Warning about those cheap bearing presses from online marketplaces

I bought a $45 headset press from a generic seller last week to save some cash at my home shop. The aluminum body bent on the third press, ruining a brand new Cane Creek headset and scratching the steerer tube. Has anyone found a budget press that actually holds up, or is this a tool you just can't cheap out on?

3 comments

3 Comments

wells.evan6d ago

Saw this happen to a buddy with a cheap crown race setter, same junk aluminum. Those tools see crazy force in a way you don't really think about until they fold. I'm at the point where I'll just make a threaded rod press with some washers and sockets before trusting another no-name kit. The cost of fixing a messed up frame always ends up being more than a decent tool.

mason.drew6d ago

Heard the same thing from a shop mechanic last week.

hollyscott6d ago

Oh man, @wells.evan, that's the perfect warning. I can just picture it, some shiny aluminum tool looking all official in the box, then it just crumples like a soda can the second you put any real pressure on it. It's wild how something that seems so solid can just give up. Makes that old threaded rod and socket trick look like pure genius, honestly. I guess sometimes the simplest fix is the one that doesn't break.