'08 Madone bearing swap - Ceramics

Andrew F Martin said:

I picked up a set of the aftermarket ceramic bearings, but re-
assembling the cranks with the wavy-washer results in too much binding
in the system and the bearing roll like my steel ones. A teammate
removed the wavy-washer and cobbled something together slightly
slimmer and it works fine, but it's a bit of a hack. Has anyone had
any experience with a SRAM Force crank on the new Madone with Ceramic
bearings?

You're starting with such a piece of junk that it makes no sense to try
and improve the bike. Just get out another $7000 and buy a Colnago.

Just kidding. I ride two Trek 5200's - the real ones, with horizontal
top tubes; the only upgrade was to Campy Record on both.

Andrew F Martin said:

I picked up a set of the aftermarket ceramic bearings, but re-
assembling the cranks with the wavy-washer results in too much binding
in the system and the bearing roll like my steel ones. A teammate
removed the wavy-washer and cobbled something together slightly
slimmer and it works fine, but it's a bit of a hack. Has anyone had
any experience with a SRAM Force crank on the new Madone with Ceramic
bearings?

I don't have a Madone, but I had similar problems with a version of K
Force cranks (prior to your K-Force Light) and the Mega Exo bottom
bracket.

Instead of a wavy washer, my cranks use a rubber coated crush washer
(and prior to 2004, FSA used a rubber O-ring) between the left crank
arm and the bearing face of bottom bracket. I had all kinds of
problems with the bearings binding, and the cranks coming loose
because I couldn't tighten them all the way as a result.

Then somebody on rbt turned me on to the FSA Mega Exo FAQ (a pdf you
can download here
http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=tech&taxid=74

FSA tells you here (but NOT in the installation manual) that you may
need TWO of the crush washers to achieve the right adjustment without
binding. Once I installed two, the problem was solved.

So, on your Madone, maybe there is a spacing issue, or a problem with
the wavy washer interfering with bearing race. I would check into
getting some of the rubber coated washers, here @ $2.50/ea.
http://webstore.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=estoreproduct&taxid=245&pid=335