kring

Two years ago I purchased some "off brand" ceramic bearings in a shimano ultegra BB. well after about 2000 miles the bearings were shot. I noticed an increase in friction and effort required to power the wheel, mostly when off the bike doing chain cleaning or tuning the derailures. So I took off the crank and one of the bearings was shreaded, I could feel it was lumpy like the balls had chipped and the other was smooth but felt like it was seized, very difficult to turn. So I put in my old Dura-Ace BB and noticed a big difference and have been running that since the start of spring. it's a smooth BB but by no means low friction.

So last week I found a great deal on a new FSA Mega EXO ceramic BB for $120 and gave it a shot. And All I can say is that I'm blown away. there is an absolute measurable improvement and this single upgrade will make you faster, probably more then a wheel upgrade (guessing here) the bearings are smooth as silk and are near zero friction. To give you an idea of how low the frinction on my drivetrain is now. I can set my crank to 9 o'clock and then take a small 1/2inch socket and rest it on the pedal and the crank drops to 7 o'clock while turning the wheel. I can take my finger and flick the spoke of the wheel and it complete a 1/2 turn of the wheel and crank.

This is a true upgrade. I've only taken it out twice for about 80K of ride and I definitly feel faster especially on the sprints. I can't say for sure of it's impact due to all the other variables... but WOW, I'm impressed.

FSA I think claims 3-4 seconds improvement on a 100K race... I'd say it's far more then that. So if your BB is old or has friction, this is a worthwhile upgrade at a relativly low cost for return.. I think you can find these for $180 - $200 street price while the Shimano Dura-Aces are $60. so it's more, but not outrageous.

Anyone else have similar experince?