Cleat bolts – prevention rather than cure?

There are plenty of threads talking about ‘how to remove stuck cleat bolts’. There’s not so much info on how to avoid getting them stuck in the first place.

I spent a couple of hours at the weekend trying to replace the cleats in two pairs of shoes, one was successful, the other looks like I’ll have to bin the shoes, which seems daft. The first pair was less than a year old, but still required me to cut a slot in the bolt head with a dremel, and use a large screwdriver to undo after the hex rounded out. The other pair are about 2 years old and the bolts seem completely welded into the shoe plate. The design of the shoe means the plate is not replaceable.

Has anyone use titanium or stainless bolts to prevent them seizing? Using normal 8.8 or 10.9 bolts it seems inevitable that they’ll rust and seize, no matter how much grease or copper slip is used – it’s on the bottom of a shoe so is going to be wet, salty, scraped and generally a very rough life. As they’re coutersunk, the hex size is also smaller than normal for a given thread size, so more likely to round off.

Any tips please?!

It’s unlikely that the damage to the bolt heads occurs on a single occasion rather it’s a continuous process. Probably best to check on a regular basis, remove the bolts, clean, apply anti-seize and replace.

Prevention is better than cure 😛

You sure? If you can drill the bolts out you can usually manipulate the plate and drop it out through the slots in the sole (for boots with sealed liners, winter boots and suchlike), or there will be a hatch in the insole. Might not be very visible, but i’ve not yet come across a shoe that can’t have the plate replaced.

And slather the cleat, plate and bolt in copperslip. Tighten up, clean the excess off and fill the head on the bolt with sugru or a hard wax (not candle wax) i’ve used p-tex in the past, hard enough to not let bits of grit and such like into the bolt head, but you can get it out with a pick in a few seconds.

Then periodically check, once a quarter or something.

Only rounded some bolts off once and I found that if you drill the head off the bolts so you can remove the cleats you can then firmly apply a Molegrip to the remaining bolt and get enough leverage to remove the bolt (clamp the Molegrip in a vice and turn the shoe for extra leverage). You have to do the Molegrips up *really* tight though.

Other than that, lots of grease when you fit them.

And FWIW, the hex size is actually larger (4mm) than a “stock” M5 countersunk bolt. Which uses a 3mm hex.

Come unstuck with that before.

threadlock.

They get changed so infrequently I just assume they are a sacrificial item and drill the heads off when changing.

No idea if it’s the best method, or whether I’ve just been tremendously lucky, but I’ve never had a seized cleat bolt in 20 or so years. I just put a dab of copaslip on before installing.

Lots of grease, and not leaning on the bolt like a gorilla when you do them up

Spray the bolt with WD40 or bolt release spray. Repeat a few times a day for several days.
After this it will have seeped in and the bolts will be easier to remove with less chance of rounding the head.

Also, use a fine pick to remove all debris from the head to the Allen key can go in as far as possible.

I just use thick grease on the threads and back of the bolt head, they can still end up seized at the head if you’ve walked on the cleat a lot (if the sole has worn leaving cleat pronounced). Just drill out with a 6mm drill bit, the remaining stub of thread will then just unscrew by hand, even on my winter boots.

Grease in the threads, and as above clean out the bolt hole with a pick

I’ve not had a stuck bolt in the 5 years I’ve been using cleats.
I always put coppaslip on the bolts before fitting them, and never re-use them.

Grease on the bolts and just give them a quick loosen every few months or so. Nothing more than that IME.

(flame me) but I back mine off half a turn after every ride. Takes seconds, saves headaches.

Cleats are cheap – I replace mine every year whether they need it or not. A thin smear of copperlip on the threads. Seems to work fine for me. I have once managed to strip the hex of a cleat bolt being too ham-fisted with the allen key (not seating it properly before trying to undo the bolt), so I had to drill the head bolt off, but the bolts aways come out no problmes otherwise. If you leave the bolts in for years then they are bound to sieze and the bolt head get mashed up and worn down by years of damage and wear walking on gravel and stones.

Also before trying to undo the bolt use a scriber or something to thoroughly clear out any debris from inside the allen hex recess so you can seat the allen key into the bolt head properly.

I fill the bolt heads and the area around the cleat with wax. Get a candle and a gas soldering iron (or a decent lighter that doesn’t burn your fingers) and warm the cleat, then take a lit candle (larger the better) and dribble wax onto the cleat, the warm metal stops it just balling up and rolling off (like soldering a joint), completely fill the recess in the cleat, and the slots under the shoe (added bonus it’s waterproofing the shoe).

Also before trying to undo the bolt use a scriber or something to thoroughly clear out any debris from inside the allen hex recess so you can seat the allen key into the bolt head properly.

+1

Top tip, before you try and undo a bolt, soak the area with penetrating fluid first and then tighten it just a touch. This often breaks the rust seal and gets the bolt moving, then you can undo it with less hassle.

i’ve used copperslip on the bolts since forever and never had a problem, and i’ve had a *lot* of shoes

I use a similar technique to TINAS only I use sealant in place of wax. Never had any issue removing for replacement. Squeeze the stuff in every open hole and you’re done. Obviously dab some copperslip or similar on the bolts before sealing.

I put a drop of wet chain lube on each bolt before installing and have never had a stuck cleat since starting to use SPD in the early 90’s

Seems like I’ve been very lucky then. I just whack them in nice and tight with no grease. Never had to drill them out or anything.

Last pair even went in the sea after I misjudged the tide at Osea island and had to ride across the causeway through about 10 inches of sea water. Cleats came out fine 2 years after that.

Maybe using grease or copper slip allows you to do them up too tightly and makes it more difficult to undo them later on.

I’ll maybe try some copperslip this time. Used grease previously which has generally resulted in a PITA. The shoes are ‘waterproof’ so no access through the footbed to replace the plate, and I don’t think there’s room to slip it out through the slots on the bottom. I’d already soaked in Plusgas for a good while. Maybe the bolts were just particularly crap ones. Might try some Torx head ones next time as they ought to not strip so easily.

It’s all been said before, but copperslip on the bolts seems to do the job. For those where I’ve not done that, then if really not able to remove I’ve found that drilling the head off and then cutting a screwdriver slot with a dremel works – it makes a big difference drilling the head off first as the bolts are then no longer loaded.

I like the wax suggestion, will have to try that (and in other similar situations).

and I don’t think there’s room to slip it out through the slots on the bottom

Once you’ve got the cleat off, just give the plate a push, see if there is any give. The one on my northwaves can all but disappear into the inside of the shoe if you aren’t careful.