Changing Forks

Depends on the headset. If your bike is reasonably modern, it'll probably be an aheadset. Undo the bolt on top and take off the stem cap, then loosen the stem bolts and slide it off (if your cables are tight, you might need to take the bars off the stem too). Give the top of the steerer a couple of sharp taps with a mallet and the steerer should slide out. There will be some various miscellaneous bits at the top of the heatset assembly, like spacers, rubber washers, split ring and so on - just remember how they go together and keep 'em safe. The only dodgy bit is getting the fork crown race off the fork - this is a little ring of metal which is seated on the steerer tube right next to the crown. With some headsets, this thing is solid as a rock and you can stick a wedge of some sort (screwdriver, chisel, even an axe) between it and the fork crown, and tap away till it comes off. With others, it'll be a fragile little thing that bends if you just look at it, in which case your best bet is to try and buy a new one (not a whole headset, just a new fork crown race). In any case, when you have your fork crown race, whether it's new or the old one, slide it down your new fork and tap it into place, making sure it's well seated, and being careful not to damage it. Then reassemble, and you should be good to go. Good luck!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mjw_byrne
Depends on the headset. If your bike is reasonably modern, it'll probably be an aheadset. Undo the bolt on top and take off the stem cap, then loosen the stem bolts and slide it off (if your cables are tight, you might need to take the bars off the stem too). Give the top of the steerer a couple of sharp taps with a mallet and the steerer should slide out. There will be some various miscellaneous bits at the top of the heatset assembly, like spacers, rubber washers, split ring and so on - just remember how they go together and keep 'em safe. The only dodgy bit is getting the fork crown race off the fork - this is a little ring of metal which is seated on the steerer tube right next to the crown. With some headsets, this thing is solid as a rock and you can stick a wedge of some sort (screwdriver, chisel, even an axe) between it and the fork crown, and tap away till it comes off. With others, it'll be a fragile little thing that bends if you just look at it, in which case your best bet is to try and buy a new one (not a whole headset, just a new fork crown race). In any case, when you have your fork crown race, whether it's new or the old one, slide it down your new fork and tap it into place, making sure it's well seated, and being careful not to damage it. Then reassemble, and you should be good to go. Good luck!

Agreed.... + you will likely need a new star fangled nut and a way to put it in place.
You might want to take your old fork to your shop for removal of and installation of the fork crown race.... from old to new.
They will have the tool for the start fangled nut and sell you a new star fangled nut.
If you take your whol bicycle, they will help you determine where to cut and help you with the cut and smoothing out the inside/top/outside when you are done.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by daveornee
Agreed.... + you will likely need a new star fangled nut and a way to put it in place.

Woops, yeah, I forgot about the star nut thing. You might be able to use the old one - if your old forks aren't "closed" at the bottom of the crown, you can hammer the star nut all the way down the steerer tube and out the bottom end. But it's probably just as easy to buy a new one, they're cheap.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by daveornee
Agreed.... + you will likely need a new star fangled nut and a way to put it in place.
You might want to take your old fork to your shop for removal of and installation of the fork crown race.... from old to new.
They will have the tool for the start fangled nut and sell you a new star fangled nut.
If you take your whol bicycle, they will help you determine where to cut and help you with the cut and smoothing out the inside/top/outside when you are done.

I've tapped quite a few star-nuts into place with the non-business end (plastic handle) of a screw driver. It's easy enough to pop a crown race off with a flat-blade screw driver and tap it into place on the new fork with a piece of wood and a mallet. Hell, I've even tapped 'em on with an open cresent wrench and a hammer! 😄

Another point to consider is stem height. I swapped a RockShox Metro suspension fork on my Hybrid for a Kona P2 steel fork (saved 3 lbs!) but it also lowered the handlebars 2 inches. Just something to keep in mind, and I ended up getting a longer stem with more rise to get the handelbars up higher. I could have added more spacers, but I thought there were already too many spacers too begin with.

I had a shop do the fork swap because it involved cutting the steering tube and it only took them 20 minutes and cost $15. It has an aheadset.