chele519

Hi, I'm new to these forums and just taking up biking again, sorry this is such a long post. I'm switching from Shimano 515 pedals to Speedplay Frogs. There are not many shops in my area that sell Speedplay so I went to one of them last weekend to be able to try them first. I haven't used the 515s in a couple years since falling and last year on the 2 rides I did, I used platform pedals. They set up the frogs on my bike on a trainer but I had trouble with them in the store. The salesman kept having me pull my foot back to clip in and I told him I thought you were supposed to push your foot forward. He insisted they were right. Anyway, once I did get clipped in they felt great for my knees and I tried them the next day on a ride. I kept coming out the whole time. When riding easy, I could pull my foot up and it seemed I was in but when pedaling hard, they came out.

When I got home and went on Speedplay's website, I found he had installed the cleats backwards. I fixed them but even after I put them the right way, I still had trouble unclipping with my bike on the trainer. Called Speedplay the next day and after going over them on the phone, it turns out I have old cantilevers which were redesigned 2 years ago due to safety issues and it was sometimes causing the cleat to not release.

So, I've ordered new pedals online and are returning these to the store. The cleats need to be installed with a torque wrench and I don't have one. There is another bike store that says they can install them for me but after my experience with the first store, I'm concerned they won't get installed right, especially if this store doesn't sell the pedals. Do most people install them with a torque wrench or just tighten until they are snug? I wouldn't mind spending the money for the wrench if I knew I was going to definitely do a lot of riding. But, I've had the bike for years and didn't ride for a couple years after falling so I want to make sure I'll stick with it this time before shelling out money for stuff I might never use.

Thanks

HillRider

I'm a long time Frog user and a strong advocate of torque wrenches for some bike items but have never used one to install Frog cleats. Just tighten the mounting bolts firmly and you'll be fine. Use Speedplay's supplied bolts as they recess completely into the cleat countersinks. I recommend reading the instruction sheet and installing them yourself.

The cleats are easy and straigthforward to install, particularly the current design which fits almost all shoes with no sole carving. I believe Speedplay says they can even be used on road shoes. The old design was wider and some shoes required Dremel surgery to the cleat pocket.

I'm surprised you had problems unclipping with the first design Frog II cleat. The problem I had with them was clipping in, not out. Keep in mind the float angle Frogs allow is much greater than most other pedal systems so clipping out requires turning your foot further than the others.

The mechanic installing the cleats backwards was a major and potentially dangerous mistake and I wouldn't trust him for ANYTHING in the future. I'd go back and tell him (nicely) what happened so he doesn't do it to the next customer.

chele519

It was the tech guy from Speedplay who said they really needed to be installed correctly with the torque wrench. I can install them on the shoe, I just wanted to make sure they were tightened properly. The way they were done at the first store was so that the cantilever was recessed past the cleat a little so that may have been too tight. These were not the Frog II cleats, they are the G3 but with an old style cantilever which speedplay said had been redesigned because of problems. Maybe my problem with unclipping was something else but I'd rather have the updated versions since they admit there was a problem. Performance bike shows a picture of the new cantilever/cleat on the replacement cleat page but apparently the old ones still come with the set of pedals. Speedplay is sending me new cantilevers in the mail.

I called the store back on Sunday afternoon when i realized what they had done. The person I spoke to just told me to come back and they'd fix it but it's a 1/2 hr drive so I haven't gone yet, I just read the instructions and fixed them myself. The more I thought about it, the more upset I got, realizing how I could have gotten hurt, plus I was on a group ride and I was getting very discouraged that I had so much trouble with the pedals, thinking I couldn't even use these which were supposed to be so easy, I had to be incompetent. What really pi$$ed me off was that their price was higher than the MSRP which I was willing to pay for good customer service, but I could have gotten them for $25 cheaper online and I would have read the instructions and installed them correctly to begin with. I called back on Monday when someone else was there and they are letting me return them since they have the old cantilevers. They were very apologetic but i definitely won't be going back there. Admittedly it was also my fault for not checking what the guy had done, I've learned a lesson there.

HillRider

Frog II and G3 cleats differ only in the configuration of the cantilever block. The Frog II cleats had a smooth outside cantilever that was sometimes difficult (sometimes impossible) to clip in with. The G3 has a ridge down the center of the cantilever that acts as a ramp to ease clipping in.

I had two pair of Frog II cleats. One worked fine and they are still in use. The other was extremely hard to clip in and Speedplay sent me new G3 cantilevers which solved the problem. I never had any difficulty unclipping from any of them so I wasn't aware that could be a problem too.

I'm not surprised Speedplay recommends a torque wrench as they want to be sure the cleats are mounted correctly and the only way to be sure is to tell you to measure the torque. That said, I've never used one and have never had any problems. The 30-35 inch-pounds is pretty tight with a 4 mm hex wrench so cinch them down very firmly and you should be good.

One more comment on your (former) mechanic: The cleats have "Front" clearly engraved on them!

chele519

Yes, I saw that too, of course after the ride. And, if you think about it, it is really awkward to try and pull your foot back to engage the cleat the way he told me to. But, even when i was on the trainer in the store and said I think it's wrong, he insisted that was how they work.

Thanks for your advice. I'm hoping they will come by Sat so I can try them out this weekend.