Ceramic Bearings Bicycle Review

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

Ceramic bearings bicycle review.

The silicon nitride used to make ceramic bearings combines a set of material properties that makes it perfect for bicycle bearings. This is different from a full ceramic bearing which would have both the balls and the races made of ceramics. Two types of ceramic materials there are two materials that are common. However the reality of why some bearing designs are faster than others doesn t always align with what is presented.

Hybrid means that the balls are made of a ceramic material but the races or rings are made of a hardened steel. Ceramic bicycle bearings in all our products at kogel bearings we believe ceramic bearings set the gold standard for your bicycle bottom bracket derailleur pulleys and wheel bearings. For bottom bracket applications the maximum sustained rpm may be 130 explains lew. This is mostly due to the additional time spent to perfect a quality ceramic ball.

The first thing that strikes the eye when looking at bicycle bearings is the difference in price between steel bearings and hybrid ceramic bearings. Ceramic bearings are often represented as the ultimate way to minimize rolling friction on your bike. Bicycles that have ceramic bearings need ceramic grease or ceramic safe grease to maximize performance as well as protect the bearings from unnecessary wear. Ceramic bicycle wheel bearings kogel bearings offers ceramic wheel bearings for any wheelset.

To make things easy we have made a flat fee pricing for a set of four front and rear hub but without freehub or six a complete wheelset including the freehub. Leading industry wheel dynamics expert and ceo of edco wheels paul lew backs this up and reckons it makes ceramic bearings a poor choice for hubs and headsets also adding that they offer no weight savings and are only beneficial in environments where high rpm revolutions per minute are required. Petroleum or ptfe teflon based bicycle greases can cause damage to carbon fiber bicycles so make sure you have a carbon safe grease on hand. Fitting ceramic bearings on your bike may be a bit like fitting a formula one gearbox in your ford fiesta and expecting it to perform as well after 100 000 miles.

Do i have a carbon fiber bike. Cost of purchase for ceramic and steel bearings. A tiny percentage reduction in friction here can equate to a worthwhile power saving but when you re only turning at 300 rpm as you do on a bicycle a small percentage increase in efficiency will make a negligible change to your power output.