Mark Poore wrote:
> It helps to replace the retainer bearings with loose bearings when you
> rotate you cups and f/crown race. This puts two extra bearings into the
> mix on the lower as well as upper and allows bearings to sit between the
> depressions.
Good advice for most headsets, but I'm pretty sure not for Campy. If the bearing retainers were original Campy, then IIRC they have the same number of balls as you can fit in loose (a "full complement"). (Sorry I'm not at home to count 'em right now, and especially sorry if Mark P is righter than my memory)
Ironically, going to a cheaper retainer with fewer balls will reduce the "index steering", at least for a while, since only a couple of balls will sit in the old depressions. I don't really recommend this though; a full complement is your best long-term solution.
Some folks have mentioned moving the cups about a half-ball space, but I like a more radical approach. Note that the divots are more pronounced fore and aft than right-left. So I move the cups 90 degrees to put the worst divots right-left, then clock them the 1/2 ball space from each other.
To do this, while it's still assembled mark the two pieces with a felt-tip pen while the wheel is straight ahead, just a line that crosses the gap between the parts to show where they align when the divots are at their worst. Now knock the parts out and assemble just the cup, crownrace and balls. Feel the dents. Rotate 'em one click to the right and left of where the felt-tip mark lines up, and make a new mark across both parts at each clicked-in point. This way you don't have to measure or guess where one half-ball-space is. Prep the frame as Pergolizzi recommended, and press the parts in so they're around 90 degress away from where they were, but with the felt-tip marks staggered (not aligned) when the wheel points straight ahead.
I don't have any measurements to prove it, but I believe this extends the life of a headset longer than just staggering them one half-ball space, without the 90 degree rotation. You'll likely still feel the clicks, actually twice as many clicks, but they'll be at least half as bad, hopefully a bit less than half as bad.
Mark Bulgier
Seattle, WA