I have a question for those of you who use caged bearing and loose ball headsets and bottom brackets.

Does removing the bearing retainer, or retainers produce a noticible improvement in smoothness? Is this different for headsets and bottom brackets? In my Campy Record 1 1/8" headset, there are 44 ball bearings. In a Sugino 75 bb, there are 22.

What I'd like to know is if the benefit of even bearing spacing is completely offset by the drag introduced by the bearing cage.