I took a note from our very own Jack “Ghost Rider” Sweeney’s article about home made tools. But rather than following his steps whole heartedly, I kinda ghetto-fied it and just used this 2″ PVC pipe cut to about 10″ long.
I needed to set a crown race on one of my forks this morning and used a pipe that I had laying around the garage. I slid it down to the race.
Made sure it was lined up, gave it a good whack with an old seat post, I’m sure a hammer would have worked just fine, but I couldn’t find it. Not bad eh? After setting the race, I installed the fork.
If you check out Jack’s article he’ll even show you how to make your own headset press.
Two things to add:
Put a little polylube around the steerer tube where the race will sit. It’ll keep the two materials from bonding, plus it makes installation and removal muvh easier.
Also, brace the fork underneath the steerer tube, not on the legs. The only thing holding that steerer in place inside the crown is friction; no need to take chances breaking it loose.
Excellent point. I’ve seen folks put the fork legs down on the ground and whack away, and dropout damage is a VERY possible result of this, too. Just straddle the fork over a longish piece of 2×4 — protecting the steerer and the fork ends from abuse.
Or you can just flip it upside down then whack the pvc on the ground.
Cool trick, saved money I bet