zandoval 

Putting together the headset for a PR-10 about 1974 with its French headset - It had loose balls when I took it apart and of course they are on the garage floor with all the other loose balls I have spilled over the years - I like loose ball on my bottom bracket but prefer caged on my headsets - So now I have been looking around for a caged set of bearings for my French headset and have become so discombobulated that I don't know what I really should go for - I am thinking about just using a #73 16 ball 5/32 cause it fits - BUT... What is the right thing to do...

On my other French headset rebuilds I just used the caged set that was on the bike to begin with and my box of old French headset parts has played out to all but unusable pieces...

I never thought I would have this problem with a headset - Or am I just making to much of it...

FINAL: 2011-01-24 - Got it... Used Dia-Compe 1" 20x5/32 - Fit just perfect - But remember this is for a guy who likes caged bearings in his headset - For all practical purposes "LOOSE BALLS RULE..." - Thank you all for helping out...

Grand Bois

Just put 25 5/32" loose balls in it top and bottom. I know the number and size because all of the old Stronglight headsets that use balls use that number and size.

I don't use caged bearings, even in headsets.

gerv 

I usually put loose balls on my headsets because it's generally easier to just keep a couple of bottles of bearings that will do headsets, BBs and hubs.

I don't know if this is the correct thing to do, but I never count the balls. I just place them in the grease and keep fitting bearings until one won't fit. I remove that last one, clean it and put it back in the bottle.

Grand Bois

Fill it and remove two is the rule for headsets, but 25 top and bottom For Stronglight is per Sutherland's.

ColonelJLloyd 

There's no problem using caged bearings in a headset. You should be able to use cages from a non-French headset without issue. A lot of those old headsets will bind with loose bearing balls (especially low end headsets).

miamijim

Not true. There are right side up and right side down headset bearings each corrsponding to whether or not the upper frame piece is a cup or cone style. They dont interchange and there are different diameters as well. Some headsets only came with 1 retainer.

ColonelJLloyd 

There are few absolutes when dealing with vintage bicycles. Some amount of trial and error and common sense is required. I used the cages from a late 80s generic (JIS) headset on a Stronglight P3 headset recently. No issue.

Grand Bois

I've never heard that one before.

zandoval 

I can see where I should not feel so bad in getting confused - This is most likely a low end French set - I am going to put it together with loose ball and also find a caged bearing set 1" with 5/32 balls and then see which ones fit best...

Then I'll post a picture - Like I said its and old French set but who knows what it really is... We will see... An't that the fun of C&V...

I like caged bearings on my head sets, but I will not argue the fact that loose balls rule...

ColonelJLloyd 

I agree that it doesn't jive with how we typically think of loose balls versus cages. My LBS owner even commented on it the other day. He's overhauled many, many vintage headsets and said that for some reason some headsets that came with caged bearings will bind when turned far to the left or right when the cages are replaced with loose bearing balls. He installs loose bearings in headsets as you mentioned (fill it with bearings and remove two). If after several minutes of fiddling and adjusting, it isn't right he just reuses the cages or replaces them with new ones.

southpawboston

I have, and my experience is that headsets installed on improperly faced head tubes may cause the bearings to migrate to one side of the race, depending on how perpendicular the upper and lower races are. This can lead to the sensation of drag, or binding, when turning the bars. This phenomenon can get seriously compounded if the fork crown race is also improperly seated. Then you have alignment problems between the races that vary with the rotation of the fork!

I had this happen to on a bike on which I didn't bother having the head tube re-faced after painting. I was tearing my hair out figuring out why the headset was stiffer when turning it one way. I tried different numbers of loose balls (less made it worse). Using caged balls reduced the binding slightly. This was one incident, but I do believe there is something to it. It may not pertain to "low end", per se, but definitely low-end headset installations. I now make sure that the head tube is re-faced by an LBS any time I have a frame painted or PC'd. I haven't had the problem occur since then.

On the other hand, indexing is a phenomenon that can definitely occur with worn or low-end headsets, that swapping to loose balls can rectify. But that's a separate issue altogether, and that's caused by worn or pitted races. Maybe that's what Justin was referring to? I define binding and indexing as distinct, and symptoms of two different problems.