If you lose a ball bearing when putting your bike wheel back together will it damage the wheel?

Yes it will, go to the bike shop and get a whole new set for a few dollars. You want to use the same bearings from the same batch.

The wheel bearings sit between a cone that screws to the wheel axle and the race or cup in the wheel hub. The ball bearings deliver equal pressure throughout the wheel. Running a wheel without the proper number of bearings can be done but it's not advisable, doing so could possibly damage the cone or race. A cone can be purchased fairly cheap but if you score or damage the race you will need to replace the hub and that can get expensive. Something else to consider if you are using a Quick Release hub is when putting your bike wheel back together the bearings should be adjusted just loose enough so that closing the Quick Release leaves the bearing with a slight preload. Many people don't know or realize that when using a Quick Release that the compression applied by the QR can alter bearing clearance. Hope this helps

I'm with ya on your problem. The little tipsy doodle could very well have done in the wheel bearing. I had a similar thing happen when I was forced to take evasive action on a four lane highway with 6" curbing at my right. A truck didn't see me in the far right hand lane as he pinched me off forcing me to actually jump the curb so I wouldn't get crushed. I ruined an aluminum wheel and as soon as I collected myself the wheel bearing started to roar! The steering wheel was off center also. After I got home ( 20 miles away) I was pissed that I didn't scribble down his license number to report an accident! Not only the wheel bearing was messed up but the inner tie rod end, outer tie rod end and the tie-rod itself was bent.

It would be important to get a new ball bearing so you don't damage your hub. Also if you have a ball bearing broken it will make your whole wheel wobbly and unstable.

If you can't keep your, erm, balls together why you fiddling with your parts?

next time pay for getting the service your parts need.

it might

you can just buy one for like 20 cents

wle

Yes, most likely it will. Believe me

yes and make sure you use the right grease