Fulcrum Zero Ceramic bearings

How Far is too Far

The bearings on the rear wheel on my Fulcrum Zeros have started sounding rough. I have stripped the down and found they still had grease (not much) but with one of them two of the balls came out of the holder. I have put them back together with some new grease. They sound better now but not perfect.

Should I start looking for new ones?

What options do I have, as these are ceramic I presume they will be big money? Can I just buy new steel balls and put them in loose?

A bit disappointed as they have only done aprox 2500 miles

Thanks Richard...

owenlars

Yes you can you just need the right size balls

Binding can be caused by rough balls, worn cup and cone surfaces or over-tightening the cup and cones.

Read Sheldon Brown on the subject here. http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html

ugo.santalucia

Ceramic = waste of money

thegreatdivide

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Ceramic = waste of money

Not really. I've no idea how many thousands of miles I've done on my red Zeros since I bought them in 2011 but they're still going/spinning strong and the rims themselves have never needed to be trued. Take care of your kit and they'll keep on going.

Only Campagnolo ceramic issues I've had were when I somehow managed to get sticky drink into a BB with Cult bearings. Not advisable.

ugo.santalucia

thegreatdivide wrote:

Not really. I've no idea how many thousands of miles I've done on my red Zeros since I bought them in 2011 but they're still going/spinning strong and the rims themselves have never needed to be trued. Take care of your kit and they'll keep on going.

BUt that can be said of steel bearings too... never managed to get to the end of DT Swiss 240 bearings.
Ceramic are meant to work with less lubrication and reduced need for seals, hence reduce drag, they are good for the track or for those folks obsessed about saving 5 seconds over a 10 miles TT... then there is the misplaced belief that they do last longer, which is not the case... like for like I doubt they last any longer than similar quality steel bearings

How Far is too Far

Well I greased the bearing up and have done 140 miles on them over the weekend and they seem fine now. I do think the ceramic bearing are a bit noisier than steel though?

I have a pair of Red Wind,s with the Ceramic Cult bearings and these are the smoothest bearing I have ever known.

Thegreatdivid what grease do you use on your Ceramic wheels?

I have a pair of Kysirium Elites that are over 3 years old that have done well over 10,000 miles and I have never touched the bearings (never had a spoke key on the either). I have a pair of Shimano RS80 that have had bearing problems with less than 3000 miles on them.

I guess some wheels do mega miles without being touched and other dont.

thegreatdivide

How Far is too Far wrote:

Thegreatdivid what grease do you use on your Ceramic wheels?

They've never had to be greased! But I wouldn't use 'grease' on ceramic bearings. Sewing machine oil is what's required and just a few drops of it.

cycleclinic

I have noticed fulcrum wheels (and campag wheels) can feel a bit rough after a rebuilt but a good ride smooths them out. the service centre (I-ride) recommended put a dill bit on the axle and spinning it - it worked too so now I have a 5mm allen key round down as my special tool for inserting into the axle with damaging it. Mount the allen key in the drill and spin.

How Far is too Far

Maybe as the ceramic is so hard as well as the tracks it makes more noise.
Mine were noticeably quieter after a few miles. I was very carefully not to have the bearings too tight as this also seem to make them a lot noisier.

ugo.santalucia

Noisy bearings? Are you sure it's the bearings? Noise is the result of friction... if you have friction to the point that it makes a noise, it's pretty shot, I would say

domgears

I have the Racing Zeros, I think the USB stuff is a joke.
I agree that ceramic bearings aren't necessary.

The problem with USB is that they use the ceramic bearings but the standard cups and cones, compared to the CULT which has hardened cups and cones.

What happened in my instance is that the ceramic bearings ate the cones, leaving a nasty rough line around the cone, resulting is a very rough feeling, subsequently I bought some standard steel bearings and replaced the cones, now they are sweet.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Zeros but I find USB a waste of time, my friend has CULT and they seem to be good but otherwise stick to standard steel bearings and you can't go wrong, I must admit that I actually bought the Zeros over the 1s not because of the USB bearings but purely because I prefer the look of the carbon finish on the hub.

How Far is too Far

Thanks for that, it explains why my CULT bearings are super smooth yet the USB,s are not.

Did you just get a set of bearings for some Fulcrum 1,s and put them in on the Zero tracks?


Thanks

domgears

How Far is too Far wrote:

Thanks for that, it explains why my CULT bearings are super smooth yet the USB,s are not.

Did you just get a set of bearings for some Fulcrum 1,s and put them in on the Zero tracks?


Thanks

Exactly, so you have 2 choices, stump up for the CULT cups and cones and continue with the ceramic bearings or get the Racing 1 bearing set and get some new cones (cups should still be ok) while you are at it, if you remove your cones now I am confident you will find a ring of deterioration which is causing the roughness and drag.

o0timbo0o

I just got a set of zeros, they sound rough as hell, and can feel a lot of drag. I have some red xl on my mtb and they spin 6 times longer than the USB zeros. Quite disappointed

thegreatdivide

o0timbo0o wrote:

I just got a set of zeros, they sound rough as hell, and can feel a lot of drag. I have some red xl on my mtb and they spin 6 times longer than the USB zeros. Quite disappointed

Send them back then.

Roark

o0timbo0o wrote:

I just got a set of zeros, they sound rough as hell, and can feel a lot of drag. I have some red xl on my mtb and they spin 6 times longer than the USB zeros. Quite disappointed

Same here. Just got a set of Bora One 50 with USB bearings, and they sound (and feel when you hold and spin them) pretty rough. Extremely disappointing when you consider what USB means "Ultra Smooth Bearings". Ultra smooth my arse.

norvernrob

o0timbo0o wrote:

I just got a set of zeros, they sound rough as hell, and can feel a lot of drag. I have some red xl on my mtb and they spin 6 times longer than the USB zeros. Quite disappointed

I've just got some Zero nites and they are smooth as silk, virtually silent too.

How Far is too Far

I just put up with the noise on mine, they have now done 12,000 miles and the rear bearing are about shot. It looks as if the ceramic balls are harder than the track and have worn it. I guess I could just pust some standard bearing in on a new track.

On another note on these wheels, the feehub bearings seem to last around 4000 miles before they go. I have some Ksyriums Elites with over 15000 miles till on original bearings and freehub.

On a positive note they have never needed any adjustment to the spokes in 12k and I am just over 80kg.

pinno

I have just re-greased my Eurus's and despite the bearings and cones being in good condition and going to the nth degree to keep it all pristine, they still feel a little rough. Dunno what to do. I'll ride them for a hundred miles or so and see what they are like.

Ribble stock cones at £8 odd each and bearings for £3.76 so it's still going to be £40 pounds to replace the lot. Noticed 4 bearings on ebay:

Havin' a laugh?

I do recall a pair of handbuilt record titanium on Mavic reflex rims I had that I did silly miles on and never ever touched. Maybe the 7/32 (?) bearings are just a little too small and will pick up nano sized dust/tiny imperfections and go crunch crunch crunch...

Mage Banan

When I see ceramic bearings, I am reminded of the adage, "A fool and their money are soon parted."

Apart from saving a few grams, they offer no advantage over steel bearings except perhaps longer fatigue life (and this is for fully ceramic bearings). I was reading that when Cancellara was preparing for the now deprecated classical hour record, his bike was going to use a cup and cone BB with highly polished steel balls, and not only that but run them dry: in a ball race, lubrication increases fatigue life - it does not reduce friction.

Monty Dog

Bearing adjustment and fit is more critical for harder ceramic bearings otherwise they will create rapid wear / failure