Yeti 575 Buildout
|
Step 7: Installing the Headset CupsUsing our homemade cup press, you now tackle perhaps the most delicate step in putting a bike together. The headset cups are an intricate, yet durable, assembly of precision alloy and bearings. No part of your bike takes as much of a beating and is so critical to your safety perhaps. Because the cups are fabricated to such tight tolerances with the frame head tube, they must go in straight and be compressed slowly to maintain alignment. The proper adapters from Chris King in our case are necessary to transfer pressure from the press to the right part of the cup without crushing the bearings and races. You can simply eyeball the top and bottom cups as you very slowly begin to tighten the press from both sides. I had to back off and restart about a dozen times, but eventually felt I had a straight enough setting to proceed. Once they're set, it's a beautiful thing, and all the more rewarding knowing you have completed the most difficult part of the assembly. Note that the Yeti 575 frame's head tube is very bulky and squared off at the top, so don't be alarmed that your nice round Chris King cup does not completely cover the exposed top of the head tube as shown in the bottom picture below.
|
