Carbon 456 Headset removal

Hi, I just picked up a carbon 456 and it has a smoothie mixer installed. I’m wanting to use a work components slack set headset but heard the lower cup is a pain to remove.

Has anyone swapped out the smoothie and had any issues removing the lower cup?

Thanks

I tried once and failed, so took it to a shop who also failed. For me it was a temporary borrow of the headset I was after as the wrong race came with a new frame that I wanted to ride, so I was able to just leave it.

I did ask on here about getting it out as there’s not enough room between the aluminium insert and the top of the headset to drift it out, as you’ve just found.

Brant replied and said that the way to do it is to put the headset into a vice and to then twist/wiggle the frame off. I never needed to give this a shot though, so I don’t know how hard it is.

yes, had to put the lower cup in a vice and twist the frame until it worked clear of the machined recess inside the headtube enough to get purchase on it.

wasn’t hard but the cup didn’t look pretty afterwards…

So basically you have to ruin your headset cup to get it out? What a shit design!!

seems a problem with the On-one headset – the Hope one I used afterwards didn’t go as far up the headtube and came out ‘normally’.

Whilst battering the lower cup in I did wonder how on earth I’d get it out when the time came. I can imagine it being quite fraught, point of no return and all that! Have you ridden it with the Smoothy mixer? I’d like comment on standard versus slackset.

you know, when i was fitting mine (with a fly press) I was thinking “bet that’ll be a bugger to get out”.