Crank Brothers Eggbeaters vs Speedplay Pedals

[Bob10]

For those who have used both of these pedals, which one and why did you choose one of them to ride a Cruzbike?

I have used Eggbeaters for many years on my bents. MANY years ago I used Frogs....however seemed to like the Eggbeaters more. I need the float due to knee issues.

My reason for asking is that when I rode a Cruzbike many years ago, I ended up going with an SPD pedal....seemed easier for access/egress but didn't provide the float. I am curious given the reactivity of the front wheel when accessing the clipless pedal.

Thanks!!
Bob

 

[LMT]

I've got Speedplay pedals and cannot fault them, clipping in and out is not a problem.

I need to try the Eggbeaters though at some point. Used with a MTB shoe it would be nice to walk normally rather then tentatively as you do with a road shoe.

EDIT: If you do get some Speedplay pedals, remember to buy the metal plate that sits flush with the bottom of the shoe, and some cleat covers to save the cleats. Although having said this, Speedplay have bought out walkable cleats which if you do buy you can dispense with the cleat covers.

 

[Bob10]

Thanks Lee!

Actually I have always used MTB shoes. You can use Eggbeaters and Speedplay Frogs (MTN option) with them.
With the Eggbeaters the cleats do not touch the floor.
Do the cleats for the Speedplay Frog now touch the floor?

What I am looking for is whether the access/egress into the pedal is smoother/easier with one choice over another.
My recall in accessing the Eggbeater pedal on a Cruzbike, it is a bit of a jarring which exacerbates the movement of the MBB.

Bob

 

[ratz]

IF you can ride eggs beaters they are the most efficient pedal I have seen tests results for.

The speed play referred to above is the Zero which is a road pedal.

The frogs work as you expect.

Your knees will usually prefer any pedal without return to center springs in the MTB lineup.

Your speed will prefer road platform pedals. Especially keno style.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

When I went clipless, I started with eggbeaters, then spd, now hacked frogs. Personally for me the frogs are the easiest get unclipped from. I have a bunch of eggbeaters in a drawer collecting dust and never will get used ever again. Reason, they seemed to catch more when trying to unclip, I had many close calls. I liked spd, but they gave me problems with my knees for some reason. Frogs (with the hack) are heaven, never miss a beat unclipping!!

 

[ccf]

I started with SPDs, then switched to Speedplay ULAs for knee reasons. ULAs are super easy to get in and out of. Getting out easy is important for my city commutes. I've tried to pull out of them, but have never been able to do so. Maybe sprinters with tree-trunk legs can. The free float is nice on the knees. ULAs are road pedals, so I got the "walkable" cleats, which are not really walkable like the mtb cleats I had with the spd pedals.

 

[t.c103]

When I went clipless, I started with eggbeaters, then spd, now hacked frogs. Personally for me the frogs are the easiest get unclipped from. I have a bunch of eggbeaters in a drawer collecting dust and never will get used ever again. Reason, they seemed to catch more when trying to unclip, I had many close calls. I liked spd, but they gave me problems with my knees for some reason. Frogs (with the hack) are heaven, never miss a beat unclipping!!

Hi Rick, Could you explain " hacked frogs" I already replaced my spd with frogs to spare my knees... offcours interested if you have a "frog mod" that will make them even better...

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Hi Rick, Could you explain " hacked frogs" I already replaced my spd with frogs to spare my knees... offcours interested if you have a "frog mod" that will make them even better...

Bob explained it very well in this quote:

"Frogs were designed for MTB riders; the have a rotation "stop" that allow you to squeeze your heals inward and the shoes stay firmly attached to the pedals. That was design for doing jumps and tricks.

If you remove the two bolts that hold the pedal bodies together; you can pop out the spindles and swap them left/right and reassemble the pedals. This is really easy to do. Just a tad messy with grease if you're not ready for it. After you swap them that cause the stop to be at the front of the pedal instead of the back. When it's like that the shoes release immediately if you rotate you heel inward or outward. You've basically disabled the stop. Recumbent riders use to grind down the stop; but this trick is better because you can undo it if you don't like it and need to sell the pedals."

Hacking a pair of frogs like that takes about 5 minutes and it's makes one of the best novice users clip in pedals. It's also very kind to your knees as there is no spring or return to center mechanism working against you knee.

