Not true, in my experience. Pitted cups or spalled cones, you feel a very slight vibration or even noise when rolling, even with cushy tires, as the fork or frame is directly connected to the axle. Taking a cone that has just local spalling on one position, and mounting the wheel with that spall facing up toward the sky, so is not loaded by rolling weight, that alone makes a felt difference. This is actual experience. I repacked with new balls, a mountain front hub that had rusted balls and cups from several years of being left out in the PNW winter, and I could feel it when rolling, but the user didn't care, he just wanted a functional bike back for school. (And with new Deore chain, cassette, freehub body, brake pads and cables, tubes, truing, cleaned and lubed shifters and derailleurs, brought an old Cannondale back to near new with minimal cost, my labor was free.)