Clipless pedals: Frogs vs. SPDs

[Yen]

Yen, just fyi, I have had Frogs on my Sidi Dominators also, and am about to put Quattros on the Dominators. So those two types of cleats can also be used--you just have to carve a little off the bottom of the shoes, and the LBS can tell you how to do that.

salsabike: Thanks for the tip. Why are you moving from Frogs to Quattros?

[j.nurse63]

Hi,
has anyone used the Speedplay Light Action pedals? I bought a wonderful pair of Sidi Genius 4 from LBS. (last year stock) and a good friend I ride with has encouraged the Speedplay. But...he thinks I should have stayed with the X Series. Truthfully, what I read is that the Ligh Action has an easier release and more float.
Thoughts?
Thanks....Jean

[mudmucker]

Yes, the pain in my knee is gone.

[salsabike]

salsabike: Thanks for the tip. Why are you moving from Frogs to Quattros?

Two reasons: I wanted to see if some, but less, float would be good enough for my knees, because of what Andy Pruitt says in his Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists: "The less float your cleats have, the more power you can produce. With more float, your leg muscles have to work harder to stabilize your foot as it rotates on the pedal. Therefore, it's best to choose pedals with the least amount of float you need." I knew I needed more float than SPDs provided, but wanted to try to not have unlimited float.

Second reason: I wanted to be able to pedal unclipped safely if necessary for short periods of time. I personally could never quite do that on Frogs--unclipped, it's easy for me to have my foot just slip off, and I didn't like having to worry about that.

But they sure saved my knees after SPDs, and I think they're great.

[sundial]

I wanted to see if some, but less, float would be good enough for my knees...

When I got my Epic mtb bike, it came with Crank Bros Candies. I just put those babies on my road bike to see if it would help my hot spot and reduce the hip pain. I'll take it out for a spin and see if I like 'em better than the Frogs. Stay tuned.

[GeoCam]

--you just have to carve a little off the bottom of the shoes, and the LBS can tell you how to do that.

I have never quite gotten up the courage to try clipless, but I really want to! I have shoes and I have pedals and the only thing holding me back now is that I do need to trim the shoes a bit, and I am not sure how to do it. I didn't buy the shoes or the pedals at my LBS, so don't feel comfortable asking them for help. Does anyone have any tips on how to go about this?

[sundial]

....I'm going back to the Frogs. The Candies just didn't feel right and when I tried taking them off the cranks, they were super tight. I mean I thought I was going to pop a vessel trying to get those things off. Hubby tried and tried and finally it loosened up. Somehow they got tighter as I rode.

Froggies it is.

[mayanorange]

Just got Mudmucker's Frogs (Thanks again!) the other day and I adore them. I had some SPDs and they were making my good knee freak out- too much recentering tension for me. I'm actually enjoying my rides finally thanks to these and my super-squishy Selle Royal Lookin (mens) saddle. It's still too squishy up front, so I'm looking into the Allay, but for now I can ride and not have bruised buttbones for 4 days after 5 mins riding. Just waiting for my new stem to come in and then I think I'll be nearly dialed in. All the great discussions here on TE have helped so much! I also picked up some Shebeest shorts at REI last night- so much better than the crap REI brand ones I naively tried first which liked to fold in half- ow! Only thing left is a mirror (I don't recommend the Zefal one BTW). Debating between italian road bike mirror and the sprintech.

[mudmucker]

Yay ! Happy endings for both of us.

[tiffany Hart]

Because they do all of those things, and have no moving parts to fuss with!
Plus they have 20 degress of float (which can be very nice for some women's knees) and are passive release (very very easy to get out of).

We'll I spoke to the bike shop dudes and they sold me the new specialized bike with these things and they work pretty well. I had to go back to get them adjusted after the first ride. I had alot of trouble getting out of them. I think they greased them a little bit.
Any maintenance to keep them working properly? Can I use white lightening on them?
Tiff

[Flur]

So I was on the fence between frogs and candies b/c I was worried about too much float v. not enough float. I have a bad knee, and at the advice of the wonderful members of this board I scheduled an appointment with an orthopedist to figure out if I wanted to allow movement or to stabilize the knee, but I had to schedule it way out and then ultimately had to cancel at the last minute b/c my husband was sick. I'd been riding in a great a pair of Specialized MTB shoes with a really stiff sole (not carbon, but very, very stiff) and love them, but they're hard to get into the toe clips, so I got fed up and just went and bought frogs the other day. After two short rides I've got pain all around my bad knee (underneath mostly on the inside, but sensitive all around the kneecap and behind the knee) and pain in both ankles. I've found that if I bend my knee, turn my heel out and press down (as I might when pedaling) I have a lot of pain on the inside below the kneecap, and I'm sure it's from the float that I now have (that I didn't have with the toeclips) allowing me to turn my heel out.