 

[ratz]

Bob explained it very well in this quote:

"Frogs were designed for MTB riders; the have a rotation "stop" that allow you to squeeze your heals inward and the shoes stay firmly attached to the pedals. That was design for doing jumps and tricks.

With pictures...

http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/vendetta-v20-build-diary-2016.10189/page-2#post-119653

You really don't need the grease gun there's plenty of grease in the pedals even after the swap; that was included for completeness.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

With pictures...

http://cruzbike.com/forum/threads/vendetta-v20-build-diary-2016.10189/page-2#post-119653

You really don't need the grease gun there's plenty of grease in the pedals even after the swap; that was included for completeness.

Excellent, I forgot about that post, better yet.

 

[t.c103]

Exellent post! Thanks for sharing and I will try that mod on my frogs..

 

[Bob10]

I started with SPDs, then switched to Speedplay ULAs for knee reasons. ULAs are super easy to get in and out of. Getting out easy is important for my city commutes. I've tried to pull out of them, but have never been able to do so. Maybe sprinters with tree-trunk legs can. The free float is nice on the knees. ULAs are road pedals, so I got the "walkable" cleats, which are not really walkable like the mtb cleats I had with the spd pedals.

t.c103-
Are you familiar with the Speedplay Frogs? With MTN bike shoes you can easily walk with them.
Bob

 

[t.c103]

t.c103-
Are you familiar with the Speedplay Frogs? With MTN bike shoes you can easily walk with them.
Bob

Well, I got the speedplay frogs just a while ago and tryed them for some shorter rides and noticed that the float was only in one direction. for that reason I was not so impressed about the "full float" term... but the info at this forum gave me better knowledge to accive better float...So I will try the mod before next ride.. I use shimano RT 82 shoes and the cleats make no issues when Walking...

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Well, I got the speedplay frogs just a while ago and tryed them for some shorter rides and noticed that the float was only in one direction. for that reason I was not so impressed about the "full float" term... but the info at this forum gave me better knowledge to accive better float...So I will try the mod before next ride.. I use shimano RT 82 shoes and the cleats make no issues when Walking...

The half float bothered me too. The Fogs just needs to be activated to achieve full float.

 

[ratz]

The half float bothered me too. The Fogs just needs to be activated to achieve full float.

Yep the half float makes no sense unless you know why it was that way in the first place then it's a "duh" moment. Perry Butler over at BROL gets the credit for the hack; that's who I learned it from.

 

[t.c103]

Yep the half float makes no sense unless you know why it was that way in the first place then it's a "duh" moment. Perry Butler over at BROL gets the credit for the hack; that's who I learned it from.

Your ambition of learning and your way of sharing are at least to say extraordinary and a great vallue for the brand and many of us here at the forum... Thanks Ratz!

 

[snilard]

Hey guys you are all saying that float is good for knees. I would say that it depends. My (especially right) knees need to be locked to one position to avoid pain.

 

[ratz]

Hey guys you are all saying that float is good for knees. I would say that it depends. My (especially right) knees need to be locked to one position to avoid pain.

Actually I'm more concerned about making people aware of the need to neutralize any "spring" which allows you to twist you foot to the proper natural position but then leaves the spring always pushing against you trying to return you to it's ideal center. That leads to people not setting the cleat angle correctly to start with then battling the spring tension with their knees. In theory the spring should be neutral an not engaging against the foot position when pedaling. SPD's IMO lead to incorrectly setup cleats for a lot of people.

So pedals with no self centering spring would be preferable. With those people are going to either like Free Float; or something with no float. Free Float means really no need to setup the cleat perfectly. No float you'll know if you get it wrong and a little trial and error will get there. So I'll usually point people to free float if they are new because that's easier to setup; and really easy to clip and unclip but If that doesn't work like it doesn't for you (didn't you have problem with the shoe damaging the crank arm?) then a no Float Keno like pedals and some patience to set it up correctly on the shoe would make sense.

What did you finally settle on for pedal?

 

[ReklinedRider]

Hacking Frogs....my biology teacher would be appalled!

 

[ccf]

Are you familiar with the Speedplay Frogs? With MTN bike shoes you can easily walk with them.

Yes, and in hindsight the Frogs might have been a better way to go given the not-so-walkable nature of the walkable cleats. But the ULAs work really well and my white Lakes with double-boas look and fit great.