Removing and installing a headset wihout a press.

To all you ‘just thump it with a screwdriver/hammer and block of wood’ types..

Is this on £3k’s worth of carbon frame, or some rusty On One gas pipes that have been roughly welded together?

I’ve tried both methods on different frames over the years (both the ‘hopeful bashing’ and homemade threaded-bar press – approx £2 to make). Hopeful bashing was not the approach I wanted to use though when putting together a nearly new carbon Yeti. No sir-eee.. 😯

Indeed.
I wouldnt buy a new bike from any manufacturer that I knew had bodgingly installed components with blocks of wood and heavy ‘persuaders’. Would you?

I’ve also turned down 2nd hand headsets that have clearly been installed and removed with the wrong tools.

Bikes are fantastically engineered. Working on them with the correct tools just feels right, no matter how good it may feel to save a few quid in the short term.