Forking hell

[Matt2matt2002]

Just had a reply from SJS
Hi Matthew
 
Dave is away for the rest of the week so I will help if i may.
 
It would be worth checking the rake on the fork to ensure we match the rake with the current ones fitted. If you drop the fork out it will have a number stamped into the steerer tube and this is going to be the rake of the fork. I have added the link of the forks that will suit below and just make sure you pick the right rake and colour. You may find we no longer stock the exact rake but if your states 50mm then I would opt for a 48mm as 2mm will not affect the steering so just match up as close as possible if you cannot find the exact match.

How easy is it to drop the forks out? I've not done that before.
I'm inclined to leave it until I get home incase I make things worse and scupper the rest of my tour here.
Do I need special tools?

Thanks folks

[geocycle]

Just had a reply from SJS
Hi Matthew
 
Dave is away for the rest of the week so I will help if i may.
 
It would be worth checking the rake on the fork to ensure we match the rake with the current ones fitted. If you drop the fork out it will have a number stamped into the steerer tube and this is going to be the rake of the fork. I have added the link of the forks that will suit below and just make sure you pick the right rake and colour. You may find we no longer stock the exact rake but if your states 50mm then I would opt for a 48mm as 2mm will not affect the steering so just match up as close as possible if you cannot find the exact match.

How easy is it to drop the forks out? I've not done that before.
I'm inclined to leave it until I get home incase I make things worse and scupper the rest of my tour here.
Do I need special tools?

Thanks folks

Hi Matt,
It is quite easy to remove the forks, simply undo the headset bolts, lift off the cap, lift off the stem and bars that will be suspended by the cables, store the spacers and slide the forks down.  You might not need to remove completely to read the number, so that means the bearings etc will all stay in roughly the right place. In an old frame some encouragement might be needed as steerer tubes can be corroded.  Personally, I'd wait until you get back and leave well alone as you are currently functional.

Keep focused on the tour, not the bike, that's why you've got a Thorn!

[Andre Jute]

Keep focused on the tour, not the bike, that's why you've got a Thorn!

Yo, Dan, you may wish to inscribe this wisdom over the entry door to the Forum. That's the sort of line a fellow paid more than the President of the US in an ad agency writes once or twice in a lifetime, and then receives many honors for his cleverness.

[Danneaux]

True, that, Andre! 

Best,

Dan.

[geocycle]

Keep focused on the tour, not the bike, that's why you've got a Thorn!

Yo, Dan, you may wish to inscribe this wisdom over the entry door to the Forum. That's the sort of line a fellow paid more than the President of the US in an ad agency writes once or twice in a lifetime, and then receives many honors for his cleverness.

Thanks for the kind remarks Andre.  As the brevity of my posts demonstrates, I am a man of few words but some of them come out in the right order.

[mickeg]

It takes very little effort to drop the fork out and look at it, but if you have not done that before it is best done at home because you have to get the bearing pressure set right when you reassemble it.  It is easy to learn and do, but it is probably best done at home the first time.

When I take a fork out, I immediately put all the headset parts and spacers on the fork steerer tube in the CORRECT order to make it easier to reassemble in the CORRECT order and oriented properly.  And if unsure, a photo before you start may come in handy to get the right number of spacers in the right number of places.

Photo is of my Nomad fork headset parts, the rubber band holds it all from falling off.  The cups of course stay pressed into the frame, not shown in photo. 

I do not recall how expensive the headset race that is pressed onto the fork is, but I think it was really cheap when I bought one for my suspension fork.  If you change forks, you will either need to get the one off the fork and onto the other fork, or get a new one to install.  I suggest you have the bike shop press a new one onto the fork, or maybe have SJS do that if you buy a new fork.  And a new star nut may be needed on a new fork.

I tried to attach a PDF document, I do not know if that will attach or not.

[Matt2matt2002]

Progress.
 

I'm not sure if I mentioned here but when I flew out to Sri Lanka from Edinburgh last month, I was not charged for my bike.
I was expecting to pay 90 Euro.
This is what I was charged on my return journey.

The forks were damaged and although a local guy got me back on the road - for 1,600Km - I thought it best to buy a new set.
The cost was about equal to my 'freebie'.
Karma? Whatever - I now have a brand new set.
And am not out of pocket - so to speak.
SJS were great when I called - finding a set not listed on their site and posting straightaway.
I had managed to drop the forks enough to see the code number printed inside.

Well wrapped


Nice?


But here is my old pair still attached. There appears to be a loose washer?


There doesn't appear to be anything on the new forks?


Do I just slide the new forks in?

Is this grease Ok to use?


Many thanks folks

Here's one fron Sri Lanka


More to follow when I sort out the stats and details of the tour

[rualexander]

You need a bearing crown race fitted onto your new forks Matt. You may or may not be able to transfer the one on your old forks.
Here is what you need if your headset is an FSA Orbit xl 2 or the equivalent Cane Creek version, https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/headsets/fsa-headset-orbit-xlii-crown-race-for-1-18-inch/
Easiest thing would have been to get SJS to fit one before they sent them out, but too late for that now.

The 'washer' in your photo is probably the seal from the lower bearing, it just pushes into place around the inner edge of the headset cup once the bearing is in place.

[mickeg]

I do not know why, but my computer did not show the photos in Firefox, but when I loaded up Chrome it showed your photos fine.  So, if anyone else asks where your photos are, just tell them to try another browser.

...
There doesn't appear to be anything on the new forks?
...

I tried to save you from this headache when I above noted:

...
I do not recall how expensive the headset race that is pressed onto the fork is, but I think it was really cheap when I bought one for my suspension fork.  If you change forks, you will either need to get the one off the fork and onto the other fork, or get a new one to install.  I suggest you have the bike shop press a new one onto the fork, or maybe have SJS do that if you buy a new fork.  And a new star nut may be needed on a new fork.
...

I assume you have not yet got a star nut, that is one more thing that you probably need.  Or if not a star nut, something that your stem cap bolt can screw into. 

A more costly option is one of the expanding nut thingys that people use on carbon forks, but I would only go that option if you can't find a star nut.  I used one of those as a temporary fix on one bike I built up because I was not sure if I would cut the steerer tube or not.  I prefer to only install a star nut when I am done doing any cutting on steerer tubes.

If you cut your steerer tube with a hacksaw, I wrap some tape all the way around it.  If I do not get the tape perfectly perpendicular, then I immediately know that so I can take the tape off and reapply.  Then I saw it on the edge of the tape, if my cut is not perfectly straight it is evident as I am sawing.  If you do the tape thing, it may be best to mark the tape on which side of the tape to cut.