Bicycle Mechanics - Best way to remove stuck headset cups on TREK 4500 head tube.

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Sundance89
03-23-11, 03:42 PM
I'm prepping a TREK 4500 frame for powder coating and cannot for the life of me get the two headset cups off of the headtube. Any suggestions? The must come off for because of the heat of the powder coating process. (This is the black piece top and bottom on headset)

Thanks in advance.

bikeman715
03-23-11, 04:11 PM
You need one of these 2 tools
Item # RT-2
Head Cup Remover- Oversized

Item # RT-1
Head Cup Remover
or make your own by getting a piece of a pipe and cutting it like the ones listed. use the tool and a hammer to remove the cups.
mike_s
03-23-11, 04:13 PM
Sawzall.

FBinNY
03-23-11, 04:14 PM
There is a tool made for the job, usually consisting of a long tube split into tines at one end, and with a nose cone on the other. It's pushed through the cups and the tines spring open behind them so it can be hammered down from the other end. Here's a picture of one (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=10223)

Park and others make these, but the cost may be high for one time use and you might improvise your own once you get the idea.
bradtx
03-23-11, 04:42 PM
Sundance89, I used a length of electrical conduit split down one end and a cap on the other. I did have to wedge in a bolt to expand the split side just a bit and then with a 5 lb. maul knocked out the races. Whole process was about 45 minutes and about a dollar for the conduit + cap. I perform this procedure so rarely there is no reason to purchase a proper tool. If a LBS was close by I'd have run the frame to them instead.

Brad
Sundance89
03-23-11, 05:21 PM
Sundance89, I used a length of electrical conduit split down one end and a cap on the other. I did have to wedge in a bolt to expand the split side just a bit and then with a 5 lb. maul knocked out the races. Whole process was about 45 minutes and about a dollar for the conduit + cap. I perform this procedure so rarely there is no reason to purchase a proper tool. If a LBS was close by I'd have run the frame to them instead.

Brad

Thanks everyone. I'm off to my LBS for this one.