Full Ceramics

Camilo

has nothing to do with diet.

vio765

i have assesed this thread and i have arrived at my conclusion with regards to full ceramics.

TheDarkLord

So what is your conclusion?

gemship

Oh yeah? what say you pizza face?

Phill P

I'm looking forward to the BB30 standard becoming more common.

The current external BBs are anything but standard. They have slightly different width sealed bearings and slightly different width spacings for the cranks. Also the replacement method for the bearing means misalignment is a big issue.

With BB30 everybody will use the same width bearing, and same spacing. The down side if using hybrid or steel bearings will be the seal drag, which I'm sure more will agree is a bigger power consumer than the actual bearings.

However, since everybody uses the one size bearing, for me buying in bulk FULL ceramic bearings with just a shield becomes much easier. Use the shield to keep the crap out and the few drops of oil in (yeah I'd still use a little oil simply because of the dust that would get in).
The shield would have less drag than a contact seal, but help keep the bearing environment cleaner. You can get away with a shield as the ceramic doesn't need to be kept water tight as keeping the crap out and the lube in isn't a critical factor!

So on BB30 not only would you get greatly reduced weight (60% of 2 large steel bearings) but also low rolling resistance, low seal drag (which will be a big issue for BB30) and possible lifetime running of the bearing (to offset any cost).

I might enquire with my supplier about the cost of the BB30 bearings with shields. Pitty is that the Six13 I'm about to buy is not equiped with BB30, and not many frames on the market are so, the demand would be pretty darn low currently.

I wonder if I could convince the tax man (and my girl friend) that I need to upgrade to the System 6 with BB30 so I can claim sales tax and income tax. Afterall the new wheels will have ceramics as well.....I have to test my goods and display them some how!!

__________________
******BLATANT ADVERTISING ALERT******
I have ceramic bearings for:
Campy/Fulcrum high end hubs/wheels
Shimano hubs and pedals
check out my ebay items here

Peter@vecchios

We'll see if frame makers decide to spend the money to make the BB30 into any standard. No doubt some will do it because it will be easier to hook huge down and seat tubes to a larger area, same for now 1.5 HS lowers and great big dwn tubes, easier means cheaper altho I doubt any of that 'savings' will be seen at the consumer level. IF the biggest boy-shimano, decides to abandon their new internal bearing design and embrace BB30, then perhaps frame makers will get on board but in spite of all the noise from Sram and FSA, only 2 frames I know of now have this 'standard'-Cannondale and Specialized.

alfeng

FWIW. I concur that it will take someone like Shimano-or-Campagnolo to adopt the BB30 standard ...

Can you say M.O.st?

Phill P

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb/2008...eaotter_tech408

More brands are coming on board. I guess what it comes down to is when they plan on retooling.
FSA seem right behind BB30, and there are rumors of campy and shimano doing a BB30 crank.

The biggest issue is redesigning and retooling the frames. But lets face it, we've had integrated seat posts, now taper steerers, what are the marketers going to move on to next?

Its actually good for the OEMs, they don't have to buy complete BBs any more, they can just source the bearings direct! Whats more they can use the same grade bearings across thier range and the customer will be none the wiser (no more 105/ultegra/DA mix in the volumes)

__________________
******BLATANT ADVERTISING ALERT******
I have ceramic bearings for:
Campy/Fulcrum high end hubs/wheels
Shimano hubs and pedals
check out my ebay items here

swampy1970

I remember the old Campag Super Record hubs being rather nice. I had two sets of wheels for hill climbs - one with regular grease in the hubs and one with a "super special" grease that would only just last the distance. The amount of revs those wheels would do when spun, in comparison to those loaded with the regular grease, was significantly more. Whether that "advantage" carried over when they were mounted in the bike and had a 145lb rider on top would be a different matter entirely.

Speaking of which, it always made me wonder why people don't check for the correct adjustment of cup-and-cone bearings when the wheel is in the bike - instead of farting about for hours with the wheel sat in their laps.

Speaking of bearings - the Sugino 75 BB is just godly..... Mount the cranks, spin, come back after dinner and watch then still twirl...

FWIW.... WD40 provides enough lubrication for a 5 minute event on the track. $5 can of spray or $400 on bearings..... That tidbit of info was originally from The University of Manchester - one of the better engineering schools around.

Peter@vecchios

FSA has never seen a gadgety idea it didn't like. FSA has fallem out of our shop because of crappy bearing and chainring quality. They are more about flash than function, IMO.

Same grade bearings across the line. Yep, crappy bearings across the line. Product managers have been doing hidden spec for decades, which reduces costs along with durability(Where's my tennis racket!!).

Once more, a 'thing' to point at in a flat market. For those shops that are unlucky enough to embrace a bike with integrated seatmast..how do you do test rides? have a size run of $5000+ bikes?

The 'analysts' in various online and print publications hoot and holler about all the silly stuff in bikes today. My list of sillyness gets longer each day.

gemship

That's funny you should mention intergrated seat masts. Prior to pulling the trigger on my Cervelo I visited a shop far out of the way from where I live and they were a Scott dealer. I believe the Scott Addict to be a very impressive bike weight wise with all the cutting edge components straight from the factory. They had three different models next to the CR1 team that the Addict replaced. It didn't take long for common sense to kick in when my girlfriend who hardly rides alot pointed out the seatpost can't be adjusted. I went what I thought was all out buying my dream bike but that was something I couldn't even make sense of. I mean what if for a myriad of reasons you decide to sell the frame.

On a side note I see someone is selling a frame on Ebay identical to my r3sl with a buy it now of 2800$ and the bidding is already up to about 2300$. Makes me feel good as I got mine for 2200$ under the condition it was to be built up by my lbs. At least I got what should be considered a fair deal, I think?

By the way I think the idea behind ceramics is great but the price makes them seem a bit impractical and I agree they would only be more of a bling thing than the end result of being held back from the win if you didn't have them. Just too many of other factors then again on that quest for innovation. Yeah you're so right on about FSA. They make a very enticing crank but I hear/read a lot of consumer complaints.

gemship

By the way I want to add I'm sorry for the smart ass reply quoting you Camillo. as I read the thread the other day from beginning to end I couldn't resist making it. I actually do think diet is huge, just can't go wrong with good diet. May not help you live longer but its all about a better quality of life. Yes I struggle to stay away from Burger King on a weekly basis

531Aussie

Have their wheels improved over the years? The RD400s have probably the worst reviews ever on Road Bike Review

531Aussie

exactly! That's something I only picked up about 5 years ago