When I was young with a smaller mortgage and less wives and kids I would have gone to the LBS, pointed at some new forks on the wall, grunted and left then returned a couple of days later with my credit card. Now, I have to do it myself.

So, how do I do it without destroying the frame, head set and my thumbs?

Ask a mate who knows what they are doing?

It’s not black magic.

Have you got the old fork to measure the steerer length against.? Remember measure twice, cut once. Presuming you are using the same frame then cut the steerer to the correct length. B&Q do a cheap pipe cutter for around £8 which is good for doing half a dozen forks. Don’t worry about getting the steerer too straight as this is not important because the top cap will sit against the spacers and not the steerer. Take off the disk calliper and tuck that out of the way.

Have you got a star nut for the top of the fork.? You can reuse the old one if the steerer tube is the same diameter all the way down which will allow you to knock the old one all the way through. To fit the star nut, screw in a bolt and tap the star nut down into the fork by a about CM. Close one eye to make sure the thing is pretty straight.!

Take out the old fork and swap the crown race over. Make a note of in which order all the headset bits come off and just refit the opposite way. Fit the spacers and stem.

Then you need to compress the head set. I normally make sure every thing is nice and tight by putting some weight on the bars and while they are still loose hold the wheel and wriggle them from side to side to make sure the fork, head set and bearings are snug. Pop your top cap on and tighten it down. Tighten the stem, tighten it right up and then back it off half a turn or so.

Pop your calliper back on and realign it.

Job done.

You need a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon to fit forks.

Or an engineer 😉

And it’s not fitting a new fork it’s “swapping out” is it not.?

Dude.

Who is Mrs Chimbong?

Remember, measure thrice, cut once!
Check and double check and check again your measurements and cut here marks.
My brother in law failed to take heed of this and ended up with a set of brand new RS Dukes with a 100mm steerer. Ooops 😳

I am an engineer!

Swapping out.

There is an injunction out against me mentioining Mrs Chimbong.

My brother in law failed to take heed of this and ended up with a set of brand new RS Dukes with a 100mm steerer.

Did he own himself with them?

I am an engineer!

I know 🙂

Maybe you need to find one who trained alongside a famous bike designist?

I am an engineer!

What sort of engineer? Electrical? Civil? Computer? 😉

And ‘Engineer’ does not necessarily equal ‘Mechanic’…..

That said, if you can’t fit a fork with basic tools (Hacksaw and an old stem as a guide, plastic waste pipe as a crown race fitting tool, a hammer, a file and and a few allen keys) then there’s little hope for you…. 🙂

Harry_the_Spider – Member

My brother in law failed to take heed of this and ended up with a set of brand new RS Dukes with a 100mm steerer.

Did he own himself with them?
No, he couldn’t grip them enough….. 😆

One bit of advice on the measure twice, cut once thing; the most reliable way I’ve found of doing it is to fit the crown race, then fit the forks, spacers and stem. Once you’re completely happy, draw a line around the steerer at the point where it pops out of the stem (or any spacers you have on top of the stem) and cut 5mm below that point. This way, you have a definitive mark, and you know it’ll fit. This is the best way to do it if you have changed any components other than the forks (ie, fitted a new headset) or if the forks are a longer axle-crown length.

I remember once visiting the Future Publishing batcave, where the resident testbod was chuckling over a steerer that a staff writer had tried to cut for his new Turner. It was a: cut in a spiral, as he’d not used a guide, and b: 10cm, as he’d measured the headtube and got cutting.

[edit] by the way – star fangled nuts need not be reused. Rock Shox forks come with a new nut, most bike shops will just give you one, and banging out the old one from your old forks is a pain in the neck. Not only does it look really shady for anyone thinking of buying them off you, but star fangled nuts should not (Apparently) be reused. I don’t know if I subscribe to that last argument, but for 50p, you might as well tap in a new one. HTH

Rock Shox forks come with a new nut

Mine didn’t… I want my money back.!

One bit of advice on the measure twice, cut once thing; the most reliable way I’ve found of doing it is to fit the crown race, then fit the forks, spacers and stem. Once you’re completely happy, draw a line around the steerer at the point where it pops out of the stem (or any spacers you have on top of the stem) and cut 5mm below that point. This way, you have a definitive mark, and you know it’ll fit. This is the best way to do it if you have changed any components other than the forks (ie, fitted a new headset) or if the forks are a longer axle-crown length.

I’d stick another 10mm spacer on it and cut there, then run that spacer above the stem until you know you’re truly happy with the forks.

Miketually – yes, good point! I’m ashamed to say that I still have a 5mm spacer above the stem on a pair of forks I bought two years ago…

I’d use a hacksaw rather than a pipecutter.

I had 35mm of spacer above my stem 🙂

akira – whats wrong with using a pipecutter?

whats wrong with using a pipecutter?

A pipecutter will tend to flare the tubing very slightly where it cuts. It’s never caused a problem for me though.

Aaah, yes it does flare it slightly, but nothing 2 minutes with a file won’t fix.