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changing the cleats always been a real pain, whats the secret?

rollin

rollin

"Just playin golf pally"
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I must say as one who has been mechanically inclined his whole 52 years and works on equipment of different sorts for a living, changing cleats is one of the biggest pain in the butt things I can do.

Its always a fight. The cleat wrench doesn grab enough meat to trun the darn thing. I usually end up using a pliers of some sort and even then grabbing onto the cleat is a pain too. For years I always think to myself "let me take 5 minutes and change my cleats" and then its like freaking 15 minutes later and im sweating and my hands are tired and all I did was change like 3 of them.

I fix all kinds of stuff and always figure ways to get things fixed , off, out, in, attached, whatever, can even get a square peg into a round hole. But not embarrassed to say taking off these freaking cleats kills me. Whats the secret? And please don't say 'go spikeless" cause its not relevant.

Whats your ideas for these stuck cleats that don't budge?
 
Change them more often. Don't wait until they are down to nubs and there is nothing to grip hold of. Once dirt & grime get stuck inside the grooves of the cleat itself, they become more difficult to remove. Then your down to brute strength with pliers. You can try forced air using an air compressor around each cleat to blow out the dirt. But then your just adding time to your project. Either way it doesn't take 5 minutes per shoe anymore.
 
soak the spike threads by filling a basin with warm water with just enough to cover the spike threads inside the sole of your shoe. The water line should be below your shoe uppers. 10 to 15 minutes should be enough, and, the spikes should come out.
 
You know you would thing that someone would invent an attachment to go on the end of a ratchet to help take them off.
I know that I always seem to torque my elbow trying to take them off.
My Ecco's have the low profile spikes, Can't image how hard they will be to take off.
 
I've never had to replace spikes.
 
my idea? throw the shoes away and buy spikeless. last year i bought a pair of fj hyperflex boa shoes. spent a good bit on them, and they were my first set of spiked shoes in awhile. needed to replace the spikes for the first time. one cleat stripped so it was impossible to remove, and another entire unit came out of the shoe so just a gaping hole. threw them in the garbage and vowed to never buy another pair of fj shoes.
 
Spikeless is the way to go, when they are wore out throw em in the trash and get a new pair. I hated changing spikes, the only pair I own now I never wear.
 
Just get a cleat ripper and remove them that way.
 
spikeless is not relevant. There are reasons some like spiked shoes.
 
golfinnut said:
Change them more often. Don't wait until they are down to nubs and there is nothing to grip hold of. Once dirt & grime get stuck inside the grooves of the cleat itself, they become more difficult to remove. Then your down to brute strength with pliers. You can try forced air using an air compressor around each cleat to blow out the dirt. But then your just adding time to your project. Either way it doesn't take 5 minutes per shoe anymore.
Click to expand...

Not waiting too long is exactly why I was doing them yesterday. Thinking I got this, this time because they are not really due yet. But no, it was a battle and so I grabbed another pair because I had to make a tee time and was going to be late because of this..lol
 
Key is like golfinnut said is to change them more frequently. I waited till a pair was worn to nubs and had almost nothing to grip and I wore myself out getting those cleats out. There was one cleat I almost gave up on because it just kept ripping and falling apart. Looking back I think the soaking in water strategy would have helped a ton.
 
rollin said:
spikeless is not relevant. There are reasons some like spiked shoes.
Click to expand...

not relevant? you're asking what other people do. many have moved away from spiked for this very reason, and have been ok to sacrifice some traction.
 
c.a.eleric said:
not relevant? you're asking what other people do. many have moved away from spiked for this very reason, and have been ok to sacrifice some traction.
Click to expand...

Agree...not relevant. The OP was asking for the secret of changing spikes.

I found a ratchet spike wrench with multiple heads to change on it. One of the heads is just sharp teeth that grab into the soft spikes. It really works well on the soft ones and then if you are still using steel spikes, there is another head that takes care of those.

Similar to this one, but this one doesn't have the real sharp teeth style head.

https://www.tgw.com/softspikes-clea...MIx_3Qouap1QIVFYezCh3mDg5iEAQYASABEgKNE_D_BwE
 
I agree with changing them more frequently. You'll notice that certain cleats will wear faster than others. For me it's always the outside toe that goes first. So replace them one at a time.

You can find some pretty good deals if you buy them in larger quantities, and just keep a drawer full.
 
c.a.eleric said:
not relevant? you're asking what other people do. many have moved away from spiked for this very reason, and have been ok to sacrifice some traction.
Click to expand...

sorry c.a. but its not relevant because that doesn't answer what to do for how best to replace the cleats. that's what I mean by not relevant.
 
Drumdog said:
Agree...not relevant. The OP was asking for the secret of changing spikes.

I found a ratchet spike wrench with multiple heads to change on it. One of the heads is just sharp teeth that grab into the soft spikes. It really works well on the soft ones and then if you are still using steel spikes, there is another head that takes care of those.

Similar to this one, but this one doesn't have the real sharp teeth style head.

https://www.tgw.com/softspikes-clea...MIx_3Qouap1QIVFYezCh3mDg5iEAQYASABEgKNE_D_BwE
Click to expand...

now that looks interesting. Im thinking the head that looks like spider would grab behind each soft tooth of the cleat and this way when we twist we get leverage at each tooth and should (Iwould think) do the trick. At least so long as the teeth on the spider (or at least 4 of them) end up getting behind the teeth on the cleat.
 
mpeterson said:
Just get a cleat ripper and remove them that way.
Click to expand...
This. I bought a cleat ripper. With a little elbow grease they come out. Took me 10 min to do each.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 
Either soak them in a little water or spray them down with grip solvent. If all else fails, I take them to the golf course and have them fight with the stubborn spikes.
 
I bought a cleat ripper for the really tough ones.

Also find soaking the shoes helps a bunch too if doing them in the off season.
 
I have found good success changing spikes in my Nike LC3s.

1) clean the bottoms with a brush and soapy water. Take a small pick and remove any stuck rocks/dirt from the two holes for the spanner wrench.

2) change them well before the wear hits the body of the spike. I buy the champ spikes in bigger quantities on line, so they are pretty cheap and not a concenr to replace even if they still have a bit a life.
 
When the tool doesn't work I roll with needle-nose pliers... pinch them from both sides and twist... they come right out
 
Yah - I have the Softspikes tool. For the tough ones I've used a small drill bit to get the packed in dirt out of the little holes. Then when you press the two pronged tool into the old spike you get it into the plastic and usually it will break free. At least I've never not been able to get one out. It does take some elbow grease...
 
rollin said:
haha, I thought you were kidding with a so called "cleat ripper"
, but I see that actually exists :)
Click to expand...

Saves so much time. Destroys the spike but that doesn't matter.
 
rollin said:
now that looks interesting. Im thinking the head that looks like spider would grab behind each soft tooth of the cleat and this way when we twist we get leverage at each tooth and should (Iwould think) do the trick. At least so long as the teeth on the spider (or at least 4 of them) end up getting behind the teeth on the cleat.
Click to expand...

Yes, but one of the heads on my ratchet has sharp teeth that grab into the soft base, so I guess it would be called a ripper.
It never fails me.
 
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