I am a road rider of many years and have used speedplay pedals. My wife and I are fairly new to tandem and just purchased a new bike that actually fits us. I have been using a pair of eggbeater pedals I had around from my cyclocross days. They are not working out due to float and my knee is acting up. I purchased a set of speedplay frogs and I am frustrated with them. On climbs they squeak and I can feel them move on the cleat. The climbs in New England are bad enough without losing power in your pedals. Speedplay has a new pedal out but can not find many reviews. Your feedback is appreciated.

Keith

Hi

I rode Speedplay Frogs for several years and have switched to Speedplay Syzrs this year. I had some of the same issues with Frogs that you had. The Syzrs are much more secure feeling. I've got them locked down with no float. I replaced the right cleat at about 2,000 miles this year which is comparable to what I got out of the Frog cleats. (I put my right foot down at lights and that cleat seems to wear faster.

I really prefer the Syzrs over the Frogs.

I use SPD's out of convenience on my tandem as well as my road/cyclocross bike but would suggest Look pedals if you have knee/foot comfort concerns. The huge platform connecting you to the pedal spreads the pressure across your foot and the swivel alleviates alignment problems with your knees. They don't make noise like speedplay (I am not a speedplay fan) and you can actually pedal with street shoes on compared to eggbeater. They aren't great to walk in as are the Shimano SPD's but they have plenty of pedals to choose from. The negative for Shimano SPD is the tiny interface you have with the pedal that causes a hot spot on your foot. Doesn't bother me but I could see it being a problem.

Thanks for the information. I was considering the syzrs.

Spd's are not really where I want to go. I will have to research the Looks. Thanks

Speedplay since forever

I tried SPD's on our new tandem and disliked them immediately - poor in and out, poor surface contact. After one day on a 6 day tour, I drove home, took the Looks off my road bike, installed them on the tandem and was happy the rest of the tour. Lesson - you might want to match your everyday road bike pedals if you are used to them.

Speedplay Frogs for me and standard SPD pedals for my stoker. She found the Frogs too easy to get out of as she was able to pop out mid-stroke at times.

I have known for many years that I need pedals that force my feet to toe-in. Unlimited float is, for me, a no-go. In fact riding with float will take me to the surgeon's saw quickly. I rode traditional toeclips, slotted cleats and straps pulled tight long after clipless came around until finally a salesman told me about the LOOK Delta pedals and the black (no-float) cleat instead of just lecturing me one more time about how all with knee issues need God's gift - float.

So I still ride LOOK Delta copy pedals (Performance/Nashbar/Wellgo) and black cleats on my good bike. The traditional setup on all my fix gears. (On of my re-occurring nightmares is pulling one foot out riding fix gear on a steep, fast hill spinning 180 RPM with one foot. Spinning that fast, it is impossible to tell what angle my foot is at and I am certainly not going to look down! Traditional cleats sometimes pull out at those speeds with toeclips, but TG for straps!

It looks to me like the newer road Shimano SPD-?? and the LOOK Keos are both newer, sexier versions of the old Look Deltas. I assume both have no-float cleats like the Deltas. When my current pedals expire, that will be how I will go if indeed the no-float option is tstill there. (It will be a while. The Delta copies get getting cheaper and cheaper so I stockpiled quite a few.) I could use the Speedplay Zeros. For me it is a simple issue of "why?". It would be a 4th cleat/pedal system and not cheap. Maybe when I go through my last Deltas. But things will be different out there in the market in 10 years. So we will see.

I find that a good adjustable no-float pedal allows me to set the toe-in so my knees track straight. Also that I cannot force my feet to that toe-in on a float pedal - that the force required to do that is exactly what my knee cannot tolerate at all. (I can sorta make limited float pedals work. I've taken SPDs and set them at maximum toe-in to force my feet. Not ideal and accidental clip-outs happen easily so I set the release at the max. I do this for my gravel bike to get better shoe options.) I have been riding with forced toe-in the past 150,000 miles since my knee issues started 40 years ago. They are good for many thousands more.

