Ceramic Vs Steel Bottom Bracket

Steel bearings are commodity items that are composed of hardened steel balls and a steel inner and outer race.

Ceramic vs steel bottom bracket.

Ceramic bearing equipped bottom brackets or hybrid ceramics to be more precise are generally much more expensive than their stainless. For bottom bracket applications the maximum sustained rpm may be 130 explains lew. Ak posted by ard kessels. Ceramic bearings are in actual fact hybrid.

While the first two items were more prevalent distinguishers between ceramic and steel bearings in the past today there are often comparably built steel versions of a given bearing assembly. Quality hybrid ceramic bearings are better than steel bearings in a bicycle bottom bracket application because they have rounder balls for lower resistance better races for lower resistance and are grease efficient in low rpm low heat environments for lower resistance. Full ceramic bearings use ceramic races which can be lighter and provide the lowest friction but come at a durability cost. The ceramic balls are often silicon nitride or equivalent.

When analyzing the individual components that contribute to the total frictional losses of a bottom bracket the frictional losses due to the seals and lubricant is greater than the frictional losses. Bottom bracket efficiency is based on the design and the quality of materials not necessarily on the type materials i e ceramic vs. Ceramic is not always better than steel. Zerø ceramic bearings and bottom bracket proven time and again in world cup race conditions zerø ceramic bearings are the ultimate race day weapon.

Most sealed ceramic bearings are actually hybrid ceramic bearings which combine a steel race with ceramic ball bearings. Which ones do you need. If there is one thing we see a lot in comments sections about ceramic bearings it is people claiming ceramic bearings do not offer benefits and are not. Silicone nitride si3n4 grade 3 balls roll on black oxide races ground to a mirror finish after receiving magnetite and cryogenic treatments for hardness and longevity.