You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
WD40 around the top of the headset and hit steerer with a soft faced hammer / mallet until its starts moving!
Just push the fork down / use a rubber mallet / bit of wood and hammer. Then you can just remove the rest with your finger. Remember not all integrated headsets are the same.
EDIT. I honestly didn't think I typed that slowly. Pardon for the replicated advice.
Is it not just the compression ring (that bit with the split in it) holding it together? Put a little WD40 (or similar) around the top of the comp. ring, leave it for a few minutes, then carefully smack the top of the steerer with a rubber mallet (or hammer on a block of wood).
cheers guys, knew you'd come up trumps!
My first bike build so a bit of a newbie to this.
ok, so I've tried WD40 and whacking it with a hammer (very hard) and it doesn't seem to be moving. How do I remove the compression ring? Hopefully that will release the forks.
Poke something in the gap and lever it out.
It may seem arse-about-face, but try tapping the compression ring down-over. Use a large flathead screwdriver (with a hammer/mallet) and tap all the way around, from one side of the split to the other. It's probable that the compression ring has fused with the steerer, so any kind of movement is going to be helpful.
By the way, when you're hammering at the steerer, you are doing so with the front wheel lifted off the ground?
all done now, thanks. Though it will need a new compression ring as it took quite a battering with a chisel to get it out! Will know for next time.
