Ceramic Bearings Worthwhile

squibnocket

As per title are they a worthwhile upgrade, just about to have some wheels checked over and I'm not sure whether to ask the lbs to put the said bearings in

Cheers

danowat

for what application?, for racing (at least time trialling) it's apparently a worthy upgrade (BB particularly), wouldn't bother for just normal riding though.

ugo.santalucia

No, Silicon Nitride balls are generally worse than steel ones. Roundness tolerances are lower and often they are not fully sealed. Full ceramic bearings in Zirconia have lower rolling resistance, but they cost about 50 pounds each, they are very fragile and the rolling resistance of a steel bearing is somewhat close to zero anyway.

So, no, they are a waste of money

ilm_zero7

I have ceramics - BB, hubs and jockeys, and yes they are smoother, but I would also look at the Token Tiramic BB as an intermediate cost vs. benefit choice

Pokerface

For the average rider, no they aren't worth it. Unless you need to replace the bearings anyway and can get them at the same price. But they aren't worth spending any extra money on if you already have nice, perfectly working steel bearings.

I have ceramics for most aspects of my bike (BB, wheels, jockeys), but only because every second and every watt counts for me. Races can be won or lost by tenths of a second, and I don't like to leave anything to chance.

ugo.santalucia

Pokerface wrote:

For the average rider, no they aren't worth it. Unless you need to replace the bearings anyway and can get them at the same price. But they aren't worth spending any extra money on if you already have nice, perfectly working steel bearings.

I have ceramics for most aspects of my bike (BB, wheels, jockeys), but only because every second and every watt counts for me. Races can be won or lost by tenths of a second, and I don't like to leave anything to chance.

You are track world champion and I assume in some way can afford to use the full ceramic (zirconia) bearings and can make sense of a tenth of a second.... For the rest of us, the choice is between steel and hybrid ceramic (silicon nitride balls). The steel ones are not only cheaper, but also better and smoother, especially good quality ones, like SKF.

LegendLust

I use Tiramic bearings on my Campag Ultra Torque chainset on my winter bike. I was fed up of replacing bearings. After swapping for Tiramic they're still smooth after a full winters (and rainy summer days) training.

I do have ceramic bearings on my Rotor chainsets, but they came with the bearings anyway.

racingcondor

I'm going to agree with the above. If you're in the top 5% in the world then sure, why not. Otherwise depending on whether you get good ones or bad ones they may not be better than steel.

I believe I'll be getting some on my track bike next year but that's because the hubs come with them, not because it's an optional extra (yes I could go for different hubs but 28 hole track hubs are surprisingly hard to find).

squibnocket

Thanks for all the comments, all points taken on board. Looks like the wallet will be happy for a while longer
Cheers