Pros: Faster than traditional bearings, lighter, less easy to damage
Cons: None. Perhaps the price, but high quality does not come cheap.
The Bottom Line: I am impressed. They exceeded my expectations. This product is meant for the most demanding skaters out there and they do deliver what they promise.
What are ceramic bearings? Chances are that if you are reading this review, you are very serious about skating because otherwise you might not even have heard of them. Ceramic bearings work like the normal bearings, but the balls inside the bearings itself are made of "ceramic" instead of steel. Why do they do this? Well, ceramic balls are "much" lighter then steel balls so they are supposed to accelerate faster for once. In addition, ceramic balls do not expand as much as steel balls when the heat develops inside the bearings and therefore there is less friction which, in turn, means that wheels mounting these bearings should roll faster and farther. A final advantage does not have to do with performance, but it is not small feat: ceramic balls are harder and stronger than steel balls and hence they tend to last longer. One of the major no-no's for steel bearings is skating in the rain and/or through puddles of water. While steel balls tend to rust and their functionality is severely compromised, ceramic balls tolerate this situation much better. Be warned: it does not mean that they are 100% impervious to water though!
A Healing effect... this is what Bones calls it. Imagine that dirt gets in your bearings. The ceramic balls being much harder than steel, will help to re-polish the races of the bearings flat again. In other words, there is sort of a self-healing benefit.
.. ok.. this sounds like you are making a good case to buy them. But is it just hype or does it really work? The question is legitimate and I will not deny that I was skeptical too. Ceramic bearings have been around for 3 years at least and I never cared much for them, also because they are really expensive. But three months ago I was looking for new bearings and decided to give them a try and I am happy I did it. Ultimately, no bearings is going to make you skate effortlessly faster, but they can help.
Speed .... I feel faster with this bearings and the clock says it. I normally train on good steel bearings and use the ceramic bearings only when I race or when I do time-trial session while training. The difference is really noticeable and can be felt. The roll is nothing short of amazing. I usually take one minute just to enjoy the feeling.
Durability.... I have had them for 3 months plus and have done no maintenance on them. I think some grit entered one of the bearings but all other 15 just spin around without any worrying noise. But, truth be told: it is not a crime to clean and grease a set of bearings. Actually it is the right thing. Just I do not want to do it too often for it is time consuming. This also would contradict the healing effect claim to some extent but, besides the noise, I am not noticing any issue with the particular bearing specifically.
Water ... I have managed to avoid the water/rain. I have spoken to other skaters who use them and who found themselves racing in the rain. While it is undeniable that they withstand water better than steel ball bearings, one must clean and re-grease/oil them quickly after the race. The balls might be fine, but the other parts of the bearings might not and once the overall element is compromised the bearings are no longer as good as they should be.
Is Bones a reputable brand? Yes, they are. In the skating industry they are well-known. Bones Bearings is based in Santa Barbara, CA and it is one of the sponsors of the team I skate for, among other things. They make all kinds of bearings. The SWISS CERAMICS just happens to be their top of the line product.
They are very expensive? Should I really get them? Are there alternatives? I do not think that a fitness skater, no matter how serious he or she is, should be on this kind of bearings. At $140-$200 per set they are definitely expensive and, unless you really like to push yourself to the limit, you would not even notice the difference. However, there are alternatives even if one would like to give ceramic bearings a try. Bones itself has another product, called CERAMICS SUPER REDS. They cost about half of the SWISS CERAMICS because the quality of the Silicon Nitride (what we call ceramics) is lower (compared to a material called Cerbec used to make the balls for the Swiss Ceramics bearings).
Are they made in Switzerland? No, the "Swiss" in the name refers to Swiss precision in manufacturing. I am sure that the CERAMICS SUPER REDS are made in China.. I would expect the SWISS CERAMICS to be made in the US, but cannot be sure. Also, it is not clear what Swiss precision should mean, really... if they are not made in Switzerland. Just take it a gimmick, but to stress that the bearings are made according to high standards of precision.
Can you quantify how much faster one would get using these bearings as opposed to non ceramic bearings? I am afraid it is not that easy and it might vary from skater to skater.. I have a loop where I train about 5 miles. Over a period of time, I noticed that I am about 5-10 second faster using the ceramic bearings. Out of about 17 minutes to complete the loop (the loop has 4 90 degree turns, some bad pavements, and two road crossings that I need to carefully monitor before crossing) it does not seem like much (about 1%), but when you race it is not negligeable. But, also, when you skate at 25mph or 40mph going downhill high quality, fast rolling and light bearings are definitely very much appreciated.
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