Enduro sent us a set of their ceramic bearing upgrade kit, and we’ve been using them for the past few months. Here’s what we’ve found.

Ease of installation largely depends on the type of hub you have. Installing our bearings into DT Swiss 240s road hubs meant removing the cassette freehub body and hub caps, and removing the old bearings by lightly tapping them out. Pressing in ceramic bearings is easy with the right tools, but is highly risky if you’re used to installing bearings the way your grandfather taught you- by tapping them in around the edges. Ceramic bearings, especially those with ceramic races, are more prone to shattering than steel bearings, so be sure to take your time with the installation.

The difference between ceramic and steel bearings has been said to be around 3-5 watts. Although this saving makes sense for professional athletes, recreational racers will probably never notice a difference. That said, another advantage of ceramic bearings is that you can run them with less lubrication than steel bearings. Some pro teams have been known to remove the grease from their ceramic bearings and re-pack them with chain lube before a time trial. This process is lengthy and requires re-packing after every stage, but the difference is certainly noticeable.

We decided to set up our bearings as a “race-day” configuration. We removed the bearing seals, cleaned out the stock grease, and re-lubed them with our own, lighter grease. This combination- ceramic bearings, no bearing seals, and lighter grease- yielded a noticeable improvement over steel bearings. The Enduro bearings rolled smoothly and quietly, and we noticed no decrease in performance over our 1000-mile test period.

The usefulness of ceramic bearings will always be debated, and the advantage they provide is likely to go unnoticed. When set up correctly, however, ceramic bearings can give you the confidence to chase a break or lead out an early sprint, knowing that you have every possible technical advantage on your side.