El Dood's DIY Corner: Headset Stuff

One of the consequences of DIY is occaisionally you'll screw $#!7 up. When I was taking the fork off the FSRxc, the headset blew apart. I didn't realize they weren't all in one piece. I didn't get it back together right and, without even riding, destroyed the bottom seal. I never was a fan of that headset anyway. Bajacabra can attest to that.

I went down to North of the Border and picked up a used cartridge bearing Aheadset for ten clams. Then, I went to Ace and bought a piece of copper tubing (3/4in).

So, to start, here's the beer.


hacksaw and soon-to-be headset remover.

got a slice in there

spread eagle

old headset with destroyed seal. btw, the hitch rack makes a nice workstand.

headset remover in place. i slammed on it a couple of times with my mallot, and it went flying. i had to take the bike down to do the bottom cup cuz the hitchrack had it too high.

headset press. i bought some more washers at ace to try to get a more solid hold on the headset. last time i used this the washer started coning.

the cups kind slid in -- a little too well. i cranked down on them a bit anyway.

putting the crown race on. this is a 10" pipe nipple with a step down to 1" diameter. it works out to 1 1/8" inner diameter.

headsets' on and everything's back together.


sorry no gnomes for this installment. hope you all are a little more encouraged to dood it yourself!

 

seriously Brian, if you have a blog or website you should start posting that as archival stuff. This is great to see the work being done w/ improvised tools!

 

This is so amazing! First that you started with a beer. Second, I dig the washers/long bolt deal. I got charged $10 to press in a headset once. Once.

 

The press cost me about 5 bucks, but the point is I'm dealing with relatively cheap parts. If I had a King, I'd spend the bucks to get it done by someone.

 

You were done with the bike before the beer?

 

come on now, it was a big beer...

 

dam good eye

 

if you look really close you'll see the bottle of isopropyl alchohol. i'm hitting that now -- on the rocks of course...

 

why on the rocks...it'll only dilute the punch

 

i don't think $10 is all that bad :?:

$25 on the other hand when you just bought the headset from then 4 seconds earlier well....:drunk:


anywho, i'm loving these DIY threads. what's next?!

 

Brian, you are a wild man. If I get my tires changed without too many problems I am happy. Before you know it you will have screwed up enough things and had to fix them or some related part you will have a new bike and tons of knowledge!!

Your the MAN!!

 

So..... which is it, catridge bearing? Or is in an Aheadset?

 

I see you have discovered Michael and North of the Border Bicycles. Good guy and a great bike shop.

 

Nice. I'd recommend the rubber mallot and wood block method for the cups though. Much cooler and easier. I tried the washer method and didn't like how it worked. I've done about a half dozen headsets now with the mallot and wood block method. Works awesome.

Instead of using that metal pipe, you can get 1 1/8" PVC pipe. It fits perfect and works perfect for crown races without the risk of jacking up anything.

You definitely need a workstand. LOL. They're cheap dude.

 

OK next DIY topic idea...how to remove the rear cassette without the chain whip tool thingy

 

both.

i have one though...

 

A chain whip is cheap. You can just buy one. However, it's also not that hard to make one using an old chain. and something for a handle.

 

how?

 

The Dood's next project - How to install a beer tap to your top tube!

 

I would take an old chain and break it around a foot. Get a 3/4" dowel about a 8" long and drill a couple of holes so that you could attach your piece of chain to it with a couple of screws and washers. The screws would go through the chain where teeth would go, and the chain would be attached where there's a longer piece on one side of the attachment and a shorter (about half the longer side) piece on the other.

But, I don't know if you'd save any money with the effort. I have a cheap-a$$ spin dr. and it has worked well for me.