How long have your Speedplay Frog cleats lasted?

[rosco]

I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today, my
left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I checked the
cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it onto that
roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely worn away. The
symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is almost gone as
well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only accumulated about 160
hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for Frog cleats? I really
like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a year will get kind of
expensive.

 

[Kyle.B.H]

"rosco" <reverse-the-following"ocsor_g"@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:_H9%[email protected]...
> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today,
my
> left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I checked
the
> cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it onto that
> roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely worn away.
The
> symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is almost gone as
> well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only accumulated about 160
> hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for Frog cleats? I
really
> like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a year will get kind of
> expensive.


I just switched to Frogs on my road bike as well. After about 500 miles,
I've noticed that the left pedal clicks and clacks a bit at the top of the
stroke, indicating play between the cleat and the pedal. Upon inspection of
the cleats, I noticed that the front edge of the inner nub was showing
noticeable wear. Which nub of yours broke off? I've found Speedplay's
customer service to be very good. Gve them a call at 800-468-6694 and I'm
sure they'll help you out.

If I have to replace the cleats once I year, I can handle that (I'll be
lucky if I do 2000 miles this year). Your mileage may vary. Look at it as
the price you pay for their unique and, to many, beneficial pedal system.
If the cleat metal were harder, then the pedal would wear out quickly as
well, which is of course is no good. Do you regularly lube your cleats and
pedals? I think that this is a must. Per their web site, I've been using a
wax based lube, but the guy on the phone recommeded a dry, teflon based
lube, of which I can't think of any name brands (can anyone recommend?)

Kyle

 

[Tim McNamara]

Make sure you have the new version of the cleats rather than the old
version. The old ones, IME, lasted a few thousand miles. The new
ones seem to last easily twice as long- I've got about 10,000 miles
on this pair.

 

[rosco]

> I just switched to Frogs on my road bike as well. After about 500 miles,
> I've noticed that the left pedal clicks and clacks a bit at the top of the
> stroke, indicating play between the cleat and the pedal. Upon inspection
of
> the cleats, I noticed that the front edge of the inner nub was showing
> noticeable wear. Which nub of yours broke off? I've found Speedplay's
> customer service to be very good. Gve them a call at 800-468-6694 and I'm
> sure they'll help you out.
>
> If I have to replace the cleats once I year, I can handle that (I'll be
> lucky if I do 2000 miles this year). Your mileage may vary. Look at it as
> the price you pay for their unique and, to many, beneficial pedal system.
> If the cleat metal were harder, then the pedal would wear out quickly as
> well, which is of course is no good. Do you regularly lube your cleats
and
> pedals? I think that this is a must. Per their web site, I've been using
a
> wax based lube, but the guy on the phone recommeded a dry, teflon based
> lube, of which I can't think of any name brands (can anyone recommend?)
>
> Kyle
>
>

Spoke w/ Speedplay. They are having me return the cleats, and may send me
new ones under warranty. The ones which wore out are the new Frog II
cleats.

 

[David L. Johnson]

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 03:14:02 +0000, rosco wrote:

> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today,
> my left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I
> checked the cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it
> onto that roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely
> worn away. The symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is
> almost gone as well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only
> accumulated about 160 hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for
> Frog cleats? I really like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a
> year will get kind of expensive.

I broke my first Frog cleat this year. It was at least 3 years old. But
what you describe does not depend on the miles you ride, but the miles you
walk. Sounds like your shoes have lugs that are shorter than the cleats,
so they are grinding away the mushrooms on the cleats.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You
_`\(,_ | soon find out the pig likes it!
(_)/ (_) |

 

[David L. Johnson]

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 03:14:02 +0000, rosco wrote:

> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today,
> my left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I
> checked the cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it
> onto that roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely
> worn away. The symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is
> almost gone as well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only
> accumulated about 160 hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for
> Frog cleats? I really like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a
> year will get kind of expensive.

I broke my first Frog cleat this year. It was at least 3 years old. But
what you describe does not depend on the miles you ride, but the miles you
walk. Sounds like your shoes have lugs that are shorter than the cleats,
so they are grinding away the mushrooms on the cleats.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig... You
_`\(,_ | soon find out the pig likes it!
(_)/ (_) |

 

[Kenny Lee]

rosco wrote:
> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today, my
> left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I checked the
> cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it onto that
> roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely worn away. The
> symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is almost gone as
> well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only accumulated about 160
> hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for Frog cleats? I really
> like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a year will get kind of
> expensive.
>
>
I have my Frog cleats(old version) attached to Shimano sandals. These
Frog cleats have about 22,000km on them. They're looking a little worn
but I've never had any problems with them.

 

[Kenny Lee]

rosco wrote:
> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today, my
> left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I checked the
> cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it onto that
> roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely worn away. The
> symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is almost gone as
> well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only accumulated about 160
> hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for Frog cleats? I really
> like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a year will get kind of
> expensive.
>
>
I have my Frog cleats(old version) attached to Shimano sandals. These
Frog cleats have about 22,000km on them. They're looking a little worn
but I've never had any problems with them.

