How-To/Mechanics: Stubborn cleat bolts (rusted and stripped)

My first try would be carefully applied WD-40 and a pair of needle nose pliers if your allen won't handle it. If you can remove one bolt and not the other, try rotating the cleat itself. You can try hammering it with a flat screwdriver a little. If you really want to get involved use a Dremel tool?
I think for $40 you should buy new shoes and use some anti-seize every winter.

BTW, I had been riding with my clipless Diadoras on Eggbeaters for five years now with no cleat replacement. When I went to remove the cleats (because the soles have been worn down to the point of scratching floors with the cleat), turning the allen produced a noticeable amount of smoke. Terrific.

Posted By: gregI've definitely popped some old cleat bolts off and had some sparks / smoke fire up. I will try soaking the bolts with some pentrating oil and see if that helps

When de-seizing, time is critical; give the penetrating oil a couple of days to really work its way in. You might try giving the cleats a rap with some metal object (box wrench?) to draw the oil into the gaps in the threads by vibrating the join. Hit it with more oil every time it looks dry,and try again after two days or so.

And of course, greasing bolts before you thread them in during installation is a big deal.

That seems a little extreme for a first try. Has this been routinely successful for you?

Its not really that extreme, you just have to be good with tools and its easy as cake....

....mmmm....cake

Posted By: Aaron Cexact same thing happened on my egg beater cleats due to winter riding. i threw some anti seize on the threads before installation (obviously not enough) but midwest winters are cold, wet, and salty.

It seems to me that the environmental factor is the key issue. Out here in CA, winter means rain, not snow; so, no road salt to corrode stuff. Perhaps a wise regional maintenance strategy would include weekly or monthly removal/regreasing of cleats?

i also think that it is a design flaw among crank bros cleats.


in my case atleast it was less of a "cleat-bolt-seized-into-shoe-problem" and more of a "bolt-seized-into-'washer'-problem" perhaps if they made the washer of brass as well as the cleat you'd minimize the problem of the bolt and washer rusted together. you may run into brass on brass and or deformation issues but i can't imagine it would be a worse than this:

Posted By: eaglerockPerhaps a wise regional maintenance strategy would include weekly or monthly removal/regreasing of cleats?

as soon as i can afford a new pair of shoes and or get these fuckers off...

Posted By: eaglerockAll y'all snow country folk live out there with the road saltage, which trashes not just cleats, but blacktop.

true story, trashy asphalt trashes bike wheels too.

egg beaters just happen to be (in my humble opinion) the best pedal option for winter riding.

Posted By: suicide_doorsI've never ridden clipless other than egg beaters and have never felt the need to. They just work. For me.

I started out with cheapo SPDs (the Nashbar clone of the SPD/platform combo) with cheapo Answer shoes. I could never get comfortable with them; I never developed the touch to get the cleats into the pedals, but I often found that I'd cleated them without knowing - a NASTY surprise at times. Crank Brothers worked from day one, and I can use the same cleats on both road and mountain pedals (for the win!).

If I could only find a set of Candys or Quattros in celeste for the old Bianchi (at a less-than-astronomical price), then CB would gratify my every pedal desire.

Posted By: suicide_doorsYeah, I do hate that the pair of Mallets I pulled off my mtb don't match my two speed.
Ok, I just slapped myself for saying that.

Give me a break; I'm an anal-retentive control freak, and I want to keep my 1988 bike period-correct. I have other bikes that have been savagely Frankenbiked. I have a modern, indexed road bike already. I could have done the usual: Cold-set the rear dropouts to 130 and Shimanofy the hell out of it. That would have been easier.

But nooooooooo; Mr. Obsessive-Compulsive had to hunt down budget-priced C-Record Campy (including the only-in-1989 Campy Record non-aero seatpost!). The only non-period thing left is the pedals, and I have a line on a set of Chorus aeros from the local bike kitchen.

Really, cleated pedals would make the bike a lot more rideable. But I ain't a-gonna buy oldie Looks, get another pair of shoes and learn another cleat system just for period-correct cleated pedals. If Los Hermanos de Crank made celeste pedals (or even white pedals), that would be close enough. The only celeste pedals I've ever seen have been SPD mountain things; that is not acceptable.

These are merely my own private obsessions. If I'm hurting anyone here by entertaining them, you're going to have to explain the nature of your injury to me.

Mallets are too big and klunky anyway.

Eaglerock, I believe Los Hermanos De Crank does make celest and white pedals along with a bunch of other colors such as tangerine and lime.

Ya, they will be expensive but most bike shops should be able to special order them from their one of their vendors.

I heard about the discontinued Quattro and got sad.