How do I remove the fork on my Nottingham 3 speed (Raleigh 20)folding bike?

This is for anyone who owns an old Nottingham 3 speed folder (e.g.
Raleigh 20): My forks seem loose, as though the headset is loose
(although I know these don't have a traditional headset), yet when I
lift up the bike the bars do not spin freely, they are rather tight,
as though the headset is too tight. I am considering repacking the
bearings, however am having trouble removing the fork (I believe it's
the steerer clamp that is getting in the way of me pulling it off,
however as it seems pretty cheap I don't want to remove it at the risk
of breaking it). What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks

Trenton

Trenton wrote:
This is for anyone who owns an old Nottingham 3 speed folder (e.g.
Raleigh 20): My forks seem loose, as though the headset is loose
(although I know these don't have a traditional headset), yet when I
lift up the bike the bars do not spin freely, they are rather tight,
as though the headset is too tight. I am considering repacking the
bearings, however am having trouble removing the fork (I believe it's
the steerer clamp that is getting in the way of me pulling it off,
however as it seems pretty cheap I don't want to remove it at the risk
of breaking it). What are your thoughts on this?


Raleigh Twenty seem to have an unusually high incidence of
bent steerers. I'd disassemble, clean, inspect including a
straight edge on the column, press cups, rebuild with new
balls. Oh, and especially clean/inspect threads.

Symptom may also be a reflector or light mount dragging on
the lower cup combined with a loose bearing adjustment. The
top collar assembly is often troubled as well:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/TWENTY3.JPG

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

The clamp does need to be removed. It won't hurt anything. Also, the
stem is anchored to the front brake pivot bolt, so that will need to
be removed too. The Twenty has a crappy plastic bushing rather than
ball bearings on the top. They kind of loosen up and sometimes crack.
Nothing can be done about it. The lower bearings are loose, so be
warned when taking it apart, lest they roll in all directions after
falling to the ground. The whole system was dodgy from the get go, so
steering is prone to simultaneously being too loose yet not freely
turning. It may be possible to kludge a generic cup and cone headset
onto the fork somehow, but I never thought it was worth the headache
on mine since the fork steerer tube is not threaded.

On 13 Sep, 06:39, Tim wrote:
The clamp does need to be removed. It won't hurt anything. Also, the
stem is anchored to the front brake pivot bolt, so that will need to
be removed too. The Twenty has a crappy plastic bushing rather than
ball bearings on the top. They kind of loosen up and sometimes crack.
Nothing can be done about it. The lower bearings are loose, so be
warned when taking it apart, lest they roll in all directions after
falling to the ground. The whole system was dodgy from the get go, so
steering is prone to simultaneously being too loose yet not freely
turning.

It's a steering damper which helps with control of small wheeled
machines.

It may be possible to kludge a generic cup and cone headset
onto the fork somehow, but I never thought it was worth the headache
on mine since the fork steerer tube is not threaded.

Just pack it out to give some resistance.