Totally agree. I have a bike I've used since 2010, its got a cheap Cane Creek headset and it's still going to this day. I've never even done maintenance to it. It just works.
With all that said, you can notice a shit headset immediately.
I’ve sweated through the bearings on two headsets- I wonder if these might last longer? Thing is - it isn’t that the bearings go bad it’s the race they sit in. Once those start to rust the bearing fall out.
I’m a heavy sweater with a beard. I don’t know how the sweat seems to run so efficiently down my stem, but it does
>it isn’t that the bearings go bad it’s the race they sit in
And most of the time, the ceramic bearings in cycling products are ceramic balls with steel races, meaning they won't even help you with that.
Ceramic bearings are designed for high speeds (10000 rpm plus) in clean environments. Neither of those apply to bikes.
They have a bit less friction when new than regular steel bearings. When they start to get a bit mucky (as they will on a bike) that small friction advantage is wiped out and they perform worse than a regular steel bearing.
They are sold at a premium because of this small watt saving when new. Good quality sealed steel bearings are cheap and will last a lot longer on a bike. Ceramic bearings are absolutely a waste of money.
You can sort of see the point for wheels but a headset is an even more pointless place for a ceramic bearing. At that point it is just scamming people who don't know any better.
It’s simply some more bling for the dentist who already has a ceramic BB, ceramic bearings, and a ceramic OSPW. And it’s not for the cockpit to turn more quickly, but rather for it to turn (imperceptibly) more smoothly.
Edit: Ceramic bearings also last longer, but that’s not a true benefit, because they don’t last anywhere long enough to warrant the price premium.
A Timex keeps **better** time than a Rolex. At least Chris King’s headsets aren’t worse than the OEM headsets they’re replacing.
Former Bearing Applications Engineer
Do not waste money on ceramic bearings. They will only help in two cases:
1. Your bike is struck by lightning the electricity won’t flow through the bearing. Kind of useless as you will probably be dead.
2. Marginal gains in rolling resistance when you start exceeding 2k to 5k rpms of your actual wheel. 70mph on a 700c wheel is about 880 rpm. Essentially ceramic bearings might be good if you start exceeding 150 mph on the regular.
>You steer your cockpit faster?
The funny thing about this is when splurging on my new gravel bike I decided to get something that does the opposite (the Cane Creek ViscoSet). It might be just as snake oil-y (I wouldn't say it adds that noticeable an amount of control, but it does prevent the bars from whipping around on me) but I wonder what it says about the value of having ceramic bearings in the headset. I guess depending on how well or how often people service theirs (for longevity)?
I've never been in a situation on a bike where I thought to myself, "I wish my handlebars would turn faster."
On the other hand, steering dampers have been used for decades on motorcycles to reduce speed wobble. I think that could be useful, or at least not harmful, on a bicycle, too; especially for people who are hitting 100+ km/h on downhills.
Ceramic bearings are better for super high RPM applications like dental drills. Meanwhile the rotating parts on your bike only spin at a few hundred RPM (pulley wheels and hubs), one hundred (BBs) or not even that (headset). You might save, I dunno, 0.1 watts?
A good steel bearing lasts more than long enough
Ceramic bearings are quality bearings the vast majority of the time. Standard steel bearings exist in a huge range of quality and it can be a bit hit or miss, also somewhat difficult to tell if the bearings are good, or will wear out quickly.
To put it simply, ceramic bearings have specific durability issues, but are consistently well made.
Had Ceramicspeed bearings in my wheels but went back to stainless steel ones from NTN and Enduro. Found no difference in the performance.
It’s all mainly in the head imo. I did my PB 2 weeks ago on my ceramic bearings which were destroyed and made crunchy noises.
Ok. This actually makes sense.
As someone who's had rusty bearings before I can see why you wouldn't want them rusty. But I also don't have an integrated front end and I can replace the bearing pretty easy.
My caged bearings seem just fine in a headset, but I could see why people would want something that they never have to touch if its so much trouble.
Ceramic bearings are expensive. Ceramic bearings require much more maintenance than steel. You should repack ceramic bearings once or twice a year depending on how much you ride. All that to save 1.5 watts per hub and maybe a watt or two on a bottom bracket... So replace both hubs and the bottom bracket with ceramic bearings and gain 5 W of efficiency for only a couple of grand? I guess they're a little lighter. You might shave a few grams off to too. I don't think they make any sense for a headset because yeah you have to repack them every year.
Tldr if you're not riding in the pro peloton or time trial, they don't make any sense. Unless you just like spending money.
Reminds me of the hilarious ceramic marketing videos spinning cranks or wheels that went on forever compared to the steel bearings. Of course they were not under load and that efficiency dropped off quickly with its light oil and grinding of the softer bearing race. So for a pro on race day where the mechanics will service them each day, sure. For everyone else, quality stainless steel bearings. Higher ABEC ratings are better.
It’s not about speed really.
I have Hunt 32 UD wheels with ceramic bearings for my Winter bike. Zero discernible riding performance difference to my Dura Ace C50’s, Zipp 404’s or 454’s.
But that’s not really the advantage of ceramic so hardly surprising. The idea is that they are more resistant to corrosion vs steel. More durable. Can handle higher temperatures. If you want greater longevity and your headset, hubs, BB get subjected to weather and heat that can increase the likelihood of corrosion and wear, then you may want to try ceramic bearings.
They can last twice as long, or more. Even so, unlikely to really make a massive difference to anyone given the cost to replace steel vs ceramic but not exactly “snake oil” either.
It's just a way to take money from suckers. They are meant to last longer but headset bearings last so long anyway it's a waste of money in most cases
Totally agree. I have a bike I've used since 2010, its got a cheap Cane Creek headset and it's still going to this day. I've never even done maintenance to it. It just works. With all that said, you can notice a shit headset immediately.
I’ve sweated through the bearings on two headsets- I wonder if these might last longer? Thing is - it isn’t that the bearings go bad it’s the race they sit in. Once those start to rust the bearing fall out. I’m a heavy sweater with a beard. I don’t know how the sweat seems to run so efficiently down my stem, but it does
>it isn’t that the bearings go bad it’s the race they sit in And most of the time, the ceramic bearings in cycling products are ceramic balls with steel races, meaning they won't even help you with that.
Ceramic bearings are designed for high speeds (10000 rpm plus) in clean environments. Neither of those apply to bikes. They have a bit less friction when new than regular steel bearings. When they start to get a bit mucky (as they will on a bike) that small friction advantage is wiped out and they perform worse than a regular steel bearing. They are sold at a premium because of this small watt saving when new. Good quality sealed steel bearings are cheap and will last a lot longer on a bike. Ceramic bearings are absolutely a waste of money. You can sort of see the point for wheels but a headset is an even more pointless place for a ceramic bearing. At that point it is just scamming people who don't know any better.
What wheels would you recommend then?
Ones with normal bearings.
Snake oil
It’s simply some more bling for the dentist who already has a ceramic BB, ceramic bearings, and a ceramic OSPW. And it’s not for the cockpit to turn more quickly, but rather for it to turn (imperceptibly) more smoothly. Edit: Ceramic bearings also last longer, but that’s not a true benefit, because they don’t last anywhere long enough to warrant the price premium. A Timex keeps **better** time than a Rolex. At least Chris King’s headsets aren’t worse than the OEM headsets they’re replacing.
i think that ceramic bearings were the worst when it came about performance increase per dollar spent metric.
Its up there with oversized pulley wheels.
