Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,831
Likes: 1,809
From: Northern California
Bikes: Cheltenham-Pedersen racer, Boulder F/S Paris-Roubaix, Varsity racer, '52 Christophe, '62 Continental, '92 Merckx, '75 Limongi, '76 Presto, '72 Gitane SC, '71 Schwinn SS, etc.
No, no, no. Fill the cup with 11 bearings, no added space. This is how half the bikes out there did it, and is perfect for the dimensions of the Steyr Cups and spindle.
You won't find an original bike out there that was factory assembled (intentionally) with one ball missing.
And same for the Steyr headsets, but where the original bearing cages had about 14 evenly-spaced balls instead of a much better "full compliment" of balls filling the races.