The CeramicSpeed Race Bottom Bracket in the threaded 24mm version, aka the Shimano road model, can save you one watt over most Shimano threaded bottom brackets. That might not seem like much, but it is. Depending on your weight and the bike, the change could be worth two centimeters a second.
CeramicSpeed is an innovator in bearing technology. The bike industry’s move from cup-and-cone bearings to sealed cartridge bearings made installation and maintenance easier, but performance was a mixed bag. CeramicSpeed mastered the use of ceramic ball bearings pressed into hardened steel races for both reduced friction and improved durability. You can go faster with less maintenance. Great things both. These are the reasons why pro teams seek out ceramic bearings. CeramicSpeed has the pro teams coming to them, begging for bearings. Even the ones they don’t sponsor might well be using them in order not to be left behind.
If you replace all your bike’s bearings with CeramicSpeed, you could be looking at a savings of 25 seconds in 40km if you’re riding at 48kph. The savings goes up to two minutes if you’re riding at 32kph. Extend that to an Ironman-length ride, and the savings could vary from 1:50, if you’re going 48kph to nine minutes if you’re going 32kph.
With bottom brackets, Friction Facts determined that CeramicSpeed’s threaded bottom bracket has a frictional loss of .45 watts.
CeramicSpeed utilizes Grade 3 Silicon Nitride balls that possess the best possible surface finish and roundness. In testing, the balls are 400% smoother, 128% harder, and 58% lighter than standard steel balls found in most bike components. They’re more than 100% smoother and 15% harder than standard ceramic balls. The balls are installed into hardened steel races in dust-free clean rooms and then checked again before assembly is complete. Not only is low friction the result, but so is increased bearing life. Like three to five times longer than standard bearings.
Another step they take in assuring the lowest-possible frictional drag is using grease they designed as lubricant. It comes in the bearings and a syringe comes with the bearings as well.
The cups have been manufactured by Rotor. The bottom bracket width is 68mm or 73mm for the English-threaded versions, 70mm for the Italian-threaded. The spindle diameter is 24mm, meaning that FSA’s 24mm and Rotor’s 24mm spindle-diameter cranks will fit as well. Included with the kit are: bottom bracket, dust cover, grease, and sticker sheet.
The CeramicSpeed Ceramic Race Bottom Bracket Threaded for Shimano cranks makes you faster thanks to smart thinking.