TandemGeek

We switched from SPD to Frogs back in 1998. There was a learning curve for us, but it was very short: about 5 miles on the first ride, and just the first 1/2 mile or so on the second.

The learning curve for me was directly related to the massive amount of pedal float that Frogs provided, in that with my foot & lower leg now free to rotate vs. being locked-in at the pedal it did just that. The best analogy I've been able to come up with is the same feeling someone might experience when trying to walk across ice in street shoes, as it felt like my feet were both flailing about on top of the pedals when, in fact, there were probably just rotating a few millimeters right to left of center on each pedal stroke. This is what I refer to the ah-hah moment and our knees have never been happier.

Walk-ability for Frogs on lugged mountain bike soles isn't all that much different from SPDs on mountain bike soles. In the early days Frog's 1st Gen cleats did not fit most mountain bike shoes without doing a fair amount of material removal from the lugs around the cleat mount. However, the G3 cleats have just about eliminated that issue. Again, walking isn't all that different from SPDs: however, both SPDs and Frog's cleats will eventually become exposed below the lugs such that you'll have metal on pavement or when indoors, metal on wood or whatever flooring material is present.

At least for me, I tend to wear out the inboard edge of the outer cleat engagement pin before the top surface is even 1/2 worn-down. This is because I tend to ride with my knees-in. On the bright side, when I begin to experience an "uncommanded" foot release under power I simply swap the Frog cleats from right to left / left to right to give them a second 1/2 life before they need to be replaced. As to how long they actually last, I can't really say as I use several different pairs of shoes interchanbably and don't keep track. Moreover, if I didn't have a strange pedal stroke the outer pin would not likely be worn down the way it is, thereby extending the life of the cleat.

As a final note, the one thing that any Frog user can to to extend the life of their cleats is to be religous about applying either Speedplay's SP LUBE (p/n 13800) or some other dry-type (PTFE) lubricant to the Frog cleat and pedal engagement edges "preferably" every one or two rides. Most users I know don't do this at all or as often as recommended. I use Pedro's Ice Wax, but fall into the latter category as I don't lubricate them as often as is recommended.