Have you tried all the typical techniques to minimize indexing ??
- Probably the best first step is to purchase a Tange Levin lower race, about $4+S/H at http://www.biketoolsetc.com. This has a slightly smaller outside diameter so I'd use lots of grease and/or wax paper in the lower cup and then pack some silicone in and allow it to dry, forming a tighter seal. Maybe do this off-the-bike. Be careful not to get silicone on the campy cups as it has acetic acid and may etch the cup.
- increase the number of ball bearings: remove the retainer, put in too many bearings and then take out ONE.
- turn lower cups and cones by 90 degrees. Or turn all 4 cups/cones. Experiment to see what produces the least indexing.
Perhaps the last technique is this :
- make sure you adjust the preload using the locknut of the headset so that the top cup/cone is taking some of the weight. Part of the reason why the bottom wears out soonest is that a loose top puts the entire weight of the bicycle on the lower cup and cone, and what's worse, looseness allows flexion in the head tube. (in a nonscientific survey of 20 bikes, the indexed bikes tended to have longer reynolds 531 head tubes than the non-indexed bikes ...)
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA