Ceramic Bearing Upgrades : Ceramic Wheel Bearings : Ceramic Bottom Bracket Bearings : Wheel Building Mechanics Canterbury Kent UK : DownlandCycles.co.uk

01227 479643

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Ceramic bearings for your wheels or bottom brackets are available here. Bring us your wheels or Campagnolo Ultra Torque chainset and we can fit ceramic wheel bearings or ceramic bottom bracket bearings for you.

BENEFITS:

Very low friction. The friction in a typical bearing with silicon nitride balls and steel rings is about 10 % less than in an all steel configuration.
Cup and cone system. In hubs without cage/retainer the friction will be reduced. The superior surface on the silicon nitride balls generates less friction than the original steel balls.
Extremely wear resistant because of the hardness. The ceramic material is much harder than the hardest of bearing steels.
Weight reduction. Silicon nitride is 60% lighter than steel. This gives less material to accelerate when the speed changes and thus results in a quicker response of the bicycle.
Safe operation even when using low amounts lubricant. This gives greater possibility to reduce the friction coming from lubricant viscous drag.
No risk of seizure. The seizure risk is absolutely minimal. The silicon nitride will not micro-weld to the steel.
Tolerant to dirt and dust. Although bearings work best in clean environments the ceramic balls help the bearing to survive also under less pure conditions.
Resistant towards corrosion. The ceramic balls will maintain their superior finish and integrity over prolonged times of usage.
Together with special seals and lubrication the friction in ceramic bearings can be some 20-30 times lower than steel bearings with standard friction seals and standard lubrication.
Increased stiffness. Higher stiffness from the silicon nitride balls will increase stiffness in the bottom bracket and hubs.
Long lifetime. Under similar conditions the hybrid/ceramic bearings will last approximately 5 times longer but CeramicSpeed has experienced up to 20 times longer lifetime.

The bearings we use.

Hybrid Ceramic Cartridge

Grade 5 Silicon Nitride Ceramic balls (Si3N4). Round to 5/millionths of an inch, these ceramic balls are harder and lighter than steel and completely corrosion resistance.
High chromium bearing steel races. The races are cryogenically treated to further change the structure of the material so that the races will resist the hardness of the ceramics and get maximum wear potential.
High quality rubber seals that won't interfere with the balls themselves. The seals simply seal out contamination without increasing any rolling resistance.
30% fill Kyodo Yushi Multitemp SRL grease. These bearings offer the ultimate upgrade. Low maintenance, less weight, less rolling resistance, and long life.

Loose Ceramic

Grade 5 Silicon Nitride Ceramic balls. Round to 5/millionths of an inch, these ceramic balls are harder and lighter than steel and completely corrosion resistance. Available in many sizes to fit everything from hubs to headsets.

What does ABEC number mean?

ABEC numbers are industry standards dictating critical dimensions in sealed bearing. In general, the higher the ABEC number, the more precise the bearing. High RPM applications such as a jet turbine would require very high tolerance bearings, such as an ABEC 7 or even an ABEC 9 bearing. Low RPM applications, such as a bicycle wheel generally required lower ABEC number bearings. Most OEM bearings are either ABEC 1 or ABEC 3. We use ABEC 5 in our ceramic sealed bearings. Note that ball grade is different than ABEC number.

What does loose ball "grade" mean?

The "grade" of a loose ball reflects its "roundness", measured in inches. Here is a quick guide to ball grades. Grade Roundness diameter tolerance per ball
3= 000003
5=.000005
25=.000025
300=.0003
As a quick reference, a human hair is about .003 in diameter. So even a relatively low grade ball (300) is round to within 1/100 of human hair! Standard steel Evolution bearings are grade 25 or grade 300. Our loose ball ceramic bearings are grade 5.

Lubrication of bearings
The lubrication function is to:

Minimize friction
Prevent rust and corrosion
Provide a barrier against the entry of foreign matter. For most cycling applications a standard lithium grease is acceptable for both loose balls and sealed bearings. For Ceramic balls, a higher grade lithium synthetic grease is suggested. Minimal "fill" will allow free rotation of ceramic balls. Too much grease will simply negate the low rolling resistance of the ceramic balls. Our ceramic sealed bearings come packed with Kyodo Yushi Multitemp SRL grease.

What is a full ceramic sealed bearing?
Full ceramic bearings have Ceramic races and a "non steel" retainer, to hold the ceramic balls. Independent testing has shown that these bearings don't perform as well as bearings with ceramic balls inside a steel race.

Email: bryan@downlandcycles.co.uk Tele: 01227 479643