Fitting a crown race

Hi there
Just a quick question about fitting a crown race as I have to fit one to the Manitou mars c forks i have..
Can the crown race be fitted at home with basic tools or is it a specialist job for a bike shop? Also what tools will I need? I assume the old crown race will not survive being removed from the old forks without being damaged?
The head set is a Cane Creek S3.

Many thanks for any answers and sorry that ended up being 3 questions
And if this seems like a dumb questions
Cheers
Tony

some will say its a specialist job an di kind of agree but i have often done my own. with care you caqn do it without damaging anything. i use a hammer and the end of an extension from a socket set. carefully tap it on but do it very gradually.

I'm no specialist by a long way and I can do it.

Most crown races are steel and I'd need to be a lot stronger than I am to damage one getting it off. I just use a large screwdriver and a hammer, working around the circle, just one judicious bash at a time, then the other side, and so on. I can't remember it ever taking more than a few minutes.

Fitting them I do with a wooden tool I made myself from a slab of hardwood with a 32mm hole drilled through it. Grease the base of the steerer and the race and again work around the circle bashing the wood with a hammer on whichever bit of the race is highest to keep it level. Again, doesn't take long and the wood won't damage the race.

The proper tools do make it so easy but before i had any i used to do it like this.

1. Remove old race and clean the steerer.
2. Drop new race onto steerer and press it down by hand
3. Take old crown race turn it upside down and drop on the steerer so it sits on top of the new race.
4. Take a medium sized hammer and tap down on the old race. Slide the hammer up and down against the steerer working around the race till the new one is in place.
5. Turn the fork upside down and the old race should fall off. If not a gentle tap with the hammer and old screwdriver should sort it.
It's a bit of a bodge but it work for me for years till I got some tools.

Another way to add to the list:

-Slide on crown race
-Take a length of plastic waste piping and slide over steerer so it sits on the race
-Now hammer the waste pipe

The pipe is hard enough to push the race on, bit soft enough not to f up the race.

.

I like that/\. I've been using the tube from one of my old dumbells which is a bit hard.

Re: .

Grannygrinder":37mc3wbk said:

I like that/\. I've been using the tube from one of my old dumbells which is a bit hard.

Click to expand...

the proper tool for fitting the race is just a heavy steel tube!

Old adjustable/wrench around the headtube works as well to get the race on evenly

tony edwards":1c2kdm0q said:

Hi there
Just a quick question about fitting a crown race as I have to fit one to the Manitou mars c forks i have..
Can the crown race be fitted at home with basic tools or is it a specialist job for a bike shop? Also what tools will I need? I assume the old crown race will not survive being removed from the old forks without being damaged?
The head set is a Cane Creek S3.

Many thanks for any answers and sorry that ended up being 3 questions
And if this seems like a dumb questions
Cheers
Tony

Click to expand...

recently fitted a couple of crown races myself not long ago its not that hard, did it with nothing more than a bit of scrap wood and a hammer.

BTW welcome to Retrobike and OMG what a small world i'm also from Coalville :shock:

Khane":1snj2gaq said:

recently fitted a couple of crown races myself not long ago its not that hard, did it with nothing more than a bit of scrap wood and a hammer.

Click to expand...

thats my method too. installed and removed ~10 crown races (steel and aluminium) without problems.