Originally Posted by
andre nickatina
I disagree... the difference between looseball and cartridge is felt on the road IMO if you're actually going fast and throwing in hard accelerations. But the difference is not noticeable at all between okay cartridge bearings (Formula) and better cartridge bearings (Phil), atleast in my experience.
If looseball bearings didn't make a difference, what reason would there even be for their continued sales? Hell, Dura Ace road hubs are all loose ball today, they're just well sealed.
Loose ball are for racing in the velodrome where fractions of a second count. If you think you can tell the difference between a loose ball and a properly adjusted quality cartridge bearing while riding on the street you are fooling yourself.