I love my Bebop pedals. It seems unlikely that I’ll ever use anything else. And Bebop pedals are durable. I’ve used them for over five years and never had to replace a single set.

But, with Bebops, all the moving parts are in the cleats. And they do wear. They eventually get to where they won’t stay clipped in. A straight pull away from the pedal will unclip them. And it’s 50 bucks a pair to replace them!

The cleats use spring loaded dogs, front and rear, to clip into the pedals. It turns out, these springs fatigue, and that’s what makes them stop holding. You can take a screwdriver, put it against the cleat dogs from outside, and push hard enough against the dogs to bend the springs, opposite of the direction they usually bend, and the cleat will work perfectly again.

I ran across that technique in this old forum thread. I had a cleat on my commuting sandals stop holding this week, so I tried out that technique today, and the cleat is now working perfectly again. I don’t know how long it will last, but as expensive as those cleats are, it seems well worthwhile. I’m glad I saved the last pair of Bebop cleats I replaced.