Whilst my LBS will install a crown race for the price of buying something else too, I’d like to be able to do it myself. The special tools are stupid amounts of money, but surely a suitably sized piece of plastic piping from homebase do the job? Any suggestions on the ideal size for a 1/18th non-tapered steerer?

cut a slot in the crown race and just slide it on.

Have you tried a vacuum cleaner pipe? , sounds daft but does work

I’ve used a

suitably sized piece of plastic piping from [strike]homebase[/strike] Wickes to do the job

several times

Offcut of white PVC pipe for me too. I made four cuts about 3 inches long in one end and hey presto it does tapered as well as straight. 😀

cut a slot in the crown race and just slide it on.

This.

Yeah, attacking the race with a hacksaw was one option. Is there a global LBS/headset conspiracy to keep us going to the shop to get un-cut races installed?

Non tapered? 30ish mm Poly pipe is the perfect fit.

drain pipe in plastic.
I have ParkTool, Unior and Pedros at hand but they all mark the crownrace -square steel to tapered alloy..

otherwise drill a hole in a piece of wood and use it with a hammer.

I had a really tight one and heated the race up with a heat gun. It just about fell on.

I used to use plastic pipe

But i’ve been defeated a couple of times with them not quite sitting flat.

I now have the real tool and much like the sfn installer its just works that little bit better.

The end pieces that came with are all soft edges and tapers so should cause any issues on tapers as it sits on the flats of the race.