Just the pulley bearings on my DuraAce RD. They look so cool. Gold anodized with white lettering 7075 AL
ceramic. Brand: Token
Personaly, I think they are a mechanical placebo, but the claim is more beneficial in slow speeds.

WOW...your $3000 rig and you do 7-8 mph for 2.3 miles. Cooking!

People tend to focus so much on the bike and not on the engine. For the time hassle and cost of replacing bearings, you could get a good fitting or try a different handlebar or stem or something of this nature.

Riding position is the most important thing - for whatever kind of riding you're doing, the trick is to get the right one. If I was racing, for instance, I'd forgo the last $1000 in blingy components and spend that on getting fit and position and etc just right (bar/stem/saddle/seatpost/cleats/etc), because I am fairly sure that I'd be faster and happier with Tiagra and perfect position than with Dura-Ace and with whatever position was possible with what came with the bike.

YMMV. But according to me, anyway, optimize position first.

What a precious baby in your avatar!

I'm in total agreement - As I've posted previously; It ain't the bow and arrow - it's the Indian.

The more you train, the better you'll ride - just look at Lance vs. Ulrich. Both had the best equipment available on this planet, with the support to match. The difference was Lance trained year around while Ulrich partied half the year. (Personally, I tend to subscribe to the Ulrich training method, so I'm not slamming him), but when it came down to crunch time, there is no question as to who was better prepared.

BTW, I believe Lance could have won last year's TDF going away........

I think the better question is "Do they really need to be so ****ing expensive?"

Few things in cycling are really necessary.....

I'm talking about buying new too. The internet gives one the chance to get the best deal possible in the world for something... you can find, if you're patient, deals so good on new stuff that you can use it for awhile, turn around and sell it for more than you paid, and whoever buys it from you is still getting a deal...

You hear about it all the time... a buddy of mine picked up a set of new Zipp carbon bars for 60 bucks... he'll use 'em for a year or two, and when he sells them, somebody will be grateful to pay him 90-100 for them...

Ceramics can be gotten very cheaply now, if you know where to look and when to buy. So cheaply, in fact, that what you pay for them new is less than the amount they will raise the value of a used bike by... at least in the Southern California market...

According to his book Graeme Obree used the bearings from a washing machine in his hour record bike.

Could you explain where in the 17 words of the original post you got the idea the poster hadn't optimized postiion?

I checked i think it was FSA's website and it said something about like a couple hundred feet difference over a mile...unless you're racing, this is not worth the dough.
EDIT: THIS WAS JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO

And given the time that ceramic BBs have been on the market, how have they established any kind of track record?

FWIW, I have yet to have my steel bearing (and square taper, horror of horrors) Campy Chorus BBs fail.... Come to think of it the el cheapo SR BB on my 15 year old Trek is holding in there too.

yeah but are you dialing it up on a regular basis?

Ceramic bearings use lower viscosity grease, in fact they don't need to be packed with grease at all, just lightly lubricated. This is a qualitative difference vs stainless balls, which only differ in roundness (quantitative) but all have about the same elasticity and smoothness so use similar lubrication and packing techniques. The thermal properties of ceramic balls are better too, they don't change in size with temperature the way steel does, nor do they get softer, and they don't corrode -- corrosion degrades the lubricant since that's where it ends up. Because of the qualitative difference, it's pretty clear that eventually ceramic bearings will be the norm, it's just a matter of industry adaptation and ending the marketing them as something exotic that warrants a huge premium.

I seriously, seriously doubt there is that much difference.

I don't know...that's what the website said. Still not worth it to me, either way

thats not so important for bikes, but is big for other applications. you are right that in due time when the price drops ceramics will become much more common. in just about every aspect they make a better bearing (except the $$$ for now).

Once again, people are mistaking a small difference for NO difference.

There's a lot of data out there that ceramic bearings will save you a couple watts. This would translate into a few seconds, maybe minutes, over a long ride. If you're in a TT where the difference between podium and out of the money is tenths of a second, then yes, it's worth it. If you're racing a grand tour and need to be as fresh as you possibly can in the third week, then each little bit of energy saved counts.

Just because your riding doesn't meet those criteria doesn't mean that the data out there about ceramic bearings is hype. No, you're not going to go flying off the front of your 16mph recreational ride just because you bought ceramic bearings. I'm not going to start dominating the local Cat 4 peloton if I spend $1000+ on ceramic upgrades. That's our fault, not theirs.

Thanks! That's my littlest guy enjoying a ride on his brother's playset from Make-a-Wish.

He's a lucky little guy to have a Dad like you - Happy Father's Day!

Maybe just after you explain where in the somewhat more words of my post you got the impression that I was asserting he hadn't.

Unplug the clog, dude.