well, this one may have to remain a mystery for me. I can't stand solving a problem and not really understanding how. Quite a bit of searching and I found a handful of references to a similar problem but not descriptive enough to know for sure. This may be true of all caged bearings??? but this cage is huge and the bearings are exposed on both sides. Tapered side down fits perfectly, smooth as silk so for now that's how she stays.

That said, I am wondering if this headset is out of place on my pake frame/forks? While aesthetics should not be a deciding factor for parts, I don't want it to look odd.... otherwise everything else on the bike is a good "fit" for the frame: brooks, tack cranks etc. so I want to do it correctly

Orbit X?

Anyhoo, Thanks again & thanks for ur patients with me tying up this thread for a while...