Hi everyone! I bought really old bike because my friend gave me the worst advice ever 😹 And since it’s a piece of bike, I want to remove and maintain everything.
The problem is: I can’t remove fork and headset. Is it possible to take it off? I thought cranksets were difficult, but this….
by CampusRabbit
5 Comments
tried using a mallet to knock it loose?
knock it upwards.
The stem is most likely seized to the steerer tube. Throw your wheel and bars back on and use the extra leverage to try and twist the stem apart from the fork.
Rubber mallet or a piece of softwood. Hit up under the stem close to the headtube
What bike is it? Looks like an MTB with a BMX fork?
The single bolt on the stem (which I’m guessing you removed already) was pulling the other half it threads into tight against the steerer. Those deform and can corrode/ get stuck if not lubricated or if over tightened/not well designed. Tbh it’s not an ideal design.
Get a mallet and a punch of appropriate size, (or thread a longer bolt into the compression wedge and smack it with the mallet) to force it out. There are other ways but they are a bit more involved as far as making up tools from what you have around.
The canti hanger on the front is also a locking style, so if you want to get the fork off there should be a small hex key you can loosen to get it off, but stem needs to be freed first.