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Time to change my cleats, cannot undo them with Allen keys.
Time for something more brutal, any advice?
Sharp drill bits I'm afraid
drill them out if really stuck .
but first clean the bolt with a needle and try again with a newish allen key .
Drills and/or screw extractors
I always fill the head of the bolt on my cleats with silicone, it stops the build up of stuff in the bolt and picks out easily when it comes time to change
Won't help remove it this time but worth doing when you do get it sorted
Drill, but I find I usually need to cool the bolts with water or the drills don't cut.
Sharp drill bits are your only option IMHO
Similar to lyrikal whenever I fit new cleats I fill the Allen key holes, but I use melted candle wax as it can be removed easily with a match, I usually melt wax in and around the base of the cleats too.
G
if you have a welder put a dab of weld on screw head and build it up till you can get molegrips on.i found that it did not need to much as the heat had freed it
May have to be the angle grinder, been in for 6 years at least!
Dremmel or angle grinder to actually get the main body of the cleat off, bit of a soak with WD40 than get the mole grips on the stud. Never fails if I've had a rounded off/stuck fast cleat bolt
Hammer the biggest Torx impact bit you can in, then a ratchet and socket on the end of that. works every time.
Wd40 from inside and out worked for me.
No help now but I undo my cleats after every ride and tighten them up again next time (just back the bolts off, not take the cleats out)
30s each ride saves a lot of stress later.....
^^
Every ride??? 😯
I'll bet that you also follow the recommended service intervals on your fork; stopping mid-ride if needed! 🙂
Hammer the biggest Torx impact bit you can in, then a ratchet and socket on the end of that. works every time.
Good bit of advice by the blackwidows, if a larger torx bit will not fit then enlarge the hole very slightly by drilling out then hammering in the torx bit, the hammering or "direct applied percussion" in engineering terms will most likely shock the initial seized head/thread and it will come loose. By use of torx bit i mean an actual hex drive torx bit not those crap angled soft cheese L-shaped things you get free with brake rotors, they're only fit for the bin. When you fit new cleats slather the bolts in coppaslip or another such antisieze compound.
theotherjonv : Be careful as you will eventually stretch the bolt threads to such an extent that they will become loose in the cleat plate as fitted in the shoe, coppaslip or another antisieze compound will do a better job and torque the bolts to 5-6 Nm or 3.5 to 4.5 lb-ft (shimano specs).
theotherjonv
im picturing you doing exactly what mrs tr did the other day ....
she got winter boots , and i put some cleats loosely on - then told her i needed to get her to sit on the bike to set them up correctly.
To which i got - im busy
Fastforward 2 weeks - i get an email. she had been out for a ride and about 3 miles from the house discovered she couldnt unclip !
i laughed alot - is that evil ?
Drill the bolt head off.
Cleat falls off.
What's left unscrews by hand.
He hasn't said his allen keys have rounded yet. If not more force, having used some WD or something to soak in a bit. when keys round try the torqs method then drill. Use copper grease on new bolts!
I got my last ones out using an electric impact driver.
Rattled them right out it did.
Other top tip is to slightly tighten the cleat bolts first before trying to undo them. Sounds counter intuitive, but you break the rust seal and you dont mash up the hex head trying to get the bolt moving.
drill.
theres other ways, but they aint any easier, and they will probably be slower as you may end up drilling them out anyway.
nice sharp bit.
whats left in the shoe will probably come out by hand, as someone noted above.
I had exactly the same problem on Saturday, used a dremmel to cut a slot in the head of the bolt and used a flat blade screwdriver to undo it. Start to finish was about three minutes.
I loosen all the bolts on my bike after every ride, only takes a few minutes and stops them seizing over time 🙁
and next time a bit of coppaslip on the threads etc
no one mentioned plusgas yet?
I spent ages trying to carefully take out my old cleats, then I realised that its quicker to drill the heads off and change the cleat nuts and cleats
http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/118/40n_0100/shimano-a100-spd-cleat-nut--plate.html
The old cleat nuts were rusted badly and stripped when the new cleats were fitted 🙁
For the sake of £4 quid its worth fitting new ones with your new cleats
An angle grinder is quick and easy but stop frequently to let the heat subside or you'll melt/burn the soles of the shoes.
Drill the bolt head off.
Cleat falls off.
What's left unscrews by hand.
+1
angle grinder sorted it out, got carried away, melted some of the shoe, but great fun, cooled them off with a watering can, felt like a blacksmith.
You'll make a neater job next time!
In about a few years time, I think the shoes may fall off the cleats before the next set are needed