Ceramic wheel bearings. Anyone tried these?

[cfg83]

DMIS -

I added "ht" to the front of the URL you posted. I hope that is ok.

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

DIMS -

Originally Posted by DIMS

Yes it made me laugh too This was a link I found trying to find someone with ceramic wheel bearing experience.

Here is another. Located
ceramic bearings for street use - Page 2 - Kawasaki ZX-10R.net

I've been in the bearing business for 13 years now. So I will tell you yes ceramic or hybrid-ceramic bearings will work just fine on the street. Just be prepaired to pay a hefty price for them. I can also tell you that I put hybrid- ceramic bearings in the rear of my old zx9 haven't done it to my 10 yet and it accounted for one horsepower on the dyno. I also did a coast test from 60 to 0 miles an hour and it accounted for an extra 300 feet.That was both front and rear hybrid-ceramic bearings.Just my

Do you have a website that has a table of cars that are already "ceramic-supported" without having to do a one-off special order?

I did find these non-ceramic Timkens for my car :




CarloSW2

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[theunchosen]

I take issue with the bar graph. Fracture strength of the ceramics should be much higher than the steel.

Ceramics are more brittle to impact loading, but to static loading they can take a lot more load. Unless you are talking some really serious steel with expensive heat treatments and crappy ceramics ceramics usually have a UT much higher than alloys or metals.

[DIMS]

YouTube - Bearing comparison

YouTube - Enduro Ceramic Bearings on LiteSpeed

YouTube - Ceramic Bearings vs. ABEC 7's

[almightybmw]

That third video is a crock. My friend's wheels when broken in will spin longer than the ceramic bearing tested second. And they aren't ceramic, just standard steel bearings.

If you're going to post videos of comparisons on hot topics, be sure to do your homework about how the test was done. There's no detailed info about the type or make of the bearings tested, the age, the wear, etc. Not impressed by any of those comparisons. I can make steel bearings spin just as long as any of those "ceramic" demostrations.

[DIMS]

Originally Posted by almightybmw

That third video is a crock. My friend's wheels when broken in will spin longer than the ceramic bearing tested second. And they aren't ceramic, just standard steel bearings.

If you're going to post videos of comparisons on hot topics, be sure to do your homework about how the test was done. There's no detailed info about the type or make of the bearings tested, the age, the wear, etc. Not impressed by any of those comparisons. I can make steel bearings spin just as long as any of those "ceramic" demostrations.

Hmmm... Is someone crabby? Did you even read the post?? It is labeled interesting. Please share the video of your friends wheels. I can say the same thing about all the videos, they are interesting but not impressive. .If there were more people testing I would also post those, but as it turns out no one has posted data with good scientific experiments.

[DIMS]

Still not to scientific, but interesting.
(Ceramic Bearings for Catrike Front Hubs)
Ceramic Bearings for Catrike Front Hubs | Bicycle Technology and Patents

My experience (Bob’s) with ceramics has been that they make a 2-3 mph difference in my riding. I found a roll out hill with a straightaway below it, and I coasted my trike on the test track before and after installing ceramic front bearings. Over about a 300 yard run, the trike went 40 paces (120 feet) further with the ceramics. On all the “go fast” sections of my regular route to work, over the next week I set new personal best times on every section, by about 3 mph. On one section, the new speed ability made me try to complete a 6 block section at speeds above 20 mph. I was successful at that. My usual speed over that route is more like 17, and on some areas I usually drop down to 13 or so.

Bruce says the bearings will get better after 200 miles of run in, so I’ll retest them later.

[DIMS]

If this data is real it means that the steel bearing wheel (if the wheel tire combo are 21" Diameter rolled 115.4 feet and the ceramic bearings rolled 351.6 feet. We all know this is not the best way to test bearings because bearings need to be loaded, but it is what it is.

Looking for a super low friction

On our 04 Aprilia RSVR, for instance, we put a set in the front wheel.

With the brake rotors off and the front end off the ground we spun the front wheel by hand

and managed to get it to rotate 21 times with the stock bearings..

That is pretty good, but when we put in a set of our new Ceramic, Rem Polished, MicroBlue®

coated wheel bearings we were able to get that same wheel to rotate by hand an amazing 64

times!



Talk about low friction! Like having roller blade wheels!

Get "free" horsepower and better 1/4mile times without going in the motor!



We can get any bearing you need for any application.

Email us your requirements either by bike year, make, model or bearing dimensions.

We can get any moving part REM® finished and MicroBlue® coated.

This includes drive chains, plain bearing this includes turbos, gears, any moving metal part that frictional losses will help.

[tasdrouille]

Aren't ceramic bearings run dry? It's not really fair to compare them to cold grease filled steel bearings. They should be compared after a warm up period.

[DIMS]

Ceramic bearings are not always run dry! It is hard to find any good testing on the subject.

I e-mailed the guy that put ceramic bearings in the Wheels, Headset, Crank, Connecting rods and Tranmission in his MV agusta but he did not perform before and after results and seemed pissed off that I would even ask such a question.

He did however respond that the seat of his pants feel was night vs day...go figure?