How do I get a cleat that's stuck in a pedal, detached from the shoe, out?

Question

While out riding on my XC bike today, I encountered an issue with my cleat: The connector between the cleat and the shoe - the part that you screw into - died, and I lost a screw. So I had the shoe attached to the pedal, unable to unclip - because I was able to completely turn the shoe around without the cleat detaching. (The other cleat still worked, and I noticed that I couldn't unclip in a safe enough situation that I avoided biting the dust.)
When I got home, I detached the shoe my turning it around enough times that it unscrewed. (Trying to tighten it by screwing it the other way didn't work.) Unfortunately, now the shoe is detached, leaving the cleat itself still inside the pedal, with a single screw sticking out:

How do I get the cleat loose?

Chris H · Accepted Answer

Your goal is to apply torque to the cleat as you would with your foot in a shoe. So essentially you need something like a gigantic flat screwdriver. I have a mini crowbar that would do the job, for example, but if you have any metal tyre levers they might be big enough.

Slacken off any tension adjusting screw first

Carel · Answer

Use water-pump-pliers or locking pliers (vise-grip). Grip the cleat and turn it either clock-wise or anti-clock-wise

Alternatively a medium sized screwdriver used as a lever at the rear 'nose' of the cleat will pop it out. Mind fingers and eyes, though! It might be a good idea for both methods to reduce the spring tension of the pedal by turning the adjustment screw as far to the '-' sign as possible with a hex key.

Lamar Latrell · Answer

Other answers are good, but I'll add these possible options if you're short of the tools they require:

Use an appropriately sized punch or drift and tap the cleat out with
a hammer. Hit the back but from the side, you need to be pretty handy but a quick blow in just the right spot should do it. If you can't figure out what I
mean, then it's best you don't try it.
Unscrew the Phillip's CSK screws and see what
happens. As the cleat is under compression, the front bit might pop
off with a wee bit of gusto at some point. If you
see any coloured residue on the threads of those screws afterwards
that is some kind of threadlock, best apply the same when you
reinstall them.

An amount of lubricant around the rear of the cleat would likely help in most of these discussed cases.

How do I get a cleat that's stuck in a pedal, detached from the shoe, out?

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