Originally Posted by
Italuminium
Low end used brass bushings, high end bearings. But there's no clear consensus among campyphiles that the bearings actually improve the performance and durability - the brass bushings exceed the demands already by a wide margin so the bearings seem to be an answer to a nonexistent problem. but still, nice to have.
my dad raced and was a big campagnolo user back in the early 90s. he went through several sets of ergo levers and quickly decided that bearings were the only way to go (i still use a set of his record levers to this day) he said that the levers with bushings would "gum up" quicker in adverse weather conditions. sometime bad enough that guys would break the thumb paddle. i remember watching him rebuild cheaper sachs and campagnolo levers for friends.
in "normal" riding conditions you are probably correct. the bushings should be more than adequate. i know people that have many miles on them.