Oh ma gah~~~

After my LBS offered to switch my Eurus wheels and BB with ceramic ball bearings, I can't stop thinking about it!!

F/R wheels and freehub bearings+BB will cost me 120 bucks because I bought the wheels there about 7month ago.

Can someone talk me out of this BS. Not that I can't afford 120bucks but, I hate the feeling when I just bought something because I was fooled by some marketers.:(

Don't do it!


How was that? <shrug>

Your wheels are never going to see the rpm's where ceramic bearings will make a difference.

$120 for MAYBE 2 watts of savings (best case scenario).

Save your monies.

Can you at least put it off? There's no doubt the prices will plunge. The Neuvation ceramic upgrade is $60. Within the year everyone and his brother will be selling them. No question for me that every decent wheelset will soon be ceramic. You'll have to hunt on ebay retro stores to find steel bearings. That is my first prognostication. The second is that Shimano will bring out levers with hidden shift cables.

So it shall be written.

The second is that Shimano will bring out levers with hidden shift cables.
Trust me, if that happens, I wouldn't even ask because I probably have one already.:D

If you can't pull a deal like:
get the upgrades then sell them for more cash or sell the whole wheelset for more cash
then you're going to be fooled.
Still, If you're going to spend the money for about 59 g weight savings on an under 6 kg bike, then you'd better buy the ceramic bearings ;)

Good luck,
br

There are many people who need help. Rather than spend the $120 on something that you don't need, please donate the money to a charity to allow someone that has basic needs that are unfilled to lead a better life.

Are ceramic bearings really that bad? hmmm.....

I don't think they're bad in any way, just unnecessary.

to upgrade the bottom bracket and derailleur pulleys as well.

All for a 1 Watt saving at 400 W.

There are many people who need help. Rather than spend the $120 on something that you don't need, please donate the money to a charity to allow someone that has basic needs that are unfilled to lead a better life.

I get the charitable sentiment but it's misguided here. Applying your rational to your own situation, there certainly must be something you could sacrifice and give the money to charity... maybe a latte, a beer, a movie, etc., etc., etc. Get my point?

With regard to the ceramic bearings question: seems a bit frivolous and probably unnecessary.

I get the charitable sentiment but it's misguided here. Applying your rational to your own situation, there certainly must be something you could sacrifice and give the money to charity... maybe a latte, a beer, a movie, etc., etc., etc. Get my point?

With regard to the ceramic bearings question: seems a bit frivolous and probably unnecessary.The thread title was "someone talk me out of buying ceramic bearings". I was just giving him a reason not to buy the bearings.

Go to your bathroom, look in the mirror, look into your own eyes and repeat slowly 5 times:

I have so much money that I can afford to throw it away.

I have so much money that I can afford to throw it away.

I have so much....

Do this every day for 5 days, twice per day if needed.

Then get an envelope, address it to me, and enclose a check for $60.00, because I just saved you half of what you were planning to spend.

Here's some hype-perbole on ceramic bearings:

http://www.ceramicspeed.com/tour_de_france_2006.htm

Supposedly Tyler Hamilton was using the same ceramic bearings when he won the 2004 Olympic TT.

We can all chastise him for blowing money on bike equipment, but let's face it: If you're reading this thread, you're not riding a Huffy. Everyone else is buying titanium bolt sets or ultralight tubes to get that last little bit out of the bike. If you can't wait, I say go for it! Buy them. Feel guilty for a couple of weeks. You'll get over it.

Look at it this way: if you want to get the bearings, it's about the same as 3 decent tires, or one good saddle.

Here's some hype-perbole on ceramic bearings:

http://www.ceramicspeed.com/tour_de_france_2006.htm

Supposedly Tyler Hamilton was using the same ceramic bearings when he won the 2004 Olympic TT.
I think Tyler used more than ceramic bearings if you know what I mean....:D

All for a 1 Watt saving at 400 W.

And a few g of weight too... don't forget that.

hello all, i know i am new to this forum, but i agree with fiddledoc. most of us on this thread think nothing of spending several thousand dollars on a bike as well as looking for the biggest weight savings we can find. bottom line, if ceramic bearings sucked, you wouldn't see the pro using them. if you have the money, do it. it may only give you a bit of watt savings, but if it make you feels good then so be it. the extra money relevant to what the over cost of a good bike is minimal. enjoy them!!!

More hyperbole from Competitive Cyclist:

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=BUY_PRODUCT_STANDARD&PRODUCT.ID=1965&CATEGORY.ID=1838&MODE=&TFC=TRUE

hello all, i know i am new to this forum, but i agree with fiddledoc. most of us on this thread think nothing of spending several thousand dollars on a bike as well as looking for the biggest weight savings we can find. bottom line, if ceramic bearings sucked, you wouldn't see the pro using them. if you have the money, do it. it may only give you a bit of watt savings, but if it make you feels good then so be it. the extra money relevant to what the over cost of a good bike is minimal. enjoy them!!!

Pros generally use what they are given. If you are spending your own money, high quality steel bearings (as already used by Shimano or Campy) are just fine. Unless you like giving in to marketing hype.

I am in need of new hub bearings for my Spinergy Xaros. This place http://www.bocabearings.com/main1.aspx?p=docs&id=7 has both steel & ceramic kits for my wheels. The ceramics will be about $25 more (for both wheels). Is it woth it? What are the advantages?

