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Waste Not, Watt Not, With New Zipp Ceramic Bearings

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SRAM Zipp Bearing KitFor road riders, Zipp Wheels represent some of the highest performance options available on the market today. But for those cyclists looking to eke out every performance gain possible, the company is now offering an upgrade kit.

By teaming up with Ceramic Speed, Zipp has developed a new Upgrade Bearing Kit for use in all of their hubs and freehub driver bodies. Each of the kits includes low resistance hybrid ceramic (ceramic balls and steel cages) bearings, and