How to remove and re-install crown race with cheap tools 

Your wish is my command, Phillip! 😉 It may be a few weeks though, as I won’t have it back from being powder coated for a little while. 👌🏻

I did think that myself when editing the video together and should have mentioned I had a thick belt on that the fork was pushing in to. I’ll definitely try the inversion technique next time though! 😂

Cheers. I'll bear that in mind for future videos.

Hey Rob, good question and perhaps I should have addressed that in the video. The Crown race is essentially a curved metal collar that sits around the bottom of the steerer tube, that the bearings then sit up against. It’s a smooth surface that the bearings can spin around on Frey to make for smooth steering. Hope that makes sense.

@@petertreadway Thanks Peter. probably not the place for this discussion, but now I know what it is I don't understand why the crown race isn't integral to the steerer tube but is, rather, a separately fitted piece. Having done some Googling, the whole headset assembly is way more complex than my little brain imagined!

Yeh, I must admit, I've had a few 'huh' moments when putting headsets together too! 😂 As for why the crown race isn't integral to the fork, I can only imagine it's so it can be replaced if it gets damaged, so you don't need to change the whole fork. Over time, water and dirt gets in to the head tube creating a grinding paste around the bearings, which eats away at the metal whenever you turn the handlebars. If not cleaned regularly (and I mean properly cleaned, like taking the fork off, removing the bearings and re-greasing - and let's be honest... who does that?!? 😂) then it can start pitting the crown race, meaning the steering will always feel gritty. WIth an expendable part like the crown race then, if that happens, you can just lob it and get a new one. That said, lots of carbon forks are now being made with integrated crown races but that is more to do with weight saving. Strange, as a new carbon fork is exorbitantly more expensive than a steel or ally one ever would be.

No worries, Alistair. Glad you enjoyed it. 👌🏻

Sorry buddy, not sure I understand. What part couldn't you see properly?

Cheers Glenn. 👌🏻

@@petertreadway I’ll definitely have this method in mind if/when I replace the fork on my Frankenbike.

It was the only ‘must have’ that I listed for the estate agent when we were house hunting! He just laughed at me…. Look who’s laughing now though?!? 😂

That’s an option too but you’re likely to damage both the chisel and the steerer with that method, so do be careful.

@@petertreadway Mallot sure got marred

Thanks for the feedback.