Originally Posted by
Jeff Wills
No, that's the original design. Loose balls in the bottom for durabiltiy, caged balls (ooohh... bad image) in the top for ease of assembly.
Indeed, it is a painful image.
However all of the headsets I've ever worked with that used individual bearing balls in retainers came OEM with retainers both top and bottom. I never came across one factory supplied with a retainer on top and loose balls (sound better?) in the bottom race.
I did replaced the lower retainer with loose balls during overhauls to share the load better and a couple of times to get another season out of a "brinelled" crown race.