Removing crown race from Appaloosa fork

[Nick Payne]

My habit with new frames is to chase and face the BB shell, and ream the head tube and fork crown to ensure that everything is properly square. Bottom bracket shell and head tube were no problem, I removed the BB and knocked out the headset cups However, the Appaloosa fork crown is fatter fore and aft than a normal 1" fork crown, and my crown race remover (the Campagnolo model) doesn't fit past the crown to engage the crown race. In fact, the crown race on the Duron X headset barely protrudes past the crown - even if I managed to get it off with a punch, I think it would get damaged because I'd have to be bashing on the thinnest outermost part of the race.

Has anyone managed to get one of these off successfully.

Nick

p.s. And BTW, the BB shell did need chasing and facing to be properly square, and ditto for the head tube.

[Jeffrey Arita]

Hi Nick,

Several days ago I successfully removed a headset crown race from a fork without the 'proper' bicycle-specific tools [zero damage to either].  You start off with a very sharp blade of some sort.  I used a new blade from my Stanley Retractable Utility Knife.  I used a pair of small vise grips to hold the blade (to prevent cutting myself) and held it against the tiny gap.  I then took a small hammer and ever so gently tapped on the blade until it went in a mm or two.  Slowly and methodically work yourself around the entire fork.  The race will gently move.  Then switch to a small flat-blade screwdriver, gently prying it off the fork.  Keep working methodically so the race moves parallel off the fork.  Eventually the part will pop off.

Oh one more thing: Since this was a really OLD bike, I applied some lubricant to the fork and fork crown race and let it sit a few minutes before proceeding as noted above.  I used T9.  

Someone kindly posted this procedure:

https://bike.bikegremlin.com/2385/fork-crown-race-removal/#:~:text=Place%20a%20scalpel%20blade%20between,stuck%20with%20just%20hand%20force.&text=Carefully%20hold%20the%20blade%20in,it%20in%20with%20a%20hammer.  

Good luck!

Jeff

[Benz Ouyang, Sunnyvale, CA]

Have you tried borrowing a Park crown race puller? These use broad "blades" to bite into the crown race, so as to maximize contact and thus minimize crown race distortion, and pull from the steerer side instead of pushing from the underneath the fork crown like the Campagnolo remover. I've used my older version to remove aluminum crown races (Shimano Dura Ace headset) without so much as a small mark.

On Monday, July 6, 2020 at 12:44:09 AM UTC-7 Nick Payne wrote: