Bicycle help.

  • Thread starter Thread starter bergauk
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K so, I'm working on my mountain bike right now. I want to remove my fork. But I have no clue how to do so. Also I cannot get my front rings off my bike. They're all shark-finned and not good anymore. Can someone explain to me how to get both of these off the bike so I can start to get some work done.
 
First off you need the right tools. Bikes generally need a variety of allen wrenches (hex keys to some folks) and some very thin standard wrenches. Axle bearings are commonly fitted by a nut tightened against another, or against the back of a bearing race, and that section will have a flat side that a standard wrench won't go on to; a standard wrench is too thick. Getting the freewheel off the rear hub is a special tool, perhaps even unique to brand, and disassembling the freewheel to change sprockets is yet another tool. The crank is not that big a deal, usually.

However, "I have no clue" is a rather inauspicious beginning for one who wishes to dive into a steering head or crank bearing.

If the bike is built like nearly every bike I've ever seen, the handlebar stem comes out, which requires loosening brake cables and maybe shifter cables if you have bar shifters. Once the stem is out, there's a big nut at the top of the head tube that comes off, and the fork slides down out of the frame. This is not something to be done just to see what's in there. Unless you've got head bearing trouble (no grease, pitted races, etc.) or maybe you're painting the bike, there's no real reason to get in there. Fitting it incorrectly on reassembly can have bad things come up in your future, and all those cables have to be reinstalled and adjusted correctly.

If your sprocket teeth are disfigured, count on sprockets as well, and replace the chain, too. You might find that you could replace individual sprockets on the freewheel, but I guarantee you don't have the tools to disassemble it. Probably not even to get it off the rear wheel. You might have to replace the whole assembly, but a bike shop could tear it down as well. At that time you could consider ratio changes, maybe the range is too wide and you need closer gearing, maybe the opposite. Depends on how and where you ride.

Your biggest surprise if you're just starting to think about doing your own work is that your tools might cost as much as your parts.
 
I have all the parts I need for the job. My fork is just stuck inside the steering tube or something. I'm doing a complete overhaul of all the parts on the bike. So far I've gotten everything off except for the front rings, crank, and the fork.


As it stands, I cannot do anything except look at it. Which is annoying since my bike has been out of commission since October.

What exactly should I do.
 
So you got all the easy stuff off, huh? :sly:

Your descriptions are a bit vague, which is part of the problem. You say the fork won't come out, but you don't describe if it's locked solid, or steers but won't come out, nor do you say what hardware, if any, has been removed.

As for the overhaul, you may have all the parts, but you don't have the tools. Taking the wheel off doesn't get you into the hub bearings if you need to grease those, and that's where those thin wrenches come in. By "fork stuck in the steering tube" do you mean the hardware is off but the fork still doesn't move? If it steers but doesn't come out then there's still hardware to remove. If it doesn't move at all, like won't steer, then get another bike. That level of corrosion could mean the frame is useless. And again, if you've got severe wear on the front sprocket teeth, the rears are probably no good either. New chain and sprockets all around. Can you get the freewheel off the rear hub? Not without the right tool and a bench vise. Put the freewheel tool in the vise, set the wheel on it, and use the wheel itself as your wrench, turning counter-clockwise. The freewheel will be VERY tight, because every time you press a pedal it tightens against it. I've seen guys use the freewheel tool with a crescent wrench and a hammer, but that's a good way to break the tool or the freewheel, and still have a junk freewheel on the hub. And if you want to replace individual sprockets as opposed to the entire freewheel, that's yet another tool, usually a chain wrench that you use on the outermost sprocket to unthread it from the freewheel. Once it's off, the others just slide off. Again, that part will be TIGHT!!!

As for the crank, if it's like many, there's a nut at each end of the crank axle, under a cover on the crank arm, which holds the crank arm to the axle. Remove that nut and the arm may come off, or you may need a puller to remove it. Don't hammer it, even with a soft hammer, you'll dimple the bearings. Once you have a bare crank axle, one side will have a ring that unthreads and then the axle and its bearings come out. This is another part that has to be RIGHT when reassembled, not so loose it has excessive play, but not so tight it won't turn. Also once the crank arm is off, you'll probably find the hardware that attaches the front sprockets. If it's all one piece, i.e. a cheapie, then you have no choice but to replace all of it. A cheap bike will have both cranks and the axle forged as one piece (with the sprockets riveted or otherwise permanently attached,) which comes out by removing the bearing on one side and sliding the whole thing out after removing the pedals. On a bike with good parts the sprockets bolt to the spokes of the crank wheel. On my old Schwinn 10-speed, the small front sprocket is removable, five bolts, but the large one is not. You probably have three front sprockets on a mountain bike. They may be all 3 removable, or just 2, or maybe it's all one permanent assembly and has to be replaced as a unit.
 
Invisible +rep for both the effort to help and the knowledge. Pushing on in the face of "What exactly should I do." as a reply to your first post takes some dedication.

👍
 
To take the front rings off you need a crank extractor. Its a tool you twist into the centre of the crank once the bolt in the middle is out and then when its in tight you twist the handle which pushes against the bottom bracket and then the crank or front rings slide off. With the crank off you can then remove the bottom bracket from the frame using a large spanner or a screwdriver and mallet or a special tool with a pattern of teeth to unscrew it depending on how new your bike is.
As for the handlebars you have to loosen two allen key bolts on the side of the handlebar clamp then take out the one from the top, a light tap with a rubber mallet and the forks should fall down from the frame.
 
When you say mountain bike do you mean competetion kind of mountain bike, or your merry cruise around the streets mountain bike? If it's the latter the forks are easy to take off. Remove brake cables from levers on handle bars. I suggest you take the whole gear levers off the handle bar, because if you stuff them up you have to get new ones. Remove handle bar by the stem (Long bolt going down into the tube) At the top of the tube there will be a couple more big nuts with a bearing between them. Remove them. Now your forks should drop out, basically. I don't know how to explain it properly but if someone can translate all of this for me, then +5 respect lol
 
Well I took it into a shop about an hour ago. The man there was nice about it and took everything off for me. as it turns out. my fork had this stupid plastic shim holding the fork in place. He got that out and the fork slid right out. He also took the cranks off for me. And I told him my plans for the bike and he said that I'd be better off getting a brand new bike. So I am going to be fixing this bike up very slowly. But I'm also going to go buy some other bike to ride.

And in regards to what kind of mountain bike it is. It is a very competitive bike when in my hands. Easily capable of 30mph flatland riding stock. Definitely not merry cruise around. I do a lot of hard riding.

It was/is Tassajara frame from Gary Fisher.

I think I'm just going to go buy a bmx bike and just continue to ride. I can't stop.
 
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