Glue cleat to the bottom of cycle shoe

chriscdesign

OIk, background first.

I have a pair of Shimano R300 roadshoes to which (2 years ago) I attached Speedplay cleats (X series) to the bottom and left them there. The cleat in two parts, an adapter plate which screwed to the bottom using the 3 'Look' style holes and the actual mechanism is then screwed on that.

Right, I took off the cleat but when I tried to remove the adapter plate the screw just went around and around. I managed to remove the material inside the shoe to reveal the cross shaped threaded insert had broken the mount and was rotating freely. The screw has seized and their is no way of getting it off.

Now my question is this, say I could get the adapter plates off, with a new set of cleats, can use an epoxy resin to glue the adapter plate in place onto the bottom of the shoe? If yes, what resin/glue would you recommend. Is this better handled by a professional?

Take back to the shop? Ah no. It literally closed down this week. I tried the Shimano service centre in Dublin and they said that Shimano will probably say, 'ahh too bad'.

At the moment I'm looking at getting a new pair of shoes, not Shimano, but if there was a possibility of saving the shoe then I might have a go. I realise it's probably my fault and there are lessons (anybody?) to be learnt.

Many thanks, hope someone can help me out.

andy_wrx

So you're thinking of glueing this adapter plate, to which your cleats attach, to the bottom of your shoe ?
Rather than having it bolted through the sole to the nut inside.

Personally, no way.
The idea of having it break-off, the glue give way, when I'm giving it the max (and that's when you would break it) is just too horrible to contemplate.
I know someone whose pedal spindle snapped off and he went face-down into the road, hard...

chriscdesign

Yup. Once I cut the screws there is NO way I can attach a screw into the shoe. Your thoughts about the glue giving way are just too much to contemplate. It's time to get a new pair of shoes. I did think about finding a custom car body shop that works with carbon fibre and resins and seeing if they could help.

tremayne

I swear by epoxy resin - and the slow setting stuff is probably some of the very toughest/strongest glue that money can buy. I've achieved amazing things with it - sometimes in times of crisis!

However - for this? No way!! A get-you-home-pedaling-gingerly measure perhaps, but nothing more.

andy_wrx

Years ago, so it's a bit hazy, my wife had an pair of shoes, Shimano 2-bolt/slot MTB fitting, can't remember what the precise problem was but I ended-up taking the shoe apart from the inside and found that the bolts screwed into a metal plate inside, under the insole.
This was nothing fancy, just a square of metal with two holes drilled into it and threaded for the bolts to screw into.
Can't remember what the problem was, maybe the threads had stripped or something, but I remember I had a knackered old pair of shoes and I similarly took mine apart, found there was an equivalent plate inside, different shape and size admittedly, but I put that into my wife's shoes and could hence attach the cleats
Any chance of you doing something similar, even if it involved having a bit of metal cut to size and holes drilling and threading ? Wouldn't be much effort with access to metal working tools

Yossie

Can you not cut the screw so there is nothing protruding from the sole of the shoe then take the (I presume) captive nut out from the iside of the shoe.

You then fit a new cleat adaptor thingy with a bolt that runs into a nut that you hold by hand as you do up - does the same job as a captive nut. So long as you have chose dthe right length bolt/cut the bolt down to size you won't have any problems.

Alternatively, strip the shoe as above and see whats in there - Shimano MTB cleats used to come with a spare metal plate that you could blag from somewhere to suit.

If you really want to go the glue route, Araldite it on using loads and loads of it - it'll never come off if done properly. Coat the sole and the whole of the cleat adaptor and follow the instructions re partial and full setting. Just make sure that the cleat adaptor is in the right place before it sets off.

Monty Dog

Your shoe soles are probably polyamide (nylon) and as any materials specialist will tell you, extremely difficult to get anything to stick to it - epoxies included. Relying on a bonded joint solely as the means of holding your cleats in place is a disaster waiting to happen - the flexing of the sole and the level of force through the cleat would not make this a good idea.

rothers_bikeo

Just because he posts dubious images in cake stop is no reason to glue Cleat to the bottom of your shoe !

timmyturbo

Use an aerospace grade adhesive , it will be ten times stringer than any screw !! Cheers

pilot_pete

timmyturbo wrote:

Use an aerospace grade adhesive , it will be ten times stringer than any screw !! Cheers

And cost more than a new pair of shoes......

If you can't replace the captive nut/ plate/ thread, then you need to bin the idea. Anything other than as the manufacturer intended is dangerous.

PP

timmyturbo

Pilot Pete wrote:

timmyturbo wrote:

Use an aerospace grade adhesive , it will be ten times stringer than any screw !! Cheers

And cost more than a new pair of shoes......

If you can't replace the captive nut/ plate/ thread, then you need to bin the idea. Anything other than as the manufacturer intended is dangerous.

PP[/quo

Mate £8 for a small tube , and it holds on plane's wings, i take it you know nothing about adhesives ??

Monty Dog

I know quite a lot about plane wings, composities and adhesives but have you ever tried sticking polyamide? Hot melt is probably the most effective for this application but isn't going to be as good due to the flexing. Most commercial epoxies are too brittle.
I can also tell you that all the plane wings I've ever got up real close to (like crawling around inside them) were held-on with f-ing great metal fasteners.

keef66

Next time I fly easyjet I'll be asking what kind of glue they use to stick the wings on.

henwl

Is only one screw knackered? If so, you will still have the other two screws as well as the glue holding the adapter plate on. That sounds much safer than glue alone.