Check the bearing sizes you have and buy 1 ceramic ball for each set of steel bearings. Pop out 1 steel in each and replace with the ceramic ball. As long as the steel ones are of good quality you will get as good or better results than with the hybrid ceramic sets. The ceramic one acts as a race polisher/contaminant grinder.

i agree there are a good portion of pros that do use what sponsers give or pay them to use. but there are more than you think that have a say, and i garauntee they know what the advantages and disdvantages, ex. watts, etc... of using ceramic vs SS. if SS had better testing results, you would see less pros using ceramic. they are all about every bit of advantage thay can get. frame aerodynamics, weight, wind tunnel testing, etc... even the wanna be pros are looking for every extra advantage they can get. i say who cares if they want to spend the money, which is still nothing compared to the overpriced bikes we, me included, are all buying out there.

Keep in mind not all ceramic bearings are alike. This is from EuroBikeParts site:

"CeramicSpeed bearing balls made in Denmark are constructed of Grade 3 Silicon Nitride. This is the highest grade for hybrid ceramic bearings.
The smallest ball produced by CeramicSpeed takes a minimum of nine weeks to make and meets or exceeds NASA ENGINEERING STANDARDS.

Ball Bearing Grade Guide
(CeramicSpeed uses GRADE 3 ceramic balls)

The lower the grade number, the more spherical a bearing is
Grade is a measurement of a ball bearing's deviation from true spherical form
Grade 30 is .00030 inches out of round and a Grade 200 is .002 inches out of round"

The CeramicSpeed bearing 'kits' are reasonably priced, around $229, but all you get are the bearings + grease, no races. You have to replace the steel bearings yourself, one by one.

Also the term 'reasonable' has a caveat: obviously if your set of Mavic Elites cost you $440, don't make sense to spend $229 on ceramic bearings. But if you dropped $2900 on Bora Ultras or $5,000 on Lightweights, it don't seem a big expense.

Keep in mind not all ceramic bearings are alike. This is from EuroBikeParts site:

"CeramicSpeed bearing balls made in Denmark are constructed of Grade 3 Silicon Nitride. This is the highest grade for hybrid ceramic bearings.
The smallest ball produced by CeramicSpeed takes a minimum of nine weeks to make and meets or exceeds NASA ENGINEERING STANDARDS.

Ball Bearing Grade Guide
(CeramicSpeed uses GRADE 3 ceramic balls)

The lower the grade number, the more spherical a bearing is
Grade is a measurement of a ball bearing's deviation from true spherical form
Grade 30 is .00030 inches out of round and a Grade 200 is .002 inches out of round"

The CeramicSpeed bearing 'kits' are reasonably priced, around $229, but all you get are the bearings + grease, no races. You have to replace the steel bearings yourself, one by one.

Also the term 'reasonable' has a caveat: obviously if your set of Mavic Elites cost you $440, don't make sense to spend $229 on ceramic bearings. But if you dropped $2900 on Bora Ultras or $5,000 on Lightweights, it don't seem a big expense.

FYI, Even grade 10 is overkill for bicycle applicaiton. Unless you can pedal faster than your car engine.:D

i agree there are a good portion of pros that do use what sponsers give or pay them to use. but there are more than you think that have a say, and i garauntee they know what the advantages and disdvantages, ex. watts, etc... of using ceramic vs SS. if SS had better testing results, you would see less pros using ceramic. they are all about every bit of advantage thay can get. frame aerodynamics, weight, wind tunnel testing, etc... even the wanna be pros are looking for every extra advantage they can get. i say who cares if they want to spend the money, which is still nothing compared to the overpriced bikes we, me included, are all buying out there.

Many of you seem to be buying into the marketing hype. Ceramic bearings have applications but those are generally far from what is required in a hub or BB. We considered using them on a disk that we wanted to spin at 20,000 rpm in a vacuum (the ideal solution is magnetic levitation - lets hope Zipp doesn't latch onto that one!).

BTW, what do you mean by SS? You do know that ball bearings are not generally stainless steel?

I read on Pezcyclingnews.com, that the ceramic bearings would shave off '5watts @ 25mph'
I am also thinking about getting ceramic bearings, assuming this statement is true, is it worth the expense to put them on a set of American classic sprint 350's?

I read on Pezcyclingnews.com, that the ceramic bearings would shave off '5watts @ 25mph'
I am also thinking about getting ceramic bearings, assuming this statement is true, is it worth the expense to put them on a set of American classic sprint 350's?

There's really no plausible mechanism to support this claim. Certainly, bearing roughness could not be consuming 5 watts. And if you want to eliminate grease, you can run steel bearings in oil. Contact seals with any bearing might consume 5 watts of power, but this is not a factor of the type of bearing. When you read a claim like this, you should think to yourself "How could someone rig their tests to make it come out in favor of their product?" In this case, an obvious way to do that would be to test "our bearing system with ceramic bearings in it" vs. "their bearing system with steel bearings in it." It is the difference in systems (seal type, lube type, bearing size and count, etc.) that is the source of the 5 watts. No apples to apples comparison would show such a power difference.

I read on Pezcyclingnews.com, that the ceramic bearings would shave off '5watts @ 25mph'
I am also thinking about getting ceramic bearings, assuming this statement is true, is it worth the expense to put them on a set of American classic sprint 350's?

And you don't think that Pez might have a vested interest (e.g. their adverizers and some easy new 'tech' articles to put on their site)?

I think most of the outlandish claims stem from FSA's claim that their ceramic BB saved some large % over their standard model, at 400 watts no less. Well it was likely true as far as it went because their standard one is just a godawful piece of junk. But compared to a good BB the savings were essentially non-existent, particularly at more typical human outputs.