Cycling Shoe Cleat Thread Help !



ieandro

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Aug 19, 2006
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I have a pair of Nike Poggios that I had purchased online. It is paired with a set of Look KEO Sprint pedals w/ Grey cleats.

As i went to install the cleats on the shoe, I noticed the front thread hole for the cleat bolt doesn't have a thread at all! Just a smooth hole. All the others have a threaded insert. Now by looking at it, it doesn't seem to be the sellers fault as it looks like it came from the factory.

I am currently serving overseas and mail tends to take weeks on end to actually get here and I do not want the hassle of downtime without my shoes. Can i use a tap & die set to actually tap some new threads in? My concern is that the enitre sole is carbon fiber. Has this been done before ? Will a shoe expert be able to do this ? Or will bike shop be able to do it ?

Any help will be gratefull appreciated.
 
I'd send a terse e-mail to Nike Customer service if the shoes were purchased from an on-line store, seeing that your serving your country overseas, they should help you out of your predicament.
From my experience there is always a metal insert which provides the holes for the cleat attachment. Are you talking about rethreading metal or carbon, if its carbon you maybe missing the metal part in your shoes. If the hole has a smaller diameter than the screw then rethreading will work, if the screw just spins in the screw hole then rethreading won't help as the hole diameter is already too wide. The hole may have been stripped by someone else previously if its metal, is this a on-line or ebay purchase. It would be easier to send the shoes back at the expense of the seller.
 
eBAY Nike shoes are often 2nds or rejects. I think its a learning lesson. Support your reputable on-line LBS. :rolleyes:

ieandro said:
I have a pair of Nike Poggios that I had purchased online. It is paired with a set of Look KEO Sprint pedals w/ Grey cleats.

As i went to install the cleats on the shoe, I noticed the front thread hole for the cleat bolt doesn't have a thread at all! Just a smooth hole. All the others have a threaded insert. Now by looking at it, it doesn't seem to be the sellers fault as it looks like it came from the factory.

I am currently serving overseas and mail tends to take weeks on end to actually get here and I do not want the hassle of downtime without my shoes. Can i use a tap & die set to actually tap some new threads in? My concern is that the enitre sole is carbon fiber. Has this been done before ? Will a shoe expert be able to do this ? Or will bike shop be able to do it ?

Any help will be gratefull appreciated.
 
The metal tube for the screw is in place and the screw would look like it would screw in (as i tried to do before realizing), so I'm thinking i can probably tap some new threads.
I would definitely send an email to Nike about the situation but if i had to have send them back then it would take between 3 weeks to a month. They say patience is a virtue, but for my situation I just don't have the time nor the resources to place calls, etc.

carbonguru, you are probably right about the whole ebay thing, but i am very comfortable with Nike sizing and am relatively new to roadbikes. I have tried to research the sizing for Sidi, Lake, etc., but I am unsure of what sizes i should get. They say it runs smaller.
 
ieandro said:
As i went to install the cleats on the shoe, I noticed the front thread hole for the cleat bolt doesn't have a thread at all! ...Can i use a tap & die set to actually tap some new threads in? ... Will a shoe expert be able to do this ? Or will bike shop be able to do it ?

Tapping a hole isn't difficult, but it requires a little bit of experience/judgement. I wouldn't take it to a shoe expert, that level of metal work is outside their average tasks. A bike shop would be a better bet, but I have two LBS that I wouldn't trust with re-threading.
I'd try to find someone with the required experience and simply buy a tap at a hardware store.

It's probably M6 thread, but that will be easily verified by trial fitting the tap into one of the finished holes.

BTW, MTB shoes generally have a removable metal insert, if that is the case with your shoes too maybe you can get the manufacturer to send you a new insert.
 
Thanks all for the information !

dabac you are probably right about the LBS. I started my search with the automotive center here on my installation, but was told that i would need a tap block ? I think he means something that would fit on the other side as to not tap right through the sole itself. He recommended a shoe repair shop right off base. Unfortunately I am still learning Korean and trying to explain taps and threads is beyond me. I think I will try my luck in Seoul this weekend. I read a couple of very good LBS for American triathletes living by the old olympic stadium.

I removed the innersole and it doesn't seem be anymore accessible than the insert.
 
ieandro said:
... I started my search with the automotive center here on my installation, but was told that i would need a tap block ? I think he means something that would fit on the other side as to not tap right through the sole itself. He recommended a shoe repair shop right off base. ...
I removed the innersole and it doesn't seem be anymore accessible than the insert.

Tapping right through is not a problem for someone who are willing to pay the slightest attention to what they're doing, it's not like the tap is self-propelled...

One simply stops turning when one has reached the required depth.

What he might have been talking about is a bottom/finishing tap. Taps comes in three breeds, the first has a very tapered point and is all you need when you can tap through the material. But if you're cutting threads in a hole with a bottom you need a tap that's almost flat at the tip to enable you to cut the threads all the way down. The first tap would come to a stop with the tip against the bottom and leave quite a lot of the hole unthreaded.

At a pinch one can take an ordinary tap and simply grind the tip flat to get a bottom tap.

Or, drill a hole straight through an thread straight through as well. A 5mm hole is a negligible threat to the integrity of your shoe.