- Bad Idea Racing - HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

Since I was unable to make the swap meet a few weeks ago due to my unplanned trip to Ohio I’ve been scouring eBay and other establishments of cheap bike stuffery in order to fill certain needs that were left unfulfilled.  I prefer the one stop shopping experience of the swap meet with the haggling and parts bins full of overpriced, overused, and outdated crap as opposed to all the searching and “You have been outbid” emails.  I mean c’mon, somebody paid almost $200 for a pair of “lightly used” (not really) Sidi Dragons.  I should throw the Tinker Stinkers up there and see how much they fetch.

Anyways I finally got off the pot (or did I shit?) and purchased a tool that I have dreamed about owning for years.

In the past I have relied on the following methods to install headsets:

Block of wood and a hammer (efficient, but less than accurate).
Threaded rod and washers (went in crooked 90% of the time).
Azonic Headlock with a combination of washers, old piece of steer tube, and an allen wrench (20% success rate).
Back to the block of wood and hammer (100% effective and 100% ugly and unapproved).
And lest we forget….

The Peter Approved method of installation….
A common kitchen spatula using 1,500 even applied blows (as specified in the Anti-American Misfit Psycles Corporation of Death Assembly manual)

As I mentioned on Monday Eric from Cane Creek has been leaning hard on me to stop using tools that a caveman would consider crude and anything associated with the making of food in a kitchen to install and remove their finer products.  I knew things were getting serious when a couple of large men with earpieces and sunglasses came to my house on Tuesday and tossed my bike room searching for spatulas and blocks of wood with circular patterns embossed on their surfaces. 

I have to think that Eric is somehow connected to these two men (not in a gay way, but who knows??), and now The Pie is pissed because she has to flip her pancakes with a pair of Maxxis tire levers. 

She told me something like this would happen when I got involved with the Fletcher Creek Mafia.

Yes, I am going to tell you how great this tool is even though it’s a mail order exclusive.  I woulda loved to have bought a Park Tool equivalent from my LBS,  but at more than 2-3 times the price for a tool with the same features as the Sette from Pricepoint??  I just couldn’t justify purchasing a tool of this nature for more than $150.  The other cheaper option was Park’s Home Mechanic model, but it is no more than a glorified threaded rod and washers which means the alignment provided with the stepped cups goes out the window, and you’re back to installing your headset in the crookedest manner.

So even though there was absolutely no reason to install a headset the other night I went ahead and did it anyways just to enjoy the feel of a quality tool in my hands (there’s a phrase worth reviewing).

Now all you shop rats and tool elitists that have already known the pleasures of a proper headset tool can just go ahead and stop gloating.  I now have the power of smoooooooth headset installation in the comfort of my own home, and now I think I just might enjoy a little headset removal and installation to pass the time much like others may knit, whittle, or surf the internet for porn.

Speaking of porn, who doesn’t like to see a little close up of some insertion???

Oh yeah, that looks good… doesn’t it?  Of course it was much easier to get the headset in after I told the Niner frame just how pretty she was and how much I loved her….