Originally Posted by
Esos1
I do wonder how common it is for this to happen though. I suppose I could ask if you all think I should replace the headset but I think I already know the answer to that.
If the bearing surfaces aren't totally trashed I would try reusing the headset but with loose balls instead of caged. A bit of roughness is OK as long as it's not loose or so notchy that you have "indexed steering" which interferes with bike handling. That's just as a stop gap, if the bike turns out to be viable it should probably have a new headset.