ezdoesit

Anyone use these pedals ?
Looking for the pro's and con's of the Frog pedals.
I am not interested in the any other Speed Play pedals just these because I have the two hole shoes and not the three hole.
I use mountain shoes and cheap platform pedals right now.
I have used SPD and Crank Brothers in the past but don't really like them.
Any information is much appreciated and thanks for looking and taking the time to answer.
I ride a 2008 Fuji Turing Bike.

fietsbob

One thing I found, wide sole like Shimano's SPD sandals, need a wider axle on the pedal,
than the usual on line sellers stock, or the toe of shoe interferes wit the crank arm and wont release well.

its a bayonet fitting .. release is the angle you swing your heel out..

if you go through a bike shop, they can order the pedals in a longer axle size, an each.. order..
other sources buy cases of the pedals to get that lower price. and will not offer the variations speedplay offers.

until the release angle is reached , the foot's angle swing float is low friction..

murdockspencer

I've been using mine for a few years now for road riding and I love them. Haven't had any problems with them and they are still in good shape. I have no gripes and when they wear out I will buy new ones.

Cyclist01012

I have about 8 sets of them and they are on everthing I own no need to use anything else. I have frozen to spd's I have packed spd's full of mud in a cross race and was not able to clip in. I have seen to many broken egg beaters

GeorgePaul

What didn't you like about SPD?

pdlamb

I've got Frogs on my most used bikes, and they're great for me. Although I need to change a worn-out clean. :/

Some people don't like the free float -- "riding on ice" was a frequent comment from new users when they first came out.

If your knees can't stand the springy "float" of SPDs (my problem), or you have trouble getting SPD cleats aligned right, or you don't want to face the cleat alignment problem, Frogs are the way to go.

JohnJ80

I've been using Time ATAC and when i put the cleats on my shoes (Sidi's), the cleat sometimes will grind on the pavement. How about with the Speedplays?

J.

seeker333

I've used Frogs almost exclusively for the past 12 years and tens of thousands of miles. They're a great pedal, easy to get in and out, and free floating so there's no knee joint damage. My first pair were the SS model, but later I bought the cheapest CrMo spindle model, and never had any rust whatsoever, nor noticed any difference in spindle wear.

The newer style cleats last longer than the old 2-mushroom type. They get very little damage from walking on flat surfaces - gravel roads are worse, these could break a head off the old mushroom style cleat.

The pedal bodies wear from normal use, since they're plastic, but you can damage them with a single pedal strike. The part that normally wears or gets damaged is the plastic raised ramp in rear, which limits foot/shoe from rotating inwards at heel. Lose this and your heels may strike chainstays, but the pedals will still work. If you search ebay for Frogs, you'll always find a few described as used but good condition, and these invariably have the ramp area nubbed off. This damage doesn't show well even in good pictures, so don't buy Frogs used off ebay, because more than likely it's someone trying to pawn off their damaged Frogs.

You can buy cleats separately like most other pedals. More importantly, you can buy replacement plastic "pedal bodies", rebuild the pedals and effectively double the pedal's life (or triple it, etc). I've gotten pedal bodies for <40 bux 2-3X now, which is cheaper than a whole new pedal set @ 105.

The bearings seem to never wear out, even if you don't lube them regularly. Pedals will get just a little loose/rattly after 10K miles, from a combination of spindle, bearing and pedal body wear, but will still work fine.

Nashbar has sold Frogs for years at 105. They used to screw-up once in a while and sell them at 20% off, or 84 bux, but they don't seem to do that anymore.

Stryver

^ What he said. Although I have a grease gun and lube them occasionally. I've worn out (and replaced) plastic bodies, but I haven't worn out bearings yet.

I ride Frogs nearly exclusively, and have over 10k miles on MTB, road and commuter bikes with them. I have not ridden SPDs or Eggbeaters, though my road bike now has Zeros, due to a spiffy pair of new shoes and a sweet deal on demo-not-for-sale pedals. For commuting and mountain-biking, I really like the free-float and the quick exit, and would not want something similar to the feel of the Zeros. For steady-spinning road riding, sometimes I'd hear the play in the Frogs when I pulled up, and I like that the Zeros have no play. If I'm not turning good circles, I don't notice this. OTOH, it sometimes reminds me I'm not turning good circles.

