Originally Posted by well biked

I'm wondering if it doesn't have a lot to do with the design of the specific retainer. Scientific or not, there's an awful lot of anecdotal evidence that tossing the retainer on the average old headset or cup and cone bottom bracket and repacking with loose balls is an improvement in most every way (except ease of assembly). Heck, if I can see, feel and even hear the difference just by spinning the part, that's pretty strong evidence as far as I'm concerned.

But, for instance, Bob, what the heck is a "resign" retainer? See, I think when we're talking about these Dura Ace and Campy hubs with retainers, we may be talking about a whole 'nuther animal than the average old headset or bottom bracket as far as the actual retainers. I know that in industrial applications, too, there are specially engineered retainers that are there to increase performance and service life of the bearing assembly, and I'm wondering if the retainers on these quality hubs aren't more like that than the old retainers most of us think of when we're talking about retainers on bicycles.

This is just a thought, though, because I've never even knowingly seen a bicycle hub with bearing retainers in it, so maybe the retainers in these hubs aren't all that different than the retainers in a $15 headset. So what are the retainers like in these quality hubs?