Originally Posted by
Bob Shaver
However, if one has cartridge bearings you definitely get some speed increase by going to ceramic.
Apparently the placebo effect is still alive and well. The "value" of ceramic bearings has been debated to death on this and other forums in the past and the inescapable conclusion is that the amount of energy savings from the use of ceramic bearing in bicycle applications is so small as to be nearly unmeasurable. If you reduce the frictional loss of a wheel bearing by 25% using ceramic bearings you save a tiny fraction of a watt.