jorglueke

I took off the stem and spacers and get to this point. I feel like I should be able to unthread this but those two notches in the ring probably mean I need a tool?

dsbrantjr

Warp an old leather belt around the knurled part and grab it with a Channelok or Vise grip pliers.

sweeks

Probably there's a specific tool for that. You *could* probably do it with a flat-bladed crewdriver engaging a notch and tapping the handle with a plastic mallet. My first choice would be a large pliers (such as a Channellock https://www.channellock.com/440-Straight-Jaw-Plier.aspx) with a couple layers of duct tape on the collar so as not to mess up the surface.
Steve

EDIT: Hahahaha! Great minds ^^...

79pmooney

A pipe wrench would also do the job nicely (with the same precautions above).

Edit: unless there is rust, unscrewing that cup should not be hard. By hand shouldn't be difficult. When you replace it, use a lot of good grease on the threads.

Ben

jorglueke

Thanks, it helps to know that it should turn easily. I thought that but I've been burned trying to turn things that shouldn't turn

JohnDThompson 

The VAR #78 pliers is probably the specific tool for that. Works on tough jar caps in the kitchen as well. But a channellock pliers ought to suffice in a pinch.

velocentrik

I respectfully disagree. If you've ever used the Var 78 pliers they are smooth. They would be the wrong tool for that knurled headset piece.

The Hozan C-203 is the tool you want to use. It has the plier face to grip the knurled circumference and the twin tips would probably perfectly mate to the cutout notches acting as a lockring

JohnDThompson 

Perhaps they've changed the design over the years, but the VAR #78 pliers I've had for over 30 years are not smooth. Further, the inside of the jaws are concave to grip the cup better than the Hozan's flat jaws:

sweeks

A leather belt (as suggested ^^), a strip of inner tube or a layer or two of duct tape should make that work.

I was thinking (dreaming) of something that would engage the slots. A more modern, Shimano-like tool would probably be round, with a hole in the center surrounded by wrench flats (headset wrench size) and projections on the other side to fit the slots.

Luckily there are more than one way to skin this cat!
Steve

fietsbob

Anticipate not re assembling it, and get a whole new headset, with the more serviceable ongoing Hex adjustment .

jorglueke

This bike has a lot of non standard parts so I don't know. I'm going to get it painted, then reassemble with new rims and see how it feels. The trick here was actually not to try and turn it from the outside put to apply tghe pressure on those two interior notches. A regular pliers and a light amount of force did the trick.

fietsbob

Is it French? that's unfortunate.. English thread has become the overwhelming commonality in the bike biz.

The French made their own Cul De Sac , then rather late, they joined the rest of the market..





.....

JohnDThompson 

Not sure I agree with that. In the heyday of the bike-boom, there was widespread adoption of metric standards all around the world, the United States being the only significant hold out. And even today, just about everything on a bike is metric thread, except bottom brackets and steer tubes.

79pmooney

But the Japanese get a lot of credit here. They looked at what was out there, picked the best of each and made that the standard. (English steerers and headset, yes with a sometimes JIS twist. English right side left threaded BBs - yeah!. English/Italian standard main tube ODs. Campagnolo standard derailleur hangers. Something I have been thanking them for years. The 1980s were a special time when the vast majority of good to excellent road bikes had completely interchangeable parts.

Ben

fietsbob

One Issue [IMO] ,presented , like in frame tubing, was Metric rounding, to the nearest whole mm, ...

Of fractional tube sizes 28 vs 28.6 (1.125"..9/8")), 25.0 vs 25,4 (1"). 22.0,vs 22.2(7/8"), etc..

Prime Meridian going thru Paris, did not happen, either .. GMT is in and thru Greenwich , England....

jorglueke

It's a Sekine so non-standard Japanese-Canadian