Bike Forums - View Single Post - Ceramic vs standard bottom bracket bearings is there a difference?

11-04-15 | 04:06 PM

#19

nemeseri

Senior Member

Joined: Nov 2013

Posts: 465

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From: San Francisco, CA

Bikes: Trek Emonda SL build, CAAD10, Bianchi Pista '13, Litespeed Antares '03

Quote:

Originally Posted by catgita

A friend of mine insists that his ceramic BB saves him 7 watts over steel. Good trick, since even a crappy BB consumes less than 1 watt. Here is an article with tests that say ceramic is no better.
Friction Facts: measuring bottom bracket drag - BikeRadar USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by CNC2204

4K miles on 2015 TARMAC, have Praxis Works crank, getting replacement Praxis bearings.

HAWK Ceramic seemed way too expensive, don't even know if it could be retrofitted.

Is there a difference ceramic vs standard ?

I'm sure it's subjective.

I second [MENTION=391744]catgita[/MENTION]'s post. I'm so happy that friction facts put together a few studies on this topic. Since then I just open the reports and decide wether I want to invest in something better. The bottom line: there are better and worse BBs and you can save some power by picking a good BB. On the other hand it's very subjective if it's worth to pay that much for such a small advantage. And also based on the reports ceramic BBs not necessarily better than steal ones.

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