Pros and cons of each? Is their a definitive winner?

Assuming this is for road.

I’ve got wheels with both. Supposedly the cup and cone roll better, and they do seem very good.

Cup and cone tends to need a bit more regular care and attention, but are pretty easy to service. Cartridge need less attention and again are pretty easy to service with the right tools (just knock out the bearings and fit new ones.)

If I was getting new road wheels I’d probably go cup and cone again.

Edit: meant to add that I think the main drawback stated for cup and cone is that the shell the bearings run on is the hub itself, so if this is damaged through lack of, or poor, maintenance, then you bin the hub (not that I have had this happen yet.) However with a cartridge you have no such worries and just knock out the knackered bearing and replace.

I’ve got an old set of Campag Zonda’s with about 8000km on them – the front has barely been touched and when I cracked the freehub on the rear the bearings were perfect – just regreased them and then rebuilt it. I don’t know whether or not that helps but from my perspective I think cup and cone are great.
My mountain bikes all have Hope cartridge bearings so I’m not anti-cartridge bearings by the way – I just don’t automatically think they’re better (I’m not saying you are either!)

Very little difference in my opinion. In fact my Prolite Braccianos spin with cartridge bearings for longer that my Ultegra hubs.
Much like ceramic bbs the diffetence is tiny for the average weight rider with flappy clothing.

Much like ceramic bbs the diffetence is tiny for the average weight rider with flappy clothing.

‘zackly.
My cheap sealed bearings will spin a lightish rim with no tyre on it for at least 30 revs I reckon so with me and the bike adding about a gazillion percent more inertia*, there’ll be no tangible difference at all.

I think

*or momentum or something physicsy

Cheers. It wasn’t an inertia based issue, more of a maintenance issue. I’m looking at two mid/high end wheelsets and each one has the opposing bearing type, so. I wanted to understand if I should select one over the other.

I reckon cup and cone for the road if you don’t mind yearly preventative maintenance, or have a good shop that you use. If you’re likely to just ride them til they start grumbling and get them fixed the maybe cartridge would be better. Both will be great though!

I pop into Wheelcraft near Glasgow from time to time. Scary how old some of the c&c hubs he’s servicing are. 1970s and before and still going strong. Big Al can service them blindfolded too in about 2 mins, interesting to watch.

Cup and cone are a little more difficult to set up, bit of trial and error to get play correct off and, more importantly, on the bike
About the same faff involved in re-greasing both
Parts for either may be off the shelf, or not
Cup and cone have stood the test of time

I’ve got several 70-80 year old bikes with their original hubs – cup and cone. Regular oiling and no seals does the trick. Chuck in new balls once a year at a cost of pennies and you’re good to go.