An installed headset – much easier with a headset press!
Following on from my post earlier in the week about installing a new headset, I’ve come across an article on building your own headset press. Could be the way around risky hammering and bashing on your spanking new frame.
The article was posted over on bikecommuters.com which is a site I only recently came across but seems to have a lot of great info. The press itself is a little more reliable looking than the standard home-made efforts and, unique for a DIY headset press, it doesn’t involve even one block of wood in the process! The parts seems pretty cheap and easy to get hold of so why not give it a go if you’re feeling brave. Again, headset installation is tricky though and can easily kill your frame so don’t hold me responsible if it all goes pear shaped, i’m just passing on the info, I don’t know how well it works outside my own experience! You can check out the full article at Homemade Headset Installation Tools.
If you want some more professional advice, I was passed a link to this Bike Building & Maintenance course by a friend this week. I haven’t checked it out yet, but he says the material’s pretty good. It includes hours of videos detailing some pretty advanced stuff, so could be really handy for my bike building project. I always tend to learn better from videos than simple writing.
On another note, I found a slightly more unique version of the home made headset press in the form of Weon’s DIY Headset Press. This one’s a bit easier to put together and involves all the blocks of wood that bikecommuter.com left out above! It also requires a car jack so if you’re looking for more power then this might be the way to go! Just make sure to put the jack back when you’re done or you could be left sitting at the side of the road for quite some time if you’re unlucky enough to pick up a burst tyre.
I’m always on the lookout for great homemade bike building kits, so if you know of any more make-shift tools or devices, let me know in the comments below. Would love to know what you’ve found!
thanks for the great tips and links. sounds very interesting and helpful.
go on!
I need to try that out! I’ve been sending my bike off to the shop to get the headset fitted for the past few years – it just seems a bit too risky to do myself. I’ve toyed with buying a headset press, but building my own headset press sounds like a much better idea!
Thanks dude!