On my current shoes, Specialized Comps from a few years ago, I can hear the cleats scrape on concrete when I walk, but I don't hear it on any other surface, and I don't feel it. It has gotten somewhat worse as the shoes have worn. I wear the shoes into the entry-way of my house, with laminate wood flooring, and haven't seen any damage to the floor. When I look at the cleats, they are visually recessed below the tread by a millimeter or more.

You probably won't care for commuting, but one thing that sold me early on was mud tolerance. A race in Oklahoma put me on one of the muddiest laps I've ever experienced, and certainly more than I'd ever ride for pleasure. A friend of mine on the lap lost the ability to clip in to his SPDs in less than a mile. My Frogs never jammed, though it did get harder to clip in. My bike ended up collecting enough mud to make turning the wheels nearly impossible, and I carried it for quite a ways until the worst of the mud was over. After cleaning enough mud off the frame to be able to move, and having just walked over a mile in very gluey mud, I just scraped my shoes off in the grass, hopped on the bike, and went.

PaulRivers

Someone else answered that specifically in another comment.

I use the Time ATAC's because I tried out almost every mountain pedal and they were the best:
- Least likely to make grindy noise on the pavement - most of the time they're quiet, it's only with certain surfaces that they sometimes make noise (same as eggbeaters, better than spd's)
- Good float
- Excellent ability to clip/unclip regardless of what you just walked through with the shoes, same as eggbeaters (better than spd's). I ride mine in the winter, walk through snow piles, etc, they just clip in and that's it - it's great.
- Reputation for reliability - unlike the eggbeaters. (Though they redesigned the eggebeaters since then, so maybe it changed)

CommuteCommando

I have Speedplay Zeros on my road and track bikes, Frogs on the commuter. Love 'em

ezdoesit

Thanks to everyone who answered my question.
I have decided to stay with the platform pedals and have ordered a pair of MKS Touring Pedals from biketiresdirect and bought a pair of toe clips from REI yesterday and I am all set.

Niloc

Hey I know this thread is old, but I'm having a problem with my frogs with the newer style cleats. I've had frogs for years and my old style cleats have finally worn out. I'd been riding one of them with the inside of one of the mushrooms busted off and the other is also severely worn. They weren't holding very well any more. I got a pair of newer style cleats but I find them hard to get into and they don't hold, maybe b/c I'm not all the way in them? or I'm not in them properly. Trying to figure out what to do about it. My pedals are pretty old, in fact one of the them is the original green bodied frog. The pedals seems to be in reasonable shape. Are the new cleats just too tight until they wear in a bit? Kinda frustrating on the cross course today and I don't remember having any problems with my old cleats at all.

Stryver

This thread on bentrideronline has several folks talking about wearing out old pedals so they didn't stay clipped in, and that the new cleats were worse about it. One suggestion was to put another rubber shim under the movable plate in the cleat to improve the hold.

Speedplay says here that the new cleats are interchangeable with the old pedals, and goes on later to note the set screw on the new cleats is designed to help as pedal and cleat wear. You might try adjusting the set screw.

Niloc

Thanks for the info Stryver! Yep I'm not getting that satisfying click I used to and it doesn't look like the movable plate on the front of the cleat drops down as far as it does on my old cleats so I'll try that shim idea for sure. I was already wondering about trying that.

I tried screwing in the set screw a bit. Thanks for the link to Speedplay, I didn't heat it like Speedplay recommends but just muscled it, oh well. Since my cleats are older and already worn in somewhat, it makes sense that maybe I adjust that screw inwards a bit.

I have never used dry lube on the cleats and pedal plate like Speedplay recommends, but maybe I'll try that too, it might help with a new cleat which is bound to be tighter fitting than a worn out older one. Also I suppose it might help shed mud on a cross course.