Originally Posted by
DrPete
You're right, though--if you're sparing no expense to make your bike as fast as possible, then sure, go ceramic, but I think it's only worth it after you've done every single thing imaginable to save power, including an exhaustive session in a wind tunnel. Even a thousand or two for tunnel time will yield more power savings per dollar than ceramics IMHO.
Wind tunnel time would definitely be above ceramic bearings, and I think there are sub $1000 options now.
A session in a wind tunnel with a good coach/fitter, and then time training to the new position can be worth a whole lot of watts.
We're talking 2-3 seconds for ceramic bearings all around the bike, but 2-3 minutes from improved position (depending on how bad your position is to start).
I'd even put an I-bike aero paired with a real power meter, for a virtual wind tunnel, as a better way to improve times.
Problem is improving your time through better positioning takes work.