Headset bearings, which way?
 

I made a mental note of which way the headset bearings were facing when I took them off to replace my fork, but with the headset seemingly tightened, the fork moves back and fourth slightly if I hold the front brake and rock the bike to and fro. I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow and see if I just undertightened it, but in case that's not it, does anyone know if the balls are suppose to be up or down on each of the parts of the headset. I think I put them both facing up. For reference, it's a 1" threaded Miche headset, stock on my 2001 Bianchi Veloce.

The (caged) balls need to face the curved face of the bearing race. The cage goes against the flatter part of the bearing housing, the balls against the curved race.

Put another way - the balls must be facing each other, bottom facing up and top facing down. Did your new fork have new cones on it? If you are reusing the old cones make sure they are seated as far as they can go. If the old cones have little dents in them then a tiny bit of play is necessary, otherwise get new cones and adjust so there is no play, but the bars and wheel can flop to the side by gravity.

Actually, sch had it right. If you lookfron the top in to the top cupyou will see the balls in the retainer and the cage contacts the bearing cup. So the balls really are facing opposite one another. You way the retainer cage would grind against the crown race and the upper race.

Hmmm, seems to be a discrepancy here. I figured the bottom bearing shouldn't have the balls exposed downward because it doesn't seem to seal it completely from the elements. The fork did already have the race pressed on, and it looked the same size as the race from my old fork, so I kept them in order to avoid having to press a new race on.

I tried Sheldon's site before posting this thread, but the part about installing a headset isn't done yet.

If you want to do it right, replace the retainers with new grade 25 loose balls. The only reason retainers are used is to speed up assembly at the factory.

This debate is all for moot. When you're reassmebling it, test mate the parts. It'll be extremely, and I mean extremely obvious when you try to test it that it's the wrong way.

Anyways: Park tool link

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=127

The I must have it the right way, just not tight enough. It moves smoothly, just has to much play in the fork (it felt kind of like a suspension fork when descending)

I don't know exactly what you all have decided but:

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=127

From this page:

If the headset is using bearing retainers, check the orientation of the retainers before installing. Retainers have only one correct orientation. The open side of the ball retainer should face the cone shaped race, not the cup shaped race.

And, if you're going to replace with loose bearings, make sure not to completely fill:

Grease cups to hold bearings, and place balls into cup shaped races. Leave a wide gap the size to two ball bearings, do not attempt to fully fill cup.

Thanks, I'll have to check that, as I thought I did the opposite.

Oops, well corrected by mactheknife68. Maybe I'm dyslectic.

Could it be that the steer tube on the new fork is slightly longer than your old fork? If so, your headset will not be able to tighten enough to elimate the play you are experiencing.

+1
I actually made the mistake of cutting my own steerer a touch too long (about 1mm), so I couldn't tighten the headset properly. You either cut/file/dremel it a shade lower or add a thin spacer under or above the stem.
Try loosening/removing everything, then tightening the top cap down. if there's a clear, hard point of resistance, it's fishy. Esp. if the fork still rattles when the top cap is very tight.

Edit: oops, threaded HS. Sorry. Maybe you didn't tighten it enough? Do check the cage orientation, too.