So rather than buy a whole new bike, I'm looking to upgrade my fork, and I find out that because my frame (circa 1997) only accepts a 1" steerer tube, I'm terribly limited in my choice of forks. I'm looking for a suitable ATB suspension fork with a 1" steerer tube when I notice something interesting about my fork crown; IT'S A CLAMP! What I'm saying is, I should be able to keep my current steerer and crown, and simply clamp new fork tubes (the suspension parts) into it.

The problem is this; All the newer forks seem to be press-fitted into their crowns rather than clamped. It seems that if I try to remove them from the crown without some special equipment, I'll ruin them.

Any ideas here? Can I buy suspension fork parts without a crown? Where?

Thanks.