I always thought ceramic bearings were a scam until I put them on my track bike

For like 3 years I told people they were wasting money on ceramic bearings for regular riding. I figured any difference was just placebo and marketing hype. Then my buddy let me borrow his track wheels with Phil Wood ceramics for a week. After just one session at the velodrome in Austin I could feel the difference in the roll out and how long I could coast. My average speed jumped about 1.2 mph without me trying harder. I still think they're overkill for a commuter bike but for racing they actually make sense. Has anyone else had a similar switch in opinion after trying something you were dead set against?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordangibson11d ago

Tubeless tires were exactly that for me, swore they'd never catch on and now I won't run anything else.

alice_barnes3511d ago

Hang on, I actually had the exact same thing happen but with steel bearings... I ran my wheels with standard cup and cone bearings for years and swore they were fine. Then I swapped to a set of cartridge bearings from a buddy who was upgrading and the difference in how smooth the hubs felt was night and day. Now I'm one of those people who tells everyone that sealed cartridge bearings are worth the money for any bike that sees regular riding, even commuters. It makes you wonder how much other stuff we write off as hype until we actually try it, like tubeless tires or hydraulic brakes...