Loose bearing BB?

ive just got a nice new cup +cone BB to replace my old ratty rusting one.

just wondering if there is any advantage to taking my bearings out of thier collar and running them loose within the cup. ive placed them in and found i needed an extra bearing, but the extra one fitted in perfectly to keep it snug.

any advice? bad idea?

it's no big difference, the cages made assembly easier.
one extra bearing might help the durability... a tiny bit.
QUESTION - does anyone have a spare sleeve to go in the BB shell for a loose bearing BB?
I can pay in love / beer.

yeah, i did wonder if it really made a significant diffrence. i thought the load on each bearing would be less therefore with lower friction. but with that said its only one extra ball out of 10, so i cant imagine it making an awful lot of diffrence.

Would there be a drop in friction? I can understand what you're saying (I think) - sharing force/weight over more bearings equals less force overall necessary to overcome the resistance on each bearing. However, is the force subtracted from the other bearings just added onto the new bearing, resulting in the same amount of force necessary?

Anyway, the very slight difference one bearing makes + Newton's first law really make me question the benefits. The ease of the cartridge (imo) out weigh the advantages.

leave them in the cage, just for the sake of bearings not falling on the ground and hiding, when you remove the BB

11 looseballs works fine, just pack it with grease well upon assembly, to stop the little buggers falling out the cups.

QUESTION - does anyone have a spare sleeve to go in the BB shell for a loose bearing BB?
I can pay in love / beer.

Why don't you drink one of said beers (hopefully canned variety), then cut yourself one out of the leftover can..

i threw my bearings in loose. it'a smoother and is, for some reason, a lot easier to dial in the cup. without cages, it maybe takes an addtional 2 minutes to drop them in there after a clean/revuild. do it.