How do I remove the bearing cartridge and silver washer seen here?

I'd probably try to pull that snapring with a pick. Be prepared for it to fly across the room. Try to cup your other hand over it to contain it.

That's not a "silver washer", it a snap ring, and acts as a retainer for the cartridge. As Lester recommended, use a sharp pick or other pointed tool to pry one end of it out of the groove and remove it completely. Work gently and don't distort the ring as you will need it when you reinstall the bearing.

Stick a rag down the hole to restrain the snap ring so that it does not fly off into oblivion when it pops out.

The snap ring only aids rhe reassembly of the fork. Once the fork is in place the snap ring does nothing. So if the ring gets lost (easy to do, after doing the "praying on the floor" for a while one just needs to move on) the bearing only needs to be kept together while the fork is installed. Not hard but one might wish for a third hand or stickier grease.

Being a guy who dislikes the use of tiny balls in his bearings and sees the wear/damage that tiny balls in bearings can often have I'll be interested in the OP's findings when all is pulled apart and cleaned up. The photo shows a relatively clean situation with no corrosion or grit. I hope the bearing's rolling surfaces are also clean and smooth and not rough or pitted as is so often the case when people feel the need to take a headset apart. Andy

Semi Integrated design?
snap ring part of the sub assembly .... that can come out as a whole,
as suggested by the separation ring, line, around the outside edge?

Thanks all. The reason i am taking apart the headset is because I intend to have the frame re-painted. The headset was cleaned and lubed a few weeks back after I came back from tour. It is now smoother than it was, but it still has a slight granular feel. Definitely not as perfectly smooth as a Cane Creek 110 i had installed on another bike a few months back, or my other bikes. I will be rebuilding the bike once it is painted anew so i am not beyond getting a new headset altogether. But the reason for its removal now is to completely strip the frame for re-painting.

That's a very good reason to remove the headset cups. But I suspect the bearing is fitted within a pressed into the frame cup/sleeve. If so then they too will want removal. Care to share your tour story? Andy

The tour was a three-week journey in Taiwan's east coast on a 406-wheel folding bike...



I posted a thread about the tour here, if you are interested...