Cannondale MT800 tandem headset removal question

Just got a used Cannondale MT800 tandem mt bike with a Cane Creek threadless
headset. Wanted to swap it out for another headset. Have a Park headset
cup removal tool which looks like a capped piece of pipe pointed at one end
and then splits near the other end into 4 flaring pieces. It's made of
spung steel (I think). Great description, eh? Hopefully you've seen one
before. You slip the pointed end in the headtube, pull it through part way,
and the sprung flaring parts at the other end are compressed. You keep
pulling it through and when the flared ends slip past the inner edge of the
headset cup, they sping out against the inside of the head tube. You can
now hammer the pointed end of this thing and it'll push the headset cup out
of the headtube. Way better than hamering with a screwdriver.

The Cannondale tandem has a reinforced headtube. There's a tube within the
headtube to make it thicker. The problem is that when I slide the headset
cup remover in the headtube, the reinforcing tube doesn't leave enough room
for the flared ends to spring out and butt up against the inner edge of the
headset cup. There's not enough clearance to stick a screwdriver against
the inner edge of the headset cup either.

The only thing I could think of doing (which I didn't) was to use a gear
puller and a slide hammer. That's assuming you could get the gear puller to
catch the inner edge of the headset cup without messing up the headtube.
Maybe there's a trick of putting something inside the head tube so it
catches the inner edge of the headset cup in a few places, and then you can
hammer a small pipe against its center to press out the cup.

At this point I'll use the existing headset, tho the lower cup is a little
damaged. The bearings are fine, and don't wanna risk damaging the frame.
If you know of a safe way to remove the cups please let me know. Thanks!

Tony

Tony Healy wrote:
Just got a used Cannondale MT800 tandem mt bike with a Cane Creek
threadless headset. Wanted to swap it out for another headset. Have a
Park headset cup removal tool which looks like a capped piece of pipe
pointed at one end and then splits near the other end into 4 flaring
pieces. It's made of spung steel (I think). Great description, eh?
Hopefully you've seen one before. You slip the pointed end in the
headtube, pull it through part way, and the sprung flaring parts at the
other end are compressed. You keep pulling it through and when the
flared ends slip past the inner edge of the headset cup, they sping out
against the inside of the head tube. You can now hammer the pointed end
of this thing and it'll push the headset cup out of the headtube. Way
better than hamering with a screwdriver.
The Cannondale tandem has a reinforced headtube. There's a tube within
the headtube to make it thicker. The problem is that when I slide the
headset cup remover in the headtube, the reinforcing tube doesn't leave
enough room for the flared ends to spring out and butt up against the
inner edge of the headset cup. There's not enough clearance to stick a
screwdriver against the inner edge of the headset cup either.
The only thing I could think of doing (which I didn't) was to use a
gear puller and a slide hammer. That's assuming you could get the gear
puller to catch the inner edge of the headset cup without messing up
the headtube. Maybe there's a trick of putting something inside the
head tube so it catches the inner edge of the headset cup in a few
places, and then you can hammer a small pipe against its center to
press out the cup.
At this point I'll use the existing headset, tho the lower cup is a
little damaged. The bearings are fine, and don't wanna risk damaging
the frame. If you know of a safe way to remove the cups please let me
know. Thanks!
Tony



Have you tried the instructions at the Park Tool site:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/...readless.shtml



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Yeah, the RT-1 race remover was the tool I was trying to describe.
Unfortunately the procedure Park describes doesn't work in this case [at
least not for me] because of the inner reinforcing tube in the headtube.
Worked on every other bike tho.


"daveornee" wrote in message
...


Have you tried the instructions at the Park Tool site:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/...readless.shtml



Tony Healy wrote:
Just got a used Cannondale MT800 tandem mt bike with a Cane Creek
threadless headset. Wanted to swap it out for another headset. Have a
Park headset cup removal tool which looks like a capped piece of pipe
pointed at one end and then splits near the other end into 4 flaring
pieces. It's made of spung steel (I think). Great description, eh?
Hopefully you've seen one before. You slip the pointed end in the
headtube, pull it through part way, and the sprung flaring parts at
the
other end are compressed. You keep pulling it through and when the
flared ends slip past the inner edge of the headset cup, they sping
out
against the inside of the head tube. You can now hammer the pointed
end
of this thing and it'll push the headset cup out of the headtube. Way
better than hamering with a screwdriver.
The Cannondale tandem has a reinforced headtube. There's a tube within
the headtube to make it thicker. The problem is that when I slide the
headset cup remover in the headtube, the reinforcing tube doesn't
leave
enough room for the flared ends to spring out and butt up against the
inner edge of the headset cup. There's not enough clearance to stick a
screwdriver against the inner edge of the headset cup either.
The only thing I could think of doing (which I didn't) was to use a
gear puller and a slide hammer. That's assuming you could get the gear
puller to catch the inner edge of the headset cup without messing up
the headtube. Maybe there's a trick of putting something inside the
head tube so it catches the inner edge of the headset cup in a few
places, and then you can hammer a small pipe against its center to
press out the cup.
At this point I'll use the existing headset, tho the lower cup is a
little damaged. The bearings are fine, and don't wanna risk damaging
the frame. If you know of a safe way to remove the cups please let me
know. Thanks!
Tony



Have you tried the instructions at the Park Tool site:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/...readless.shtml



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