Replacing Pinarello Fork. Help please.

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

I recently noticed a small crack in the steerer tube of the Beta fork in my 2004 Pinarello Opera and have decided to replace it with a Reynolds Ouzo Pro Integrated fork. The bike has about 7-8k miles on it. It never sees bad weather or the sweat of the trainer so I'm planning on re-using the headset. A couple questions please. I understand to remove the fork, I need to pull the stem and spacers off and tap the steerer downward with a mallett to loosen the top retaining cap. When I do this will the headset come out, or just the fork and crown race? I'm hoping to re-use the crown race as well, but if I can't, are there particular brands that will work with this? I've installed forks before in frames with standard headsets, and don't consider it to be overly tricky, but I'm yet to work on an integrated set up. Are there any compatibility issues with the Reynolds? The crown looks to be the proper shape and diameter, and it's a 1 1/18" steerer. I also matched the rake and anticipate the ride quality to be unaffected by the new fork (and I'm shedding about 45 grams to boot). I would appreciate any advice or thoughts on this replacement project. Thank you.

520 Dan
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by 520 Dan

What HSet is it? Is it Campy?

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

Unfortunately it's not a Campy, but their own proprietary set. From my understanding the sealed bearings are pressed into the head tube. They can be replaced but from what I understand I have to use Pinarello's bearings. Regardless, they should still be fine, but I'm not sure if I can replace the crown race.

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Erez_Pinarello
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by Erez_Pinarello

I've just put in an Easton ec90 slx into the paris carbon

and it does not feel the same
handeling is bad in cornering and the bike is very nervous
you might like it, maybe not

but here how it goes

1. take off the cup, spacers, stem, internal expander
2. hit the fok with plastic hammer - the fork will come out the bearings will stay in the frame (hopefully)
3. take the new fork - put an FSA IS2 crown on the bottom - that will work
4. for the top part - you have to use the pinarello cup.
5. put the spacers on top + stem + expaner
6. use the top cup to ""pull"" the fork into place by tightening slowly the cup.

now you just have to test ride with the new fork and tell us how it feels like!

Erez
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my pinarello with easton fork installed
my pinarello with easton fork installed

maxxevv
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by maxxevv

Pina's bearings are not proprietry but they sure are a pain to replace! I know cos I've done it before. :shock:

If what Erez has mentioned about sums it all except that you may want to replace the bearings as they can turn bad, which was why I replaced the ones on my Paris. The bearings are commonly availlable at bearings stockists.

The removal, if it doesn't get stuck on the fork when you knock it out with a mallet is the same as traditional headsets. Use some soft tooling to knock it out. And use a headset press to press them in. If it does get stuck on the fork, then it gets tricky as you probably will have a hard time tryin to pry it off without damaging it. :noidea:

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

I have seen the Pinarello bearings at competitivecyclist.com but for $44. If the bike was three years old instead of two, I'd probably just swap them, but I don't have a headset press. For that reason I would like to get the fork out without the bearings coming along for the ride. Silly question, but would it make sense to spray some lubricant on the steerer of the old stem to aid in the removal? Thanks for all the info so far. I'll make sure to take it for a test ride and report back. I'm waiting for a new 4 Axis Stem and WCS bar and I have a some Nokon's that are going on it too. It's going to be a fairly light 57cm steel bike when I'm done with this project.

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nexusheli
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by nexusheli

peterf1963 wrote:I have seen the Pinarello bearings at competitivecyclist.com but for $44. If the bike was three years old instead of two, I'd probably just swap them, but I don't have a headset press. For that reason I would like to get the fork out without the bearings coming along for the ride. Silly question, but would it make sense to spray some lubricant on the steerer of the old stem to aid in the removal? Thanks for all the info so far. I'll make sure to take it for a test ride and report back. I'm waiting for a new 4 Axis Stem and WCS bar and I have a some Nokon's that are going on it too. It's going to be a fairly light 57cm steel bike when I'm done with this project.


A) You don't need a headset press.
B) Go to your local shop and have them call Gita, I'm sure they can do better on the price of the bearings than Competitive
C) I don't suggest using a different fork. Pinarello uses a proprietary system (no one ever said the bearings were proprietary) and it's designed with the fork as integral part of that system. ***EDIT***This is the part that precludes using another fork, the shape of the lower steerer is made so that it either doesn't use a race, or the race it does use will not work on other forks, this depends on model. Again, have your local shop call Gita, they may have a fork for you.
D) Because it's an interference fit, the lower bearing will most likely ride with the fork, you can probably still re-use it, but it never hurts to replace them.

PM me if you have further questions, I know some folks that can help you out.
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maxxevv
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by maxxevv

$44 for a pair of bearings is extremely expensive. I replaced mine with a set of high grade SKF ones for under $20!

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

Erez, how does the top cup come off? will it slide off or is there some trick to it?

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

Looking at the brochure for 2004 Pinarello's it looks like the Onda (Dogma and Prince SL) and the Vola (Prince) have a built in crown race, while the Beta, Meta and Lama have just a flat crown. I have measured the top of the Beta that I have and it's 45mm in diameter which is the same as the Reynolds Ouzo Integrated that I have. I may have lucked out here. Hopefully I will have the rest of the parts I need by the end of the week so I can get the steerer tube lenght dialed in. I plan on stripping the frame down (I just installed the bb and cranks, so I'll leave those on), since it's time for a winter cleaning and I'm changing to Nokon's, so hopefully I can get this all done next week and report back. Thanks to everyone for their help, but I certainly welcome more information and advice.

Pete

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

Update.
I successfully removed the old fork. Once I removed the stem, compression plug and spacers, I merely tapped with the edge of my plastic frame brush and it popped right out. I also was able to remove the crown race with a flat screw driver, gently prying around the edges until it came loose un-harmed. Now I just need to press the crown race on the new fork (seems pretty tight,), but I imagine it's supposed to be, and cut my steerer tube once I get the new stem and get dialed in. FWIW, the Ouzo Pro Integrated fork looks like it was made to go with that frame. I weighed the two forks and the Ouzo is 45 grams lighter and this is before I even cut it. Thanks for all your help.

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peterf1963
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by peterf1963

Final Update: The build is complete and I took it out for a test ride today for a couple hours. The new fork performed very well. I really noticed no difference in the ride quality. The Ouzo is plenty stiff and I also noticed that my hands didn't have any numbness, which was a common occurance before. It was an easier install than I thought it would be and I appreciate all the help.

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