Originally Posted by
fietsbob
Retainer held bearings are faster to assemble , so speeds the Productivity on the assembly line in the factory
Loose balls stick in fresh grease nicely..
you dont need to make up several dozen hubs a minute do you?
^^^
This
I much prefer fitting loose bearings in hubs and old-style BBs. Not a problem.
Now those fiddly small bearings on headsets are a different matter - caged bearings every time!