Originally Posted by
TakingMyTime
About 30 years ago before the internet and at a time when I had just picked up a used bike (full campy), I thought I'd become an "expert" and research and find bearings that would decrease any resistance and make me a great rider. After calling several manufacturers and told them the grade of the campy bearings (I believe 25) they ALL asked me why would I want anything better than that. From that day on, bearings have never been a concern.
About the same 30 years ago, a couple of years after I started riding and was just getting into doing my own bike mechanical work, I used to read the Campyphile mythology about how Campy bearing balls were all Grade 5 (or Grade 3 or Grade 10, depending on who was writing the article) and how they were sold in hand-selected matched sets that HAD to be used together. It was a while later it finally came out that Campy used Grade 25 balls, just like us mortals.