Ken,
There are real bike shop guys here and they'll tell you the real truth.
What follows is the "barbarian in a garage" truth. I think threadless
headsets are easier to set up than threaded ones. The rumour I believe
is that's why they exist, so it will be easier to mass produce the
bicycles with no skill involved, just a preset torque air wrench.
* Hex Wrenches, for stem removal
Well, I guess. Back out the clamp bolt (using a hex wrench, 5 mm?) on
the stem and whock it with a hammer. Protect the bolt (and stem) with a
scrap of wood. Send the stem to me.
Unscrew the headset cap and put it in a zip loc plastic bag. Take off
the spacer, and unscrew the top fork race, this usually needs a 32 mm
special wrench or a 12 inch adjustable wrench. It's big. Put them and
the bearings in the bag. Slide the fork out and put the lower bearings
in the bag.
* Race Remover
I use a steel rod or a tube or a screwdriver. Slide it inside the
headtube and rest it against the bearing race. Tap one side then tap the
other side. Repeat. It will eventually fall out. Do the other race.
There's a race on the fork too. Same deal. Tap one side and then the
other. It will eventually come off. They're tight. Put the races in the
bag, seal it and send it to me.
* Headset Press
Make sure you know which race is top and which is bottom. Usually the
one with the more umbrella shape is the bottom one. To keep out rain.
Rest the lower race on a piece of wood, put a piece of wood on the top
of the headtube and tap the headtube so that the race goes up into the
headtube and bottoms. If this is really really tight and it feels like
it doesn't want to go in: take it to your lbs and let them try their
headset press.
* Crown Race Puller
I think he probably tells you what I told you above.
* Crown Race Installer
Put the crown race on the fork, put the dropouts on some wood, and clamp
and adjustable wrench tight around the fork. Tap down on both sides
of the wrench alternately and it will go on. This tends to damage the
paint on the steerer but since it's going inside the headtube anyway ...
I hope you ordered the right size there's 27.0 and 26.4 mm.
* Degreaser
Well, if you're sending me the unused parts ... Seriously, I clean
everything before I put it back together. Plus I lubricate everything as
I put it together. Bearings want to be well lubricated with "surgically
clean" grease.
* Measuring Caliper
Useful when you can't get the crown race on. It helps you figure out
why. I have hand filed down the seat to make a 26.4 fit, but as noted
above I'm a barbarian.
* Rags
I typically use the seat of my pants, but as noted above ...
Charles
PS As philosophy I like to get the tools and and do it myself even if it
ends up being slightly more expensive. And even if I end up having to
take it to my lbs. If you have the tools and the will the knowledge will
come.
Ken M wrote:
> I would like to change my forks from the stock suspension fork to this
> one at nashbar:
> http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=86&subcategory=1182&sku=13283&brand=\
> but this one is a threadless stem system and the one currently on my
> bike is of the threaded design. I have no experience with the threadless
> design. But I'm somewhat familiar with the threaded. I have looked at
> this page at park tools site:
> http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=65 and of course they
> want you to purchase all their tools to do the job. And they make it
> look complicated. Is it as complex as they make it out to be? This is
> the bike I want to do the conversion on:
> http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=7&itemid=228&va=0 Can a
> novice do this, or should I have a local bike shop do it for me?
>
> Ken
>
