Ceramic Bearings Vs Steel

Five different parts go into building skateboard bearings and longboard bearings.

Ceramic bearings vs steel.

Steel bearings are commodity items that are composed of hardened steel balls and a steel inner and outer race. The concept behind a bearing is simple. The different elements balls retainers and closures can change a bit. The first thing that strikes the eye when looking at bicycle bearings is the difference in price between steel bearings and hybrid ceramic bearings.

A ceramic bearing is also harder than steel bearings up to 30 which improves durability and they also don t rust so less maintenance should be required. They don t expand or deform when they contact each other hertzian stress as much as steel bearings when they get really hot. Most sealed ceramic bearings are actually hybrid ceramic bearings which combine a steel race with ceramic ball bearings. Ceramic bearings are in actual fact hybrid.

Things don t slide or roll. They use ceramic balls and usually a steel inner and outer race. Ceramic bearings exist to help manage heat in high rpm applications. It takes weeks for a kogel ball to sit in a tumbler and be perfectly polished.

The ceramic balls are often silicon nitride or equivalent. Optimization is possible for the disparity that exists between these parts. Ceramic bearings vs steel bearings ceramic materials offer superior corrosion and heat resistance higher dimensional stability and lower density which facilitates high speed.