Do I need tools to install a conventional threadless headset?
 

I got my frame and the headset and didn't realize that the cups are supposed to be pressed hard into the headtube. I thought I could hand press them and give them a few blows with a hammer. Sounds like I need a trip to an LBS? Thanks.

How much did you pay for the frame and headset?

In my formative bicycling years I rode some pretty marginal bikes and installed several headsets with a hammer and a couple blocks of wood. Nothing bad ever happened.

If you just bought a brand new frameset and headset, why would you want to take a chance and cheap out by not having the headset properly installed?

I use a wooden hand vice, like for furniture building. I've also used a block of wood buffer on top and bottom then hammered - if the frame is in a good secure and aligned position. So far, I've been able to stay LBS free.

Good point :). Yeah, I paid >$500 for the frame. I might as well not risk it. Thanks.

As chance would have it, all the bikes I've worked on for myself have taken their headsets with a rather modest amount of carefully applied force. Then when I offered to help a pal switch out a headset, his was a real PITA. Ended up knocking together a crude tool based on a length of threaded rod, some washers and a pair of impact wrench sockets. Came out OK.

I use a jorgensen clamp from my guitar shop tools. Should be easy and not expensive if you buy one.

You'll need some sort of press, but it doesn't have to be fancy. If you have a bench vice that opens far enough, that'll do, or you can buy some threaded rod, washers and nuts, and use that.

Three things to know

1- press cups one at a time, the cone shaped cup (usually the upper) first
2- protect the frame and cup with jaw covers, some wood blocks, or an old belt so the serrated jaws don't damage anything
3- when pressing in the cop shaped cup, don't press it by the lip. stack some washers inside, avoiding the ball track, so you're pressing directly over the area entering the frame. Otherwise you can crack the cup.

So it's up yo you whether you want to got it alone, or visit a bike shop.

All the above assumes the frame is properly prepped to accept the cups. With carbon frames, it better be because nobody's equipped to prep them. If it's a steel or aluminum head tube, you need to decide if it's OK to accept the cups, or you can ask the seller if it's been prepped. (I know some lie but if they would lie about that what about everything else)

If you have any doubt about the job, let a dealer do it for you, it isn't an expensive job. Don't forget to bring the fork along to have the crown race fitted.

If you need to ever remove cups, you may want to get a cup remover. You can also get heavy 1 inch copper tube, cut 3 inch slits along the bottom, and then flare the slits out. A finishing touch would be a copper end cap brazed onto the top where you can take a hammer or mallot.

I made my own threaded rod press. 1/2 inch threaded stock or thicker. You'll need about a foot long piece. Buy about 6 - 8 large fender washers and two nuts to thread on. The fender washers should be of sufficient diameter to exceed the cup diameter. I use 3 or 4 wide champagne cork (I stock a bunch of them because I build custom fishing rods and use that cork for grip material) and drill on the middles and sand down the outside so they just barely slide out the cups on a standard 1 1/8 inch headset. I slide this onto the mid-section of the threaded rod to help keep the press centered in the head tube.

Like FB mentions above, I do one cup at a time.

You may also need a crown race setter. I've used a 1 1/2 inch sched 80 PVC pipe section to bang it in. But a shop grade metal tube with the correct crown race size is the preferred tool.

I have installed about 2 dozen or more headset bearing cups with two tools:

1) A 4" x 2" x 3/4" piece of hardwood

2) A sawed-off pickaxe handle about 18" long. Makes a nice soft hammer.

Get the top cup lined up properly and tap them down gently. Soon as it's going in straight, hit it hard. Start gently! Flip over the frame & repeat.

I have no experience with carbon frames. I have built a number of steel & aluminum frames.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I ended up using a threaded rod, some washers and some wood blocks. It was a very tight fit and took me a good workout to get both cups in and snug. But it worked fine. Now on to getting a PVC pipe for the crown race.