Caged or loose bearings?

"Martin Wilson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Which is better? On the face of it it seems like caged is less hassle,
easy to deal with but loose actually uses more bearings and I'm
guessing is probably actually better/stronger by shared load etc. Is
it as simple as that or are there other factors?

Yes. However the caged may be good enough, which makes the improved hassle
factor worth it.

(assuming you're not talking about cartridge bearings, which is a whole
different kettle of worms)

cheers,
clive

Martin Wilson said:

Which is better? On the face of it it seems like caged is less hassle,
easy to deal with but loose actually uses more bearings and I'm
guessing is probably actually better/stronger by shared load etc. Is
it as simple as that or are there other factors?

Depends. For headsets etc, caged bearings are very common and last well. I
haven't ever seen a hub with caged bearings though.

Regards,

-david

In article said:

Martin Wilson said:

Which is better? On the face of it it seems like caged is less hassle,
easy to deal with but loose actually uses more bearings and I'm
guessing is probably actually better/stronger by shared load etc. Is
it as simple as that or are there other factors?

Depends. For headsets etc, caged bearings are very common and last well. I
haven't ever seen a hub with caged bearings though.

I'm fairly sure I've seen caged hub bearings hanging up at Halfords,
though I haven't seen them in use. One place caged bearings are a
definite win is the bottom bearing on a child's bike with one piece
crank. Relatively low load on a larger bearing than a three piece
crank, and _much_ less hassle than loose (putting the one piece crank
without dislodging balls, or putting balls in around it, is much fiddlier
than with a three piece). (Why yes, I did spend a couple of hours failing
to do it before asking LBS for advice and getting caged bearings instead,
why do you ask?)

Martin Wilson said:

Which is better? On the face of it it seems like caged is less hassle,
easy to deal with but loose actually uses more bearings and I'm
guessing is probably actually better/stronger by shared load etc.

Correct.

Quoted message said:

Is it as simple as that or are there other factors?

I believe it is as simple as that.

It can be worth changing a troublesome headset's bearings to loose balls.

~PB

David Nutter said:

I haven't ever seen a hub with caged bearings though.

New-style Campag Centaur/Chorus/Record hubs use caged bearings.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

It can be worth changing a troublesome headset's bearings to loose balls.

True, but that's more to change the position of the balls relative to
the pits rather than for extra load-bearing. It's a temporary fix for a
headset that's on the way out. If you believe Jobst Brandt, the only
cure for pitted headsets is including spherical plain bearing surfaces
to take the fretting loads caused by bending of the steerer tube.
Stronglight roller headsets [1] include these, as do most modern A-head
designs.

[1] just dismantled mine for the first time in 5 years and a few
thousand miles. Perfect.