do I need a press?

or can I et away with a bit of wood and a big mallet?

do I need a press?

to do it properly.

or can I et away with a bit of wood and a big mallet?

99 times out of 100, yes. on the 100th occasion you buy a new frame and a headset press.

look on ebay loads of homemade presses (threaded rod, bolts, plates) then steal the idea and make your own

Get down to B&Q or Wickes and buy some studded bar, nuts to fit and a pack of big flat washers.
£5 max for the lot. Ususally enough in the pre-pack qtys to make a couple of presses… so one for a friend too.

b&q it is then

cheers

The bigger dia bar and nut with the thickest washers poss is best if you can

also get 1ft of 22mm copper (or harder pipe if they have it), coz if you X cut the end for 2 inches you can splay the ends out and make a headset cup remover (edit – *check head diameter)

As gusamc ^^^^ means you can knock it back out if it goes in wonky 😉

By the time you’ve been to B and Q, bought the parts, faffed a bit you may as well just get one of these

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cyclus-headset-press/?dest=1&curr=gbp&lang=en&utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products

Still probably costs less than the headset, certainly less than the frame you risk damaging.

Or alternatively take it to your lbs hand over £15 quid and get it done without the hassle and less expense then buying parts to make your own, thats if you only intend to do one.

My LBS pressed in my last hope headset for a donation to the charity box.

I now use an adjustable sash clamp (used for clamping window frames together) which makes a rather handy adjustable press.

I’m with jonb, got one of those it works well. Would pay for its self after fitting a few of them.

Having faffed about with an assortment of washered lengths of studding over time, and never really being happy about it, I finally gave in and bought a decent, but still good value, proper headset press (similar to the one above) and frankly, I almost cried with happiness the first time I used it.

I still can’t believe the difference it’s made.

If it’s only the odd frame here and there tho’ – I’d say use a decent LBS, as that’ll help them out too.

I’ve got a homemade press which works fine but I made it a bit wrong and it can’t deal with some large headsets. So when I got my Works head angle reducer I thought I’d get a proper press to fit it with. It didn’t fit either. So, I fitted it with blocks of wood and a rubber mallet and it worked better than anything else.

If you’re sufficiently cackhanded then yes you might hurt the frame but that’s true of anything. The solution is to not be a monkey.

I use a bench vice not connected to a bench. Always been perfect and done loads. Do one cup at a time.

another question

should there be some kind of metal ring fitted to the steerer on the forks that the bearing sits against?

should there be some kind of metal ring fitted to the steerer on the forks that the bearing sits against?

Yes, it’s called the crown race

uplink – Member

should there be some kind of metal ring fitted to the steerer on the forks that the bearing sits against?

Yes, it’s called the crown race

See here for lots of useful info on the subject http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/probably-a-stupid-headset-question

I use uplink’s method, I’ve had the same bolt, nuts and washers for about 15 years now. Just take your time and only do one cup at a time. An old pair of handlebars splayed out at one end is used to extract old headsets.