Ceramic Bearing Vs Steel Cycling

The influx of ceramic bearing development into the bike industry sparked needed focus on reducing rolling friction in bearings.

Ceramic bearing vs steel cycling.

I have around 8k miles on one set and over twice that on the other. The first thing that strikes the eye when looking at bicycle bearings is the difference in price between steel bearings and hybrid ceramic bearings. Is this the first time it s happened or is this a reoccurring problem. I albeit lighter at 160 lbs use standard bearing in both my rain and training bike and haven t had any problems.

Cost of purchase for ceramic and steel bearings. Lubricants vary greatly in viscosity thickness finding varying points in a trade off between bearing protection and lower friction. Ceramic vs steel bearing bb for durability. This is mostly due to the additional time spent to perfect a quality ceramic ball.

Internal bearing construction ceramic bearings are not 100 ceramic. Most cycling bearings feature a steel race though some do use a ceramic race which we will briefly touch on later. On the one hand much of the cycling public associates bearing upgrades with going ceramic and on the other hand there is a healthy chunk of cyclists from all demographics who believe ceramic bearings are just marketing hype and a waste of money. Ceramic bearings are in actual fact hybrid.

Next there is the lubricant. They use ceramic balls and usually a steel inner and outer race. This article to try to assist with this fun little area. However the reality of why some bearing designs are faster than others doesn t always align with what is presented.

Hybrid ceramic vs steel bearings.