ok, wow, thanks for the great reply!
I followed some of your advice, took apart the entire headset, did a search in the mech forum on headsets and stumbled onto a Cane Creek Link. I think I have an integrated headset. Now onto the problem, it looks like it really was the lower bearing cartridge, i've included some pictures and it looks like the holster? for the ball bearings was destroyed. I have a few other questions though, there was a piece on the upper that had something inscribed in it, 25.4 x 45*, i'm assuming that's the size of the steering tube. Now onto the bottom, it looks like the crown race and bearing cartridge need to be replaced, you suggested that I remove the cartridge and repack with some more bearings? i'm assuming this means to get new ball bearings, a couple more, and just have them in there 'loosely' like how it is in the hub? Another question is, how do I go about getting these parts from a LBS? do they usually have it in stock, and for sale as loose parts, or am I most likely going to be forced to purchase a whole set of parts. I have another issue, it looks like the damaged cartridge actually damaged my fork steerer tube a bit, there's a big of scoring where the bottom crown race sits, it's a steel fork, is this a major problem?
I think that's all for now, thanks for any input! and if it's more appropriate, should this be moved to the mech forum?