Ben

Ben

SPDs with MTB shoes for both of us, Sidi Dominators. Plenty stiff but walkable.

Pedals are like seats, there are strong opinions, but, like religion, it comes down to what works for you.

Ditto on the SPD/MTB shoes. We run the Performance Campus pedals. Wide platform, flat pedal for starting and those times when the clip out time leaves little margin. I believe Shimano has a similar variant.

https://www.performancebike.com/webap...400265__400265

I run SPD's up front and stoked is running Frogs. She, stoker, wanted no drag on the rotation on the pedals so the actors are great for her. On the squeaking I've Found A Little Lip Balm On The Cleats helps With That.

We've always used Crank Bros Candy pedals on the tandem. I tried Speedplay X, Crank Bros Egg Beater, and Crank Bros Quattro before settling on the Candy (S, Ti, 2, or 3) for all bikes. The OP should note that Crank Bros cleats have two float options, depending on which cleat is installed on which shoe. We always use the cleat with the "dot" on the right shoe (15 degree release vs 20 degree release with the "dot" on left shoe).

Lots of great info. I guess I am a little surprised at how many it seems goes with road shoes. Im in mtn shoes ,as others noted also ,as it is up to me to steady the stead at stop and go. I could not imagine doing that in my carbon soled road shoes...yikes. Thanks again everyone

For the most efficient pedal system, both me and my stoker use Shimano road SPDs and shoes with ultra stiff carbon soles, those with a 3K carbon weave and not those with carbon infused nylon. When we need to walk it's a minor inconvenience to be walking with cleats. The excellent power transfer more than make up for the slight inconvenience. The pedals I use are Shimano Dura Ace 9100.

I have had Speedplay Road, Frogs, and Syzrs on the MTB. I've since gotten rid of all Speedplay branded pedals and went with Shimano exclusively. It's day and night difference and I'll never go back to Speedplay.

Speedplay Light action pedals with Zero cleats. Best of both worlds, easy clip in and out with fully adjustable Zero cleat. From May 2010 till present won't change to anything else.

Look Keo 2 Max. Use the red cleats for plenty of float. No complaints.
My wife actually prefers the grey cleats with less float so she can click out easier.

I echo both the experience and the opinion. In my opinion SPD is a poor solution. I've been on LOOK since the 80's and see no reason to change.

As beginners we are in MTB shoes and Shimano A530 (flat on one side) pedals with the multi-directional release cleat.

My captain uses SPD pedals.

I use Speedplay frogs. I have never heard squeak, and have rarely felt like I had insecure connection to pedal. That turned out to be I had enough wear on the metal cleat to replace. My husband and I like using MTB shoes, as they are easier to walk in.

Before Frogs I used Look pedals (LQV or something). Those had enough float for me, and gave me secure clipping in. It was challenging to walk in the bike shoes, even with cleat covers.

I use pedal extenders. You should be aware that pedal extenders are generally not recommended with the pedals that install with the 8mm wrench. There are pedal extenders on the market which have the 8mm hex hole thru them, but at least 1 manufacturer has recalled those for failure.

Another vote for Speedplay Light Action, front & rear. O.k., the Mrs. is still adjusting to them after years on Look pedals.

I use SPD w/Sidi Dominators for the tandem, never had an issue with the small cleat as the Sidi's have a nice, stiff sole.

Stoker switched to Speedplay X-pedals years ago - which fixed a nagging knee pain issue. I'd probably have her use the Light Action version now, but it didn't exist back then and with 4 sets of pedals in the fleet, converting would be pricey.

I use Speedplay X-pedals on my singles and am a fan.

I was very late to the party in giving up my toe clips when I finally put SPD pedals on my road bike about 10 years ago. I'm a fairly casual rider who hasn't raced in decades and rarely has time for rides more than 2 hours, and under those conditions the pedals have been great. It's entirely possible that I could try road-specific pedals and discover that I've been missing out all along, but now that I have a tandem and cyclocross bike with the same SPD pedals, it's hard to give up the convenience of being able to use the same shoes on all of my bikes.