Let's say you've got a frame you're building up. You've got to put the headset in. A lot of people -- and I used to be one of these, twenty years ago -- thought that anything that occurred in the headset and bottom bracket area was a special kind of alchemy that only expert bike mechanics knew about. Lots of triathletes say, "I can build up the bike, except can you install the headset and bottom bracket?"

I will demystify the headset below.

Of course, before you install the headset you must make sure the steer column on the fork is the right length. That's covered in our description of steer column mitre blocks.

Once you've got that licked, you're ready to install the headset. Whether you've got a threaded or threadless headset, you've got to install the two bearing surfaces that sit on the frame itself, AKA the cups. These things have to be pressed in. There is a top and a bottom cup. If you take your fork out of your bike, your frame is going to have these two shiny things on the top and bottom of the head tube, and these are what I'm talking about.

The press is pictured at left, and to the best of my knowledge its made by Park Tool Company, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Many of the tools I'll write about in this series are made by this company.

If you want to be really anal about this process, you'll face the top -- and ream the inside surface -- of the head tube before you install the cups. Why? To make sure the head tube is cut perfectly square, and to ensure that the inside diameter of the head tube is precisely correct. If you're changing your headset, you probably don't need to do this for two reasons. First, your frame probably had this done before its first headset was installed. Second, if your existing headset was working pretty well in the past the head tube was probably already square and straight and all that.

If you're buying a brand new frame, and you've got the headset press and you intend to install this headset yourself, ask whomever it is you're buying the frame from to "prep" the frame for you. This is a reasonable request, and shouldn't cost you any extra money. By "prep" perhaps you ought to specificy what ought to be prepped, just to make sure. If it was me, I'd ask that the headset be faced, that the bottom bracket be faced and tapped, that the crown race seat on the fork be faced. There's othe stuff you could ask for, but these are the biggies.

The photo above right is what the headset press looks like in action. I've taken this photo from the side because there is occasionally one thing that happens, and it's a bummer if you figure this out too late. On some presses, and on some frames, the flange of the press sticks out far enough that when yoiu've pressed in the headset the press hits the top of the top tube. Make sure that doesn't happen.

The photo at left shows how the press works, close up, with a view of the top of the top tube. This photo was taken from in front of the frame, looking back at it. This is an easy operation. It's intuitive. You just put the top and bottom cups where they're supposed to go and place the press pieces over and under the cups, and screw down the press with the handle. You'll be pressing both cups in at the same time. I don't suppose you have to, but I always do.

One of these cups, probably the bottom cup, is going to have the name of the headset company emblazened on it. If you want to be picky, figure out how you want to have this logo read before you press the cups in. If there is a logo on opposite sides of the cup it is customary, I think it's best to have the logo reading on either side of the bike, not front and back (you can't see the logo from the backside of the head tube).

This is an exceptionally easy operation, and the tool is a snap to use. Installing and de-installing headsets is pretty easy, and the tools aren't that expensive. If you fancy yourself a tinkerer, these might be useful tools to buy.