clipless pedals ever.)

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[Narayan Krishnamoorthy]

Hello all,

Thanks too all of you who took the time to respond to offer thoughts and advice, and offered to help with loaning a pair. I really appreciate it.

I got a pair of Frogs from Shane (PBP 2007 ancien) on Saturday, and rode in to work today. Similar experience in terms of pain avoidance to the X2s, but I found the lack of a clipping in sensation a little hard to get used to. Also, I get a feeling of almost unclipping from my right foot (perhaps my right heel moves out on the bottom of the pedal stroke)... I am going to commute regularly and build a bit of a base.

I hope to be back riding brevets at some point during the Summer, but the SIR summer series looks daunting. :)

Thanks again.

Narayan