[Closed] Ceramic bearings - are they worth it?

I'd take good steel over cheap ceramic. Had (cheap) ceramic BB and hub bearings previously, but longevity was poor and they didn't run any better.

Suspect that Ceramic Speed and the like are worthwhile, but not at cheaper prices.

That said... You can get full ceramic bearings on AliExpress for £10 or so, and I'm half tempted to try those! Likely to be too brittle to be of much use I suspect.

I had cheap ebay ceramic bearings in a set of road wheels. They ran much smoother; at least twice as long as standard stainless bearings ... unfortunately they have only lasted about 6 thousand miles ( admittedly a lot of that was winter wet miles).

GUB Ceramic of eBay are lasting well, into the second year of a well used bike... Happy with that.

Probably a fair bit of longevity is not crushing a HTII by cranking up the preload too much...

for everyday cyclists?

No

but y'know, if you want them, go for it.

Hope's own ceramic bearings, definitely yes.

Otherwise go for stainless.

IME the longevity of bearings is dependent on how well sealed they are, not what the balls are made of.

or put another way, if water gets it, everything dies.

Do hope make ceramic bearings for their hubs? I can't seem to find them if they do

No
yes
no
no

I have a hope ceramic bb on one bike, and it does just feel smooth when I get into rhythmic cadence, it is hard to describe the sensation, I wouldn't say it was noticeably easier or less effort, just when its quiet and on a smooth surface it is slightly quieter and smoother than what I remember with the previous steel hope bearings.

I have had them in for over 6 months now and I still notice it, so it isn't just the fact that I have replaced old with new. But it is something that I could believe is perhaps just confirmation bias for an expensive component.

Sure ivread somewhere that cyclists don't get to the speeds needed to really benefit from ceramic balls.

Road CC feature with input from Hope, Reynolds, etc

[url= http://road.cc/content/feature/175644-ceramic-bearings-pros-and-cons ]Road CC Ceramic Bearings[/url]

Ceramics work best in high speed i.e. 20,000rpm plus, steady load applications - they don't like shock or dirty environments which pretty well excludes mountain biking. There might be some merit in indoor track cycling like pursuiting where speeds of 60kph are common. I used to use them for inline speed skating where you had 16 bearings for 8 wheels and you could run them unshielded with oil - they needed cleaning every use but did make a great whizzing noise!

Ceramics work best in high speed i.e. 20,000rpm plus, steady load applications - they don't like shock or dirty environments

I'm absolutely amazed that that's the first forum post on here that's been bang on.

Well done that man

Sure ivread somewhere that cyclists don't get to the speeds needed to really benefit from ceramic balls.

😯 lol, speak for yourself 8)

This...

Ceramics work best in high speed i.e. 20,000rpm plus, steady load applications

I asked a reputable bearing wholesaler whether I would gain from using ceramic bearings on my bike, they asked what RPM they would be doing and then laughed when I told them! Save your money was their opinion.

Bought some acerracing ceramic for my Spank wheels as the ones in were getting a bit clicky.

They're still clicky, as I've not had chance to fit them.

Bought from ceramicracer on ebay decent prices.

www.acerracing.com Slightly "Americaaaaa FK Yeah!" website though...

I've been battling a bearing issue on my superfly BB. The NDS Bearing gets very gritty and wet so badly that over winter I was flushing it with IPA and air duster once a week before regreasing it. Repeat all winter or face bearing seizure. I've fitted a VERY expensive Enduro ceramic bearing with allegedly superior corrosion resistance which will hopefully put up with a bit more neglect than the standard steel bearing. Time will tell.