[JonathanGennick]

Wasn't sure whether to post here or in the Tooltime forum, but here goes:

I am planning to press my first headset this evening. I'll be using a simple, threaded-rod type arrangement that I bought over eBay. The press is simple, but looks of decent quality.

Do I press both cups at once? Or is it better to press them in one at a time?

Any gotchas I should watch out for?

The headset I'm pressing will be a Cane Creek S-3.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

One at a time, be sure the cup is greased and evenly started and continues to go in evenly, going slowly and carefully. Good luck...

 

[Timon]

one at a time. lots of grease.

don't forget to line the logo up the way you want before you press it in.

 

[TLL]

Rule is:

Homeowner press, one at a time.

Pro press, both at once.

 

[JonathanGennick]

TLL, this is the press that I have:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mountain-Bike-R...ryZ27953QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I was going to buy the full-on, Park press, but the above actually looked pretty decent, so I went with it. It seems a cut above anything I could make at home myself.

Nomit, thanks for the tip about lining up the logo. I would have missed that for sure.

Am going to put off the job until tomorrow. Am hanging with my son this evening. We had coffee with a friend at the ambulance garage, and now we've got a movie to watch.

 

[KevinB]

I pressed my first set of headset cups with a threaded rod, nuts and washers. (Nate has a great pictorial post on this site.) It worked okay, but for my next couple of sets, I decided to get the Sette Press from Pricepoint. It worked much better, though I did have a few problems with the headset cups not going in straight. After reading this thread, I see that I ought to have done them one at a time.

 

[f3rg]

OMG. You spent $25 on a press that basically consists of the same parts you could have bought at a hardware store for about $5. By the looks of it, that's exactly what the seller did, and then he sold it to you for 5x what it cost him.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=411176&highlight=headset+press

 

[saturnine]

hammer + wood

 

[dragonhead08]

Large c clamp and 2 pieces of wood. Same principle as resetting your (car) brake caliper piston

 

[taikuodo]

hammer + wood

I used hammer and wood to get it in 90% of the way, and then my 5$ contraption to finish the job.

Worked perfectly, use lots of grease, and one at a time.

 

[jcaino]

hammer + wood

+1 :thumbsup:

 

[JonathanGennick]

I ended up not pressing the headset. I had bought it to use in building up a Rockhopper 29er frame that I bought over eBay, that came with a headset already installed, but no crown race. I'm scavenging parts from an older, 26er Rockhopper, and I discovered that the crown race from that older bike works just fine with the headset already on the 29er frame. So no point in knocking out the already-installed headset. I just installed the older crown race onto my 29er fork, and I'm good-to-go.

I do have another frame in the works to build up, so the new headset that I bought won't be for naught. I'll press it into other frame once I get to it.