what’s the best way to remove a crown race without damage to fork or crown

cheers

Take it to a bike shop and they will have it off with the proper tool in 30 seconds. Normally for free if you know them, as it’s such a quick job.

Other wise careful use of a screwdriver and mallet – just tap at the underside with the steerer tube on a block of wood.

Next time – get a headset with a split race………….much easier!

Best way I’ve found without shelling out for the proper tool is thusly:

Use a couple of stanley knife blades and tap them inbetween the fork crown and the race with a small hammer; once you getb the first one in, you can then wedge a second between the first one and the crown race, then remove them (tap from opposite direction with the hammer: they are still sharp!) and then repeat fron the other side. You should then be able to get a flat screwdriver between crown and race to lever it off. Bonus ponts for using a pice of old inner tube to prevent the screwdriver scratching the crown at this point.

Happy spannering!

+1 for stanley knife blades!

cheers

job done

I use a chinese cleaver, works every time 🙂