CeramicSpeed Ceramic Race Coated Bottom Bracket - PF30 to 24mm (Shimano)

CeramicSpeed Ceramic Race Coated Bottom Bracket - PF30 to 24mm (Shimano) Info

Installing the lowest-drag bottom bracket on the market which mates your PF30 frame to your favorite 24mm diameter spindle crank is what you’ll do with The CeramicSpeed Ceramic Race Coated BB30 Shimano Road Bottom Bracket. 24mm diameter spindles come on Shimano and FSA cranks, though FSA makes spindles in lots of diameters.

The PF30, Press Fit 30, standard is based on the BB30 standard, and many see it as an improvement. The shell here is 46mm in diameter rather than 42mm of the BB30, and it still uses the 68mm shell width of the BB30. The extra diameter allows for the same bearings to fit inside the shell without the need of snap rings. They fit inside removable cups instead.

The CeramicSpeed bearings are pressed into aluminum cups that themselves are on the inside of aluminum sleeves. The pieces are machined by Rotor of Spain. And the bearings are pressed into place at CeramicSpeed in Denmark.

CeramicSpeed is an innovator in bearing technology. They 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.

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 kit comes with the bearings, cups, grease, dust cover, and sticker sheet.

With the CeramicSpeed Coated Ceramic PF30 to Shimano bottom bracket, you’re getting as close as you can to zero drag at your central movement.