Originally Posted by
Duragrouch
Close, but not exactly. Good cages will have more balls and closer together than cheaper caged bearings, however, the point of the cage is keeping the balls from touching each other (because the cage is softer than the balls), so must be fewer balls; Otherwise, remove the cage and all the balls coming together will leave a gap larger than one bearing.
No. E.g. 11-ball x 1/4" retainers for bottom brackets hold the same number of balls you can pack in without the retainer. 20 x 3/16" retainers for headsets hold the same number of balls you can pack without the retainer.