Originally Posted by Bekologist
I want to replace/swap around a couple of headsets on my bikes. When I was a kid we used to just hammer the cups out with a big punch and hammer. Can I abuse modern CaneCreek or Aheadset aluminum cups the same way or do I have to fork out the $25 bucks for the fourpronged Park cup remover? I haven't seen alternate methods mentioned by Zinn or any other books i've read.
Does anyone have a good way to do it on the cheap? Thanks.
If you have an old steel fork, you can cut it off to the proper length (it needs to be longer than the head tube), cut 4 slots in it and flare the ends with the slots a little. Then you can pull it into the head tube (which is why it has to be a bit longer than the tube) and the flare will snap into the tube as soon as it clears the head set. Then you just drive the headset out with a mallet. All you are doing is making the same tool as Park sells (although the Park tool is really sweeeet
). I did this for a long time before I bought my Park headset remover.
[edit] The punch thing works too but it's not nearly as elegant.