What Are Ceramic Bearings Used For

It s in the professional peloton a place obsessed with marginal gains that ceramic bearings have become popular in the past couple of years.

What are ceramic bearings used for.

Mrc hybrid ceramic ball bearings use a combination of traditional 52100 steel rings precision matched with silicon nitride ceramic balls. Unsealed ceramic bearings can be used to upgrade components that don t use cartridge type bearings like cup and cone hubs. Since these bearings are constructed from many materials they often operate in hybrid capacities. We also build ceramic bearings i e bearings with ceramic races but they are not as common because they are less durable.

In addition to being excellent electric insulators hybrid bearings have a higher speed capability and will provide longer service life than all steel bearings in most applications. Full ceramic bearings are also non magnetic meaning they can be used in medical devices such as mri scanners or any application where there is a strong magnetic field. Typically all ceramic bearings are used in specialist high temperature high speed applications where the design requirements are very strict and hence can be costly. And naturally where pros lead amateur racers and sportive cyclists follow.

Ceramic bearings are comprised of ceramic rolling elements balls enclosed in a ferrous typically steel inner and outer race. Hybrid bearings consist of ceramic rolling elements in steel races whilst all ceramic bearings have both races and rolling elements made from ceramic.