Mudmucker - your post confirmed what I was thinking and saved me another week of trying to make it work. Thanks!!!

I'm off to get the candies...

[Kathi]

So I was on the fence between frogs and candies b/c I was worried about too much float v. not enough float. I have a bad knee, and at the advice of the wonderful members of this board I scheduled an appointment with an orthopedist to figure out if I wanted to allow movement or to stabilize the knee, but I had to schedule it way out and then ultimately had to cancel at the last minute b/c my husband was sick. I'd been riding in a great a pair of Specialized MTB shoes with a really stiff sole (not carbon, but very, very stiff) and love them, but they're hard to get into the toe clips, so I got fed up and just went and bought frogs the other day. After two short rides I've got pain all around my bad knee (underneath mostly on the inside, but sensitive all around the kneecap and behind the knee) and pain in both ankles. I've found that if I bend my knee, turn my heel out and press down (as I might when pedaling) I have a lot of pain on the inside below the kneecap, and I'm sure it's from the float that I now have (that I didn't have with the toeclips) allowing me to turn my heel out.

Mudmucker - your post confirmed what I was thinking and saved me another week of trying to make it work. Thanks!!!

I'm off to get the candies...

I have that kind of pain too. It started long before I got Speedplay Pedals. It's called Chrondomalacia or patellofemoral syndrome. It's a chronic condition that requires stretching and strengthening the muscles around the knees to keep it under control. When it flairs up I have to back off my cycling, take anti-inflammatories, stretch, ice, etc.

High mileage at the beginning of the season and pedaling at low cadences or hill climbing too soon also sets it off. When it started this year I only felt pain on the bike but I know if I let it go it will become painful all the time.

If the Candies don't help see your orthopedist.

[Beane]

I have that kind of pain too. It started long before I got Speedplay Pedals. It's called Chrondomalacia or patellofemoral syndrome. It's a chronic condition that requires stretching and strengthening the muscles around the knees to keep it under control. When it flairs up I have to back off my cycling, take anti-inflammatories, stretch, ice, etc.

High mileage at the beginning of the season and pedaling at low cadences or hill climbing too soon also sets it off. When it started this year I only felt pain on the bike but I know if I let it go it will become painful all the time.

If the Candies don't help see your orthopedist.

Kathi-

I just found out that I too have patellofemoral syndrome and my doc showed me some exercises to do, etc. But reading this thread I realized that I only have had the pain this year (when using speedplay light actions) but had none at all last year (with look pedals). Admittedly I have done a lot more riding this year and certainly more hill climbing, so that could be it too. The knee pain really started on about the 3rd day or so of bike tour colorado. Do you think there's a chance the knee pain is related to the pedals? Just curious..

[Tokie]

I have regular Speedplays on my road bike shoes, lots of float, nice click sound and feel when I clip in. I now have MTB shoes with Frogs that I bought for my America by Bicycle tour (will report later) this July. My DH had to carve out a bit of my MTB shoes to set the cleats to get enough "toe out" float for my knees, and this worked out fine. I do find it a mystery how and when I clip into the pedals. No consistent "click" or feel of being engaged in the pedal until I pull up on the pedal to check if I am clipped in or not. But yes, they are insanely easy to get out of! And walking on the MTB shoes (specializd Moto Divas) was a real pleasure for touring. Tokie

[Tokie]

Sorry I didn't read the last posts! I always had patellar pain too, and am diagnosed with chondromalacia patella. PT didn't help all that much. Then I bought some Specialized women's cycling shoes. They are designed with "Varus Wedge" , which has miraculously and enormously reduced my patellar pain. Whenever I have tried returning to my old favorites(Sidi brand), my knee pain returns with a vengence. So I am a convert to Specialized shoes. might be worth a try.It has also helped to practice one leg pedaling drills to strengthen my quads and get my patellas to track better. (I finally found a PT who figured out how to help me!) Good luck! Tokie