Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
WTH are you talking about? No offense, but your advice is 20 years out of date. I just recycled several bags of bearings I hadn't looked at since the early '90s. Sure, OP may have all loose bearing gear, but it isn't likely. And even if so, how could you possibly know what ball diameters he would need without even knowing the brands, models, and versions of his equipment. Ridiculous. I should have just sent my stock of bearings to OP. Then he could have moved them around his tool box for 20 more years, but at least all the posters on this thread would have been happy he had them.
Your dismissal of loose bearing hubs is a bit premature. All Shimano and most Campy hubs are still loose bearing and maintaining them does require bearing balls and 3 sizes- 3/16", 5/32" and 1/4" - cover nearly everything. Even good cone wrenches are relatively inexpensive so having a full set isn't a budget buster.
I do agree that a real work stand is better than most improvised substitutes and, if nothing else, is a major incentive to learn to do more repair jobs.