Airburst

A few months ago, I noticed that the cleats on one of my Specialized Tahoe MTB shoes was loose. Thinking the bolts had simply worked loose, I figured this would be a good time to replace the cleats, as they were starting to act up. The strange thing is, one of the bolts was only finger-tight, the other was so stiff that the head rounded out before it came out. That may not sound odd, but the cleat is loose around the bolt, there is no tension in the bolt, so why is it so stiff? Could it have been loose, then stripped partly when I stepped on it? More to the point, how do I get the darn thing out? I've removed the insole from the shoe, blasted both ends of the bolt with penetrating spray, knocked a notch into the head with a cold chisel and tried to bash the bolt round using said notch, but it will NOT budge! Any other ideas? Could it be drilled out, or is it too hard?

FBinNY 

Sounds more like it's rusted in place then held by tension. Try something like Liquid Wrench Kroil, or similar penetrating made for freeing rusted in bolts. Give it enough time to work then try turning it out with a pair of pliers with good bite. If all else fails you could probably drill it out since it's soft enough that you could deform it with a chisel.

HillRider

Drill it out using a drill bit just slightly larger than the 4 mm allen recess in the head. Drill slowly and don't go too deep as all you want to do is weaken the bolt until the head pops off. Start with a 5/32" drill bit and you may have to move up to a 3/16" bit.

Once the bolt has been beheaded, remove the cleat and use a Vise Grip to grab the remaining stud and unthread it from the backing plate. Or, replace the backing plate with a new one and use new bolts.

I've had to do this a few times and the bolts drill easily.

Airburst

I couldn't get pliers on it, it's flush-fitting, sorry, forgot to mention that. The penetrating spray I used was 3in1's own brand penetrating spray, but it's always worked in the past for me.

Edit @Hillrider, you must have posted while I was writing, how long does drilling them usually take?

HillRider

With a decently sharp drill bit and my bench top drill press, about 10 seconds. You aren't going very deep and the allen recess is most of the way to where you want to go anyway. Feed the bit slowly and, as some point the bolt head will begin to rotate with the bit. That's where you stop.

CACycling

It only took me a minute with a cordless drill and a sharp bit. Just be carefull not to damage the threads on the insert.

Airburst

OK, I'll break out the power drill tomorrow, thanks for the help guys!

Al1943

You may need to buy a harder drill bit (tungsten, carbide, etc.) if you don't have. Depending on how hard the screw is you may be able to drill all the way through the screw, or you may not need to.

reptilezs

sock it out https://www.sockitout.com/

HillRider

Cleat screws are relatively soft which is why an allen wrench seem to round them out with such disturbing frequency. Any half decent drill bit will go through one with no problems.

You don't have to or want to drill it out completely. Drilling with a bit about equal the root diameter of the M5x.8 threads will remove the bolt head easily and the rest comes out with a Vise Grip.

CCrew

Once you get the head off as Hillrider described, you should be able to remove the plate from the inside of the shoe to work with getting the remains of the bolt out. Will give you a bit more working room/leverage then.

DieselDan

IMO, less painful to just replace the plate.

HillRider

With some shoes that's easy as the insole just lifts out and the plate is exposed for removal and replacement. With others it reqires surgery as the insoles are glued in place and you can't get to the plate without a fight. Sometimes it's a lot better to remove the stub and reuse the plate.

CCrew

Yeah, I have the same Tahoes he's working with. Once the bolts are out the plate's going to flop around inside, it's only held in place by the removable insole.

That at least gives him the ability to clamp it in a vice and hit it with heat before he has to get really drastic with it.

Airburst

OK, I drilled most of the way through the head, but in the end all I had to so was put an old screwdriver under the plate that goes between the cleat and the bolt heads and pry it up, which snapped the plate. After that, I pried the cleat upwards and the remains of the bolt head deformed and pulled through the hole. It also just slipped through the slot in the shoe, and I was able to see get the backing plate out and take a look. I think the bolt must have worked loose, then got stepped on and cross-threaded, because it looked misaligned, and when I hit it with a hammer while the plate was in a vice, it straightened up and then unscrewed fairly easily. I'm gonna get new cleats today, and probably use the other set of holes in the plate just in case the threads are damaged. Thanks for the help guys!

HillRider

Well, it worked after a fashion but I think you didn't use a drill bit quite large enough. If the right bit is used, the bolt head comes off cleanly before you drill down very far.