Sure this was discussed (probably several years ago knowing my memory) because one of the carbon wheel manufacturers offered ceramic bearings as an option. From my perspective, if ceramic bearings were the next thing, more manufacturers would be offering them as OE by now ? On reflection, my reservations would be, how well the ceramic bearing is sealed against ingress and when it fails, is the failure catastrophic. Andy
This is a link from Brock’s Performance, ceramic bearing page for a GSX-R1100, , pretty basic comparison between cheap and expensive ceramic bearing balls. Clearly a mine field. Pretty sure, your choice for a motorcycle the expensive Hybrid (steel cage/ceramic balls) or cheap steel cage with ceramic coated steel balls. Couldn’t find a fully ceramic solution for motorcycles. Andy
Had some in a set of Dymag carbons. One needed replacing after not to many miles.Telephoned Dymag and reading between the lines what I was told,they aren't up to the job with the state of the roads today. It was an offer at the time so took it up,but I wouldn't bother again.
Ceramic bearings are good when new but part of the reason they spin so well is the fact that they have less grease packed inside them. Which is why their life span is a lot shorter.
I've got Hybrid ceramic bearings fitted to some carbon wheels on the 959.done. around 3000 miles have had no issues so far.as to weather there worth the cost is debatable if you look at the push bike industry they seem to use them a lot in Bottom brackets/crank assembly's. I did see somewhere where they tested normal vs ceramic they found if you removed the grease seals from a std bearing the difference in rolling resistance between the two became un measurable!!! So it's up to you but £400. Is a lot for no real world gain
Had ceramic bearings on the rowing boat seat..... couldn't tell which ones were ceramic as the cages just corroded.... admittedly a harsh environment
No not really mate, just trying to make the bike as smooth as possible, I've had the brakes serviced and new chain and sprockets. If the bearings ain't worth it there not going in simples.
WSBK regs state bearings may be changed from those in the homologated wheel. Whether that’s ceramic is not immediately evident. Andy
A few years ago there was a lot of chatter about ceramic bearing for uber-road cycle bikes.... From memory, general consensus was it's all a load of snake oil, falling into the bucket of "more money than sense" (along with over sized derailleur jockey wheels), even on bikes that are north of £7/8/9k
Possibly more snake oil salesmen in the cycle industry than the motorcycle/car industry put together. The largest impediment on a push bike is the rider.
Formula 1 cars, unsurprisingly, use ceramic bearings in a few places. Wheel bearings most commonly. When we talk about those bearings it's worth pointing out that it's the balls that are ceramic. The races are steel as usual. The only real advantage is that the reduced friction allows you to run higher preload. That gives you extra stiffness in the assembly without increased rolling resistance. As a trade off, they don't do well with impacts. As the balls are so hard, they have a higher tendency to break down with impacts. However, these gains are very small and depend on conditions in the bearing to be just right and are also influenced by the right amount and type of lubrication. Uprights in formula 1 are lifed to about 400km between rebuilds. Preload is measured and adjusted to very fine tolerances and grease is applied to a tenth of a gram or fractions of a millilitre. I imagine high end competition push bikes are the same. Every slight bit of friction is critical when you're working with 300 or so watts of power so those small reductions in friction are probably worth having in that application. I would only use them if I had the ability and equipment to ensure that preload at operating temperature is within the manufacturer's spec. Too much preload will lead to premature failure. Too little preload will lead to premature failure. It's also good practice to measure breakout resistance and rolling resistance with a torque gauge and not just rely on measuring distances between bearings, spacers etc. I personally think they are a gimmick on any kind of motorbike bar the absolute top end of racing perhaps but that's just my opinion.
