Ceramic Bearings

I am still torn on this, i have 2 pair American Classic Hurricane.
One with ceramic one without. I do notice I roll up on the guy in front of me with the ceramics a little more than the standard but thats it.

I feel a bigger boost from good tires and for sure the largest boost for road tubeless tires.

settersitter said:

What kind of gains do you get with the ceramic bearing and is it enough to justify the cost?

The gains are pretty much zero, which also answers the second question.

settersitter said:

I have the Mavic Kysrium ES Anniversary wheelset. Im thinking about installing ceramic bearings. What kind of gains do you get with the ceramic bearing and is it enough to justify the cost?

None and no. Ceramic bearings, designed for high speed, high pressure and high temps(none of which are found on bicycles) is a huge marketing ploy. No more longevity(unless they are pure ceramics, balls and races, even more $) and measured performance in the 1-2 watt range.

Peter, you are correct. I used ceramic bearings on my R/C boat racing engines that turned 45-50,000 rpm. They did make a significant difference not only in performance but longevity as well.(the motors got Extremely hot!!!) On a bike ceramic bearings are a total marketing ploy!!lol! They are for HIGH rpm applications! Waste of time and money to use them for cycling applications!lol!

Just looked up an analysis of bearing losses in the book Bicycling Science. Turns out the losses in conventional bearing hubs are already extremely low, on the order of .25 watts @ 10m/sec (22 mph) for both wheels. As a result, ceramics have virtually no effect on power savings.

Note that these hub losses are approximately 1% of tire rolling resistance losses. So, if you really want to save 1-2 watts in rolling resistance, think latex tubes with faster tires.

Even a couple of watts doesn't sound like much to me, but could be for some racers. EG, our local champ just won the World Master's TT again in Salzburg, with a 0.94 sec margin of victory. When competition is that close, every watt saved can make a difference.

dhk2 said:

Just looked up an analysis of bearing losses in the book Bicycling Science. Turns out the losses in conventional bearing hubs are already extremely low, on the order of .25 watts @ 10m/sec (22 mph) for both wheels. As a result, ceramics have virtually no effect on power savings.

Note that these hub losses are approximately 1% of tire rolling resistance losses. So, if you really want to save 1-2 watts in rolling resistance, think latex tubes with faster tires.

Even a couple of watts doesn't sound like much to me, but could be for some racers. EG, our local champ just won the World Master's TT again in Salzburg, with a 0.94 sec margin of victory. When competition is that close, every watt saved can make a difference.

Reality, what a concept. Copy to 'Ceramic Speed', Superfly Bearings and many others, it seems.

I tested ceramic bearings in inline skates, and I didn't feel any gain at all

settersitter said:

I have the Mavic Kysrium ES Anniversary wheelset. Im thinking about installing ceramic bearings. What kind of gains do you get with the ceramic bearing and is it enough to justify the cost?

40% increase in power. Every time. Check the research. Trust me.

IMHooker said:

40% increase in power. Every time. Check the research. Trust me.

So, now I gather that you sell ceramic bearings for a living or write for Bicycling magazine. Seriously, 40% increase in *what* power specifically?

Lets say I typically generate 300 watts on my archaic steel bearings while travelling at 23 mph. After switching to ceramic bearings (hell, you pick whatever ABEC rating that you want to use) what exactly changes by 40% and what is my new power at 23 mph or speed at 300w (again your choice, make it easy upon yourself)?

For bonus points, provide a link to *any* research which shows a savings of at least 1% (3 watts) of the total power output to maintain 23mph on the bicycle in this case. I'll even give you the hubs, BB, pulleys, pedals, headset, and any other bearings that you'd like to use in showing this savings to be real.

OTOH, if this was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek response, then maybe a smilie or something would be helpful so that people know not to take that [censored] seriously. 🙄

frenchyge said:

So, now I gather that you sell ceramic bearings for a living or write for Bicycling magazine. Seriously, 40% increase in *what* power specifically?

Lets say I typically generate 300 watts on my archaic steel bearings while travelling at 23 mph. After switching to ceramic bearings (hell, you pick whatever ABEC rating that you want to use) what exactly changes by 40% and what is my new power at 23 mph or speed at 300w (again your choice, make it easy upon yourself)?

For bonus points, provide a link to *any* research which shows a savings of at least 1% (3 watts) of the total power output to maintain 23mph on the bicycle in this case. I'll even give you the hubs, BB, pulleys, pedals, headset, and any other bearings that you'd like to use in showing this savings to be real.

OTOH, if this was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek response, then maybe a smilie or something would be helpful so that people know not to take that [censored] seriously. 🙄

My comment was, indeed, meant as a joke. On a more serious note, I formerly worked for a year with the world's biggest bearing manufacturor, SKF. I know enough about bearings to agree with what many have already posted: ceramic bearings don't confer any meaningful performace advantage, and do so at laughable cost.