Bird headset issues

I have a bird aether 9c frame and bird headset. Bearings seat nicely into the frame. However, I cannot get the compression ring (which is fixed to the dust seal) to fit into the upper bearing. It will fit when not on the steerer, but won’t when on the steerer. It’s almost like the steerer is slightly too wide in diameter. The headset is brand new.  Any solutions like freezing the steerer to shrink it slightly when fitting the headset? Will this work?

Just email us and we’ll send you a new one. It sounds like it may have been made a little fat combined with a fat steerer making a stack of tolerances that don’t work.

Thanks Ben. Will fire an email over