Ceramic Bearings: Peak Performance, for a Price

Long a staple in the road and mountain bike worlds, ceramic bearings are making their way from the exotic world of the BMX pros and “no-limit” deep-pocket-dads, to the slightly thicker atmosphere of rank & file racers. As BMXNEWS started to hear more and more about ceramics in the pits and cookouts of recent nationals, we felt this would be a great time to do an episode of Announcers Tower on this topic. Matt Speer, president of F1 Ceramic Bearings has been rollin’ steady in the ceramics business since 2003, and has products for BMX, skateboarding and the traditional line of MTB and Road.

In the interview, Matt talks about how athletes can expect to get more performance out of the watts they are laying down to the pedals, due to the lower resistance offered by the rounder (by a factor of five) ceramic ball bearings, versus steel. You may remember that “watts” were a measure we discussed in a previous episode of AT, when we were joined by George Costa of Rennen Design Group. In that discussion, George talked about how G-Cog measures watts and allows trainers and athletes to make comparisons. Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.

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