Can't find right headset adjustment After a complete tear down and reassembly I can't seem to find the right tightness adjustment for my threadless fork / headset. If I loosen it to the point that the front fork turns freely, there's play in the system and every time I apply the brakes there's a small clunk (that annoys the heck out of me). If I tighten the top nut to the point we here there's no more play, the fork binds up such that the fork doen't turn by itself due to gravity when the wheel is attached, if you know what I mean - suspend the bike and tilt the frame and the steerer should turn on its own. It's a horrible feeling riding with a steerer that's too tight, but the looseness is also pretty annoying.is there an adjustment I'm not doing right? My process is (after completely servicing the headset and bearings) to tighten the stack using the top nut, then tighten the clamping nuts, then slightly back off the top nut.

Just noticed this old question and I thought I'd try to close it out. I finally took the bike in and the tech tinkered a bit and ended up replacing one of the bearings. It's entirely possible that I had, in fact, installed it incorrectly, which wouldn't be too surprising considering I'm still learning.

Thanks to everyone for their comments!