Of the do it yourself tools out there, the headset press is the one I see the most of. Pressing headset cups into a frame is a tough job for the home tinkerer as the tools to do so are prohibitively expensive, and doing it wrong can cause serious frame or headset damage.

There is a generation of cyclists out there pounding them in with wood blocks and hammers, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Its too easy to build your own, as shown on one of my favorite sites of late Instructables. Check out the posted method, as it is pretty well illustrated.

There is of course reason to debate whether one should apply pressure on the inside or outside of the cups, if freezing the cups makes any practical difference, or if this method of pressing the cups in is even a good idea… Seems enough people out there are pressing cups in with DIY tools to make it reasonable to spread the word. Press ‘em yourself and save some bucks.