Originally Posted by
Dave Mayer
I am a mechanic at a big-city bike Co-op. Do this. I've done this hack many times, and when properly adjusted, you won't be able to tell the difference from a new headset. Doing the loose ball thing avoids traps such as stack height differences, ISO vs. JIS, installation problems etc. Plus it only consumes about 20 minutes and $2 worth of ball bearings.
Just did a short test ride and it's working perfectly with 23 balls installed - steering is back to 'slightly twitchy' which is normal for this bike.
I'm still going to swap to a Tange Levin CDS nearer winter though because it's "fully sealed", less rusty, and has 20 x 5/32" caged ball bearings.