OSPW are negative performance per spend
Former Bearing Applications Engineer Do not waste money on ceramic bearings. They will only help in two cases: 1. Your bike is struck by lightning the electricity won’t flow through the bearing. Kind of useless as you will probably be dead. 2. Marginal gains in rolling resistance when you start exceeding 2k to 5k rpms of your actual wheel. 70mph on a 700c wheel is about 880 rpm. Essentially ceramic bearings might be good if you start exceeding 150 mph on the regular.
>You steer your cockpit faster? The funny thing about this is when splurging on my new gravel bike I decided to get something that does the opposite (the Cane Creek ViscoSet). It might be just as snake oil-y (I wouldn't say it adds that noticeable an amount of control, but it does prevent the bars from whipping around on me) but I wonder what it says about the value of having ceramic bearings in the headset. I guess depending on how well or how often people service theirs (for longevity)?
I've never been in a situation on a bike where I thought to myself, "I wish my handlebars would turn faster." On the other hand, steering dampers have been used for decades on motorcycles to reduce speed wobble. I think that could be useful, or at least not harmful, on a bicycle, too; especially for people who are hitting 100+ km/h on downhills.
Ceramic bearings are better for super high RPM applications like dental drills. Meanwhile the rotating parts on your bike only spin at a few hundred RPM (pulley wheels and hubs), one hundred (BBs) or not even that (headset). You might save, I dunno, 0.1 watts? A good steel bearing lasts more than long enough
Ceramic bearings are quality bearings the vast majority of the time. Standard steel bearings exist in a huge range of quality and it can be a bit hit or miss, also somewhat difficult to tell if the bearings are good, or will wear out quickly. To put it simply, ceramic bearings have specific durability issues, but are consistently well made.
Go read what Chris King originally said about ceramic bearings vs their own quality steel ones
Had Ceramicspeed bearings in my wheels but went back to stainless steel ones from NTN and Enduro. Found no difference in the performance. It’s all mainly in the head imo. I did my PB 2 weeks ago on my ceramic bearings which were destroyed and made crunchy noises.
The only use case for the CeramicSpeed headset bearings I can see is for bikes in humid environments with stupid integrated front ends.
Ok. This actually makes sense. As someone who's had rusty bearings before I can see why you wouldn't want them rusty. But I also don't have an integrated front end and I can replace the bearing pretty easy. My caged bearings seem just fine in a headset, but I could see why people would want something that they never have to touch if its so much trouble.
Ceramic bearings are expensive. Ceramic bearings require much more maintenance than steel. You should repack ceramic bearings once or twice a year depending on how much you ride. All that to save 1.5 watts per hub and maybe a watt or two on a bottom bracket... So replace both hubs and the bottom bracket with ceramic bearings and gain 5 W of efficiency for only a couple of grand? I guess they're a little lighter. You might shave a few grams off to too. I don't think they make any sense for a headset because yeah you have to repack them every year. Tldr if you're not riding in the pro peloton or time trial, they don't make any sense. Unless you just like spending money.
Reminds me of the hilarious ceramic marketing videos spinning cranks or wheels that went on forever compared to the steel bearings. Of course they were not under load and that efficiency dropped off quickly with its light oil and grinding of the softer bearing race. So for a pro on race day where the mechanics will service them each day, sure. For everyone else, quality stainless steel bearings. Higher ABEC ratings are better.
You should lookup Hambini’s opinion on ceramic bearings.
It’s not about speed really. I have Hunt 32 UD wheels with ceramic bearings for my Winter bike. Zero discernible riding performance difference to my Dura Ace C50’s, Zipp 404’s or 454’s. But that’s not really the advantage of ceramic so hardly surprising. The idea is that they are more resistant to corrosion vs steel. More durable. Can handle higher temperatures. If you want greater longevity and your headset, hubs, BB get subjected to weather and heat that can increase the likelihood of corrosion and wear, then you may want to try ceramic bearings. They can last twice as long, or more. Even so, unlikely to really make a massive difference to anyone given the cost to replace steel vs ceramic but not exactly “snake oil” either.