Pinarello F4:13 headset removal
 

So I've decided to work on getting my crash-damaged Pinarello F4:13 (broken top and seat tubes) frame resurrected by Calfee over the winter, and I've run into an annoying problem--I'm supposed to take the fork out of the frame and the damn thing won't come off. There's a non-threaded tapered spacer that just won't budge, and I'm not sure how to get it off.

Any ideas? I've not encountered this problem before so I figured I'd ask before I trash the head tube too.

(edit) It's not my bike, but the headset looks the same as this:

http://tenerife-training.net/Tenerif...fp6-review.jpg

First, remove the expanding wedge in the steerer tube if you haven't already. Next, I'd suggest using a rubber mallet to tap the top of the steerer tube to help encourage the fork out of the headset.

The compression plug was already out...

I "encouraged" it with a rubber mallet, and the problem is solved. The top cap and cartridge bearings are quite the tight fit in there....

Thanks for the reassurance that it was OK to wail on it with a mallet. :)

There's probably a split ring piece that goes inside of the upper bearing to give it a tight fit around the steerer tube. Between that and any o-ring seal on the top cap, forks can be surprisingly difficult to dislodge. I mentioned the compression plug because they do actually expand the diameter of the steerer and can make it even harder to dislodge. Glad to hear you got it out.

Just wait till you have to reassemble it. I was building one of those yesterday.