Ok, before I run to the bikeshop or hardware store with my tail between my legs, does anyone have a solution to this dilemma:

After not having touched my cleats for ages, I decided to finally replace them today. On the first shoe, screw one came out just fine. Screw two was a ***** and wouldn't come out. I kept torquing harder and harder and finally the opening to let the allen key in (what's that called... I'm sure it has a name!) just kind of stripped. Now I got nothing.

What can I do about this? Can the shop even do anything about this? (I called but no one answered )

Can't believe you managed to screw your own cleat!

It is easily fixable though, no big deal, although I aren't sure how you do it. Hardware store type fixit bloke will do it in a minute I reckon.

Isn't there some As Seen on TV tool to help with this problem. I seem to remember Bob Vila pushing it like carpenter's crack.

yup, i've done that.

i just superglued the head of the bolt back on. worked fine to get it out. otherwise, you can use a dremel to put a flathead screw slot in the remaining bit o bolt.

You can remove stripped hex bolts with a star shaped wrench.

I had the exact same thing happen a few days ago. I tried getting it out with all sorts of tools but I finally just grabbed the power drill and drilled right through the tapered bolt head so that only the theraded shaft was left and the cleat came off. I then took a tiny screw driver and unscrewed the bolt shaft by carefully jamming the screwdriver into the side of the sharp burred end and moving it laterally until it backed out enough to get some pliers on. I threw on some new cleats and bolts and now its good as new.

Though it may not help you in the short term, but buy a set of easy outs to use w/ a power drill. The folks at the hardware store can take care of you for now.

This may be an appropriate time to remind everyone to please, remember to grease or beeswax your cleat bolts.

like chimbly said, either dremel or hacksaw a screw slot in the head. bob=uncle

I've never greased my cleat.

Will look at the beeswax suggestion, thanks!

Just the bolts, not the cleat.

And to paraphrase Grant Peterson: beeswax is the bees' knees.

you haven't lived

You'll be more aero if you do

Yeah, the method chimbly suggested is probably your best bet. But if you don't have power tools, you could try "Screw Grab". That stuff has worked for me on stripped Philips heads. Never tried it on a stripped Allen though. YMMV.

dremmel or a power drill are your friends.

Happened to me too. I still have not been able to get it out but for now the cleat still works. I think drilling it out will be the best method. Easy outs will not work because if you have to torque it so hard that it strips then you still won't be able to tourque it out with an easy out. It's most likely welded shut and needs to be drilled out. Use some penatrating oil too.

easy outs will work because eventually the head will just shear off, and once the cleat is off the shoe you can use vice grips or whatever to remove the stub of the screw.

How do I drill it out (I have a drill... and penetrating oil [insert childish giggle])?? I think you're right jfmckenna. The thing is stuck like a mofo. Chimbly, the head didn't break off. Just the opening got really rounded off...

Use a bit that's slightly larger than the diameter of the threaded portion of the screw. Slowly drill into the hole that is stripped until the head shears off. Remove the cleat and use vice grips or something to remove the stub of the screw. The reason I prefer to use an easy out is that you spin an easy out CCW rather than CW as you would w/ a regular cutting bit, thereby preventing risk of tightening the bolt in the hole.

get this:
https://www.sjdiscounttools.com/ald2019.html

i've done this exact thing.

UPDATE:

So I drilled the crap out of the screw heads (I didn't mention earlier that this happened to two screws, one on each shoe... the right screw on both... coincidence?). Worked like a charm on the first shoe. Popped the cleat off with a screwdriver and then used a pair of needlenose pliers to extract the leftover screw shaft.

The second shoe is still in progress. I got the cleat off, but cannot get the screw out. I can't get enough purchase on the remaining part sticking out of the hole it's in and it's in there pretty damn tight.

Does anyone in NYC have a dremmel I can borrow for about 5 minutes? I think i'm gonna have to carve in a notch and use a flathead here...

Man. what a pain in the ass.

PS - I did use grease before I put the screws in btw. it's dry and brittle. it's been along time, with heavy use. it just dried out. maybe you have to regrease those threads every few months or something?

try using a really small flathead screwdriver and sort of jam it into the side of the top of the screw stump, then try to spin it laterally as if you were spinning a prayer wheel or a toilet paper roll or something. When I did it I couldn't grab the stump with pliers so this was the only method that worked.

Alternatively you could just try to VERY CAREFULLY super glue something on top of it and twist it off as it should not be torqued in there much at all anymore.

I had the same problem. I attempted the dremel method but still wasn't able to get enough grab. I solved it by taking my cleats down to the local hardware store. They were able to bore out a hole using a drill bit, and then hammered a tap (not sure if that was what it was called, exactly. It was a tapered bit with four edges) into the drilled hole and used a wrench to apply torque to the hammered-in bit. It took a few tries on each bolt. I nearly hugged him when he got the first one out!