CeramicSpeed Ceramic Race Coated Bottom Bracket - PF30/BBright/386Evo to BB30

CeramicSpeed Ceramic Race Coated Bottom Bracket - PF30/BBright/386Evo to BB30 Info

When you’re looking for the lowest-friction bottom bracket on your Cervélo, or PF30 or BB386EVO bottom bracketed bike, you’ll save heaps by installing this CeramicSpeed Coated Ceramic Race Bottom bracket. CS calls it the PF4630.

As the world of bottom bracket standards seems to be ever growing, an explanation of what is here is in order. This bottom bracket works with the following three standards: PF30, BBright Press Fit, and BB386EVO. And works only with cranks that possess a 30mm spindle diameter.

PF30, aka Press Fit 30, is almost identical to BB30, minus the snap ring grooves inside the shell. PF30 has a 68 or 73mm wide shell and a 46mm diameter. The bearings often sit inside cups; if you can remove the stock bearings from the stock cups, you can press in BB30 bearings instead of this system. Standard BB30 cranks work here.

BBright is the standard Cervélo created. Is this for the BBright press fit system. It, too, utilizes the same bearings as BB30, but the shell width is an asymmetric 79mm, with 11mm offset to the non-drive side, and the shell is like a PF30 in that it is 46mm in diameter. You’ll need a BBright crank for the BBright bottom bracket. The bearings sit in cups like PF30. Here, too, if you can safely get stock bearings out of cups, you can press in BB30 bearings. Only BBright cranks work here.

BB386EVO is, like BBright, kind of a mashup. It has a 86.5mm wide shell like BB86. It has a 46mm diameter shell like BB30, and can work with cranks that have either a 24mm or 30mm spindle. For this, you’ll need a crank with a BB386EVO spindle.

The CeramicSpeed bearings sit inside aluminum cups that are attached to aluminum sleeves made by the Spanish manufacturer rotor. The assembly is accomplished at CeramicSpeed in Denmark.

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 not to get 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.

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.

Part of CeramicSpeed’s commitment to having the lowest-friction bearings on the market is keeping up their research and development. That led them to a special metallic coating that can be applied three microns thick on the races. It makes the treated surface 80% harder than hardened steel. In terms of friction, the already low-friction CeramicSpeed bearings with the treatment see friction reduced by over 50%. In terms of service life, these coated bearings last even longer, like over 60% longer, than the standard CeramicSpeed bearings. Better yet, the coating means the races better resist contamination from water, dirt, degreaser, etc. Aka, the risk of bearing failure due to corrosion has been reduced to near zero. They can even run without grease or oil, though CeramicSpeed recommends their blue all-around grease for regular use, and their TT grease for achieving the lowest-possible friction.

The system comes with bearings, cups, sleeves, dust cover, spacers, grease, and a sticker sheet.

When you want zero drag for the bottom bracket inside your PF30, BBright, or BB386EVO standard bottom bracket shell, CeramicSpeed’s Coated PF4630 is the answer.