 

[Patrick Lamb]

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 23:03:32 -0400, "David L. Johnson"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 03:14:02 +0000, rosco wrote:
>
>> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride today,
>> my left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I
>> checked the cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains it
>> onto that roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely
>> worn away. The symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat is
>> almost gone as well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only
>> accumulated about 160 hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal for
>> Frog cleats? I really like the pedals, but replacing cleats about twice a
>> year will get kind of expensive.
>
>I broke my first Frog cleat this year. It was at least 3 years old. But
>what you describe does not depend on the miles you ride, but the miles you
>walk. Sounds like your shoes have lugs that are shorter than the cleats,
>so they are grinding away the mushrooms on the cleats.

I was thinking the same thing about the shoe lugs. You might want to
see if you can find some Shoe Goo and build up the lugs a bit.

I don't have good records that far back, but I think my cleats are 2-3
years old, with 3-4,000 miles on them.

Pat

Email address works as is.

 

[rosco]

"Patrick Lamb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 23:03:32 -0400, "David L. Johnson"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 03:14:02 +0000, rosco wrote:
> >
> >> I switched to Frogs on my road bike earlier this year. On my ride
today,
> >> my left foot kept pulling out of the pedal. After arriving home, I
> >> checked the cleat and found one of the nubs on the cleat that retains
it
> >> onto that roundish part sticking up from the pedal base had completely
> >> worn away. The symmetrically equivalent nub on the right footed cleat
is
> >> almost gone as well. Checking back through my ride log, I've only
> >> accumulated about 160 hours of riding on these cleats. Is this normal
for
> >> Frog cleats? I really like the pedals, but replacing cleats about
twice a
> >> year will get kind of expensive.
> >
> >I broke my first Frog cleat this year. It was at least 3 years old. But
> >what you describe does not depend on the miles you ride, but the miles
you
> >walk. Sounds like your shoes have lugs that are shorter than the cleats,
> >so they are grinding away the mushrooms on the cleats.
>
> I was thinking the same thing about the shoe lugs. You might want to
> see if you can find some Shoe Goo and build up the lugs a bit.
>
> I don't have good records that far back, but I think my cleats are 2-3
> years old, with 3-4,000 miles on them.
>
> Pat
>
> Email address works as is.


Mine were on Sidi Dominator shoes. I don't think the cleat was all that
exposed. Nevertheless, I did very little walking on these shoes - generally
only to get on and off the bike at the beginning and end of a ride.

 

[Roy Zipris]

New-style cleats, Sidi mtb shoes, close to 3K miles, no problems. --Roy Zipris

 

[Patrick Lamb]

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 04:50:01 GMT, "rosco"
<reverse-the-following"ocsor_g"@hotmail.com> wrote:

>"Patrick Lamb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> I was thinking the same thing about the shoe lugs. You might want to
>> see if you can find some Shoe Goo and build up the lugs a bit.
>>
>> I don't have good records that far back, but I think my cleats are 2-3
>> years old, with 3-4,000 miles on them.
>>
>> Pat
>
>Mine were on Sidi Dominator shoes. I don't think the cleat was all that
>exposed. Nevertheless, I did very little walking on these shoes - generally
>only to get on and off the bike at the beginning and end of a ride.

Same here (Sidi), and I noticed the lugs leave just enough cleat
exposed that I'm walking on the metal. I don't think the size of the
exposure matters as much as the fact you're walking on the cleat
instead of the lug. After all, the rubber would compress, but the
steel or aluminum on the cleat won't.

Just remembered I need to find the Shoe Goo and put another layer on.
It only lasts 6 months or so between applications.

Pat
Email address works as is.

 

[rosco]

"Patrick Lamb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 04:50:01 GMT, "rosco"
> <reverse-the-following"ocsor_g"@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >"Patrick Lamb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >>
> >> I was thinking the same thing about the shoe lugs. You might want to
> >> see if you can find some Shoe Goo and build up the lugs a bit.
> >>
> >> I don't have good records that far back, but I think my cleats are 2-3
> >> years old, with 3-4,000 miles on them.
> >>
> >> Pat
> >
> >Mine were on Sidi Dominator shoes. I don't think the cleat was all that
> >exposed. Nevertheless, I did very little walking on these shoes -
generally
> >only to get on and off the bike at the beginning and end of a ride.
>
> Same here (Sidi), and I noticed the lugs leave just enough cleat
> exposed that I'm walking on the metal. I don't think the size of the
> exposure matters as much as the fact you're walking on the cleat
> instead of the lug. After all, the rubber would compress, but the
> steel or aluminum on the cleat won't.
>
> Just remembered I need to find the Shoe Goo and put another layer on.
> It only lasts 6 months or so between applications.
>
> Pat
> Email address works as is.

I really don't think the wear had anything to do with the exposure of the
cleat. I believe the wear was more related to how the cleat and pedal
interact. Maybe it has something to do with my style of riding or the
dynamics of my feet in a natural position not wanting to lay on the exact
same plane as the pedal and therefore wearing the cleat where it ever so
slightly was pulling up with every pedal rotation. My cadence is usually in
the 95 to 105 range as well.

I use to use Shimano SPDs, and those cleats refused to wear out. However, I
do like the more natural free float of the Frogs.