In regards to adding ball bearings to a loose pack.....
>
> I would never add new bearings to "used" bearings. If
> I were going to switch from a bearing retainer to
> loose bearings, I'd toss the entire thing, and go with
> all new bearings.
>
There's some confusion somewhere. No one was talking of used bearings, but either repacking entirely with new bulk (but loose) balls or removing new bearings from the retainer and adding more new balls. That's where the mix occurs. Campy retainer sets, and pre-bagged Campy loose service bearings, are always sourced (supposedly) from the same production batches, or maybe even tight-tolerance QC batches, rather than others who might have equivalent individual ball quality standards, but are just bagged from bulk bins. So the variance amongst a set of balls would be less with Campy bearings, resulting in smoother rolling and probably longer lasting hubs, BB's, etc.
Jon Schaer
Columbus, OH