Headset replacement.
I took delivery of a Stronlight HeadStrong
headset this week to replace one on my road
bike that was falling to bits. Some quite
delicate alloy bits and I had to remove the
old one. It all went much easier than I
expected. No fancy tools, just allen keys,
flat bladed screwdrivers, mallet and a
wooden jawed vice.
The main problem I saw was removing the old
collar from the forks. There wasn't much lip
to get purchase on to get it off. I put the
forks in the vice (which has wooden jaws) and
worked my way around with a flat bladed
screwdriver and a mallet. I started off with
gentle taps, slowly increasing how hard I
hit until it started to move. The collar was
a bit bent by the end but the forks were
undamaged.
Removing the cups from the frame was easy,
long flat bladed screwdriver and mallet popped
them out no worries.
I checked the diameters of all parts and they
all fell within the guidelines in the instructions
(0.1 to 0.15mm difference). New collar on forks
was put on by upending forks in wooden jawed vice
then tapping a wooden drift to seat the collar.
No problems although I was careful to keep it
aligned and I had to hit a bit harder than I
expected. Cups into frame where pretty easy.
Push in with hands then cover with flat piece of
wood and hammer (gently!) in. A breeze. Then,
grease and bolt together! The height of the new
headset meant I could do away with the spacer.
Have yet to take it for a ride. I'll just make
sure I take the right allen keys to make adjustments
on the road.
DeF.
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e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
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