Originally Posted by
J.Oxley
Seems a good zombie to resurrect, as I'm in the same situation Jethin was and have a related question:
Could going from caged bearings to loose balls resolve the issue? I'm working with a '71 Campy headset. When I brought the bike home the steering was super-stiff, and I discovered the bearings had been installed upside down. Now that they're in correctly I can't get that sweet spot with zero play and no appreciable resistance.
I'm wondering if the bearing cages may have been damaged by the incorrect installation, as there's no pitting or scoring in the headset itself to suggest a problem there.
There's always the chance that they were right before and upside down now. Otherwise, I don't expect that a slightly damaged cage would cause problems with adjustment. You might hear or feel some drag, but it wouldn't change much as you adjust.
Usually trouble finding a sweet spot is caused by misalignment or an extra ball. OTOH, you don't have much to lose by giving loose balls a shot.