Originally Posted by
AnkleWork
Many thanks. The details of cup and cone AC design explain several subtle aspects of bearing optimization in bicycles and why substituted cartridge bearings frequently perform less well. (Connecting the dots for the reader: frequent repetition of marketing blather continuously violates subtle truths.)
Any low volume bottom bracket or hub manufacturer prefers to use sealed cartridge bearings. They can't afford / don't have the knowledge to develop separate cup and cone components. The cartridge bearing offers them an easy off-the-shelf solution; readily available and with integral seals and grease. In most cases where cartridge bearings perform less well than C&C they will have spec'd bearings which are too small (load rating too low), or they corrode through water ingress as the bearing seals are not properly protected.
Bottom brackets are a good example of this. When C&C were largely replaced by integrated assemblies that fitted inside the BB shell the bearing load ratings were too low (insufficient space). By moving to external BB cups they could fit larger bearings mounted further apart (a win-win) and the durability came back.