Ceramic BB, Worth the upgrade?

warrior4life

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Token-Ceramic-Bot ... 43a35a0b92

Is it a wasted £60 Over my regular sram BB?

london-red

I think a lot of people will say that it makes little difference, but I upgraded from rival to Red, the latter of which came with a ceramic BB.

The biggest difference by a country mile is the BB. Much, much smoother in my opinion.

Gazzaputt

Personally having used a normal BB and ceramic and I can so the difference is minimal for the cost.

EKIMIKE

Ceramic wheel bearings are probably more the way to go.

pastey_boy

been running one of these for over a year, i usually kill external bb's within a few months but this bb has been great. popped the seals off once to clean and pump with fresh grease and still going strong
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ONE23-EXTERNAL-BE ... 4cf583e1de

Monty Dog

You might notice the difference if you keep on top of the maintenance and make sure that your drivetrain is immaculately cleaned, maintained and lubed - a dirty chain would cancel-out any benefit.

hopper1

warrior4life wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Token-Ceramic-Bottom-Bracket-BB-MTB-BIKE-SRAM-RED-BLACK-/290503396242?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item43a35a0b92

Is it a wasted £60 Over my regular sram BB?

I now have two Ceramic SRAM BB's, but too early to say how much better they are.
I would be cautious with your selection there, as I'm pretty sure NapoleonD had one of these and it didn't bode too well!

SRAM Red ceramic = Yes.
Cheap competition = No.

Having just read that ebay ad, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!

warrior4life

Thanks for the advice, I always keep my drive train immaculate.

Still not sure what to do.

antfly

I seem to recall the watts saved were measured at virtually nothing.

ride_whenever

Depends a lot on the quality, good steel is better than cheap ceramic. Look at the price for the ceramic red BB, and the ceramicspeed stuff...

The main benefit for most people (ie not elite athletes) is the lower maintenance of the bearings and greater resistance to contamination.

Tokenbikes

hopper1 wrote:

warrior4life wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Token-Ceramic-Bottom-Bracket-BB-MTB-BIKE-SRAM-RED-BLACK-/290503396242?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item43a35a0b92

Is it a wasted £60 Over my regular sram BB?

I now have two Ceramic SRAM BB's, but too early to say how much better they are.
I would be cautious with your selection there, as I'm pretty sure NapoleonD had one of these and it didn't bode too well!

SRAM Red ceramic = Yes.
Cheap competition = No.

Having just read that ebay ad, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!

2 things about the post-
1. Token Ceramic balls ( ABEC 5) are exactly the same as the SRAM Red Ceramic balls, only Token has patented titanium coated races - that don't rust. And the parts carry a 2 year warranty against manufacturers defects.

2. Token does not warranty ANY part bought on eBay as there are many knock offs and eBay shops selling stuff that is not genuine. Token has NO official seller on eBay!

You can touch the REAL Token without a barge pole!!
Thanks!
Token HQ

warrior4life

Tokenbikes wrote:

hopper1 wrote:

warrior4life wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Token-Ceramic-Bottom-Bracket-BB-MTB-BIKE-SRAM-RED-BLACK-/290503396242?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item43a35a0b92

Is it a wasted £60 Over my regular sram BB?

I now have two Ceramic SRAM BB's, but too early to say how much better they are.
I would be cautious with your selection there, as I'm pretty sure NapoleonD had one of these and it didn't bode too well!

SRAM Red ceramic = Yes.
Cheap competition = No.

Having just read that ebay ad, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!

2 things about the post-
1. Token Ceramic balls ( ABEC 5) are exactly the same as the SRAM Red Ceramic balls, only Token has patented titanium coated races - that don't rust. And the parts carry a 2 year warranty against manufacturers defects.

2. Token does not warranty ANY part bought on eBay as there are many knock offs and eBay shops selling stuff that is not genuine. Token has NO official seller on eBay!

You can touch the REAL Token without a barge pole!!
Thanks!
Token HQ

I like this! Where would I get a genuine Token ceramic BB from?

Squillinossett

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/token-tk877tbt- ... n=products

rolf_f

Monty Dog wrote:

You might notice the difference if you keep on top of the maintenance and make sure that your drivetrain is immaculately cleaned, maintained and lubed - a dirty chain would cancel-out any benefit.

ride_whenever wrote:

The main benefit for most people (ie not elite athletes) is the lower maintenance of the bearings and greater resistance to contamination.

So the main benefit of ceramic bearings is that if I keep the drivetrain immaculately clean, maintained and lubricated, I won't have to do so much maintenance? Cool!