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Pressing out headset

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,669
1,713
chez moi
So, um, while I um, was in Africa...I pressed a King Steelset into my Evil Sovereign.

I know I know but it was what I had and it seemed like "whatever...I will change bearings when and if I need and it is my headset for life."

But I bought an angled headset and would like to swap it in. Not budging using either headcup remover I have, just smashing the hammer end of it into a sad mushroom.

Machine shop time? Assume they could press it out pretty easily? Or would a soak with whatever penetrating oil I can find (choices are limited) be a better next step?
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
I'd start with a chunk of strong hardwood like white oak and try to catch the lip and hammer it out. The wood should be strong enough to let you go apeshit on it without damaging anything as long as you don't work on one side too much and ovalize the HT.
 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,261
8,767
Crawlorado
Good luck, those steelsets went in deep and don't like to budge. The prior owner of my RFX had the headtube reamed to fit one and the headset lip barely sits proud of the headtube ID. Never could get ir out.

I'd start with a healthy dose of penetrating oil. A few courses of it in fact. I wonder if you could borrow a slide hammer and bearing puller from an autoparts store.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
I am now reminded of the time when I realized that constantly dripping sweat onto the front of my bike could have consequences. Whole headset/steerer/steerer tube had corroded heavily together. Had to split the top ring that goes into the steerer with a chisel to get the fork off. Had to cut the headset out with a hack saw blade. This was a regular King headset in a AL frame. Very slowly and carefully cut through the headset until almost all the way through without touching the frame then kind of peeling the the headset inwards.

Would be a longer ordeal with a Steelset and with no going back, but should work. Obviously a last ditch effort.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
I am now reminded of the time when I realized that constantly dripping sweat onto the front of my bike could have consequences. Whole headset/steerer/steerer tube had corroded heavily together. Had to split the top ring that goes into the steerer with a chisel to get the fork off. Had to cut the headset out with a hack saw blade. This was a regular King headset in a AL frame. Very slowly and carefully cut through the headset until almost all the way through without touching the frame then kind of peeling the the headset inwards.

Would be a longer ordeal with a Steelset and with no going back, but should work. Obviously a last ditch effort.
I'd recommend making at least three cuts, evenly spaced. Then proceed to make the headset collapse inwards as you described. That's how we took a seized seatpost off a steel frame, and we had a much tighter hole (and deeper insertion) to work on.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,063
I've had to cut a seized carbon seatpost out of an alu road frame in a similar fashion.

I don't see that you're easily getting a steelset out of a headtube if it doesn't want to move without causing damage to the headtube.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Doesn't MikeD have access to certain things the rest of us don't?

How about two two sets of split disks that press up on each headset lip with a low velocity explosive in between?
 

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,160
2,685
The bunker at parliament
We have spray cans at work called "Freeze & release".
Heat the headtube from the outside with a blow torch (gently!!!!) or use a heat gun.
then spray the headset on the inside with the freezer spray (CO2 would do this as well) then try smacking the bastard with the cup remover.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,443
I had to do something like this in an old .243 Racing frame, the bike mech and I took turns winding the headset in so I knew the removal was going to be shit.

I got some 1/2" threaded rod, some matching nuts, fender washers and regular washers with 1/2" and larger holes.
You grind the largest washers(maybe 9/16" hole?) to an oval shape so they drop through the headset at an angle then you back them up with maybe another oval washer and some smaller circular washers.

So you have a rod with a stack of loose washers with a nut top and bottom, drop it through the cup, do a nut up finger tight and beat the absolute fuck out of the threaded rod.
This worked for me when the Park tool wouldn't.
 

MikeD

Leader and Demogogue of the Ridemonkey Satinists
Oct 26, 2001
11,669
1,713
chez moi
Some great ideas, some of which reaffirm things I was thinking.

I may go a course of penetrating oil, then heat/cold if I can find a method to apply cold to the headset. I can get dry ice but it's a pain in the ass to go pick up and applying it would be difficult...that spray would be perfect. Then one last ditch effort with a small sledge instead of the regular-ass hammer I have.

Looking at pressing it out, the shape of the cups would make that hard, wouldn't it? I guess they could cut off the cup tops then use a boring bar to ream out the inserted length inside the headtube to nothing/paper-thin so it can be peeled out?

Or even skip the cutting-off step and just do that through the cups with the bearings removed.

Still somewhat worried the head tube won't retain the new headset properly after that kind of thing, though.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,138
16,537
Riding the baggage carousel.
We have spray cans at work called "Freeze & release".
Heat the headtube from the outside with a blow torch (gently!!!!) or use a heat gun.
then spray the headset on the inside with the freezer spray (CO2 would do this as well) then try smacking the bastard with the cup remover.
This is a regular installation method for several different applications where I work. We also keep liquid CO2 on hand for heavy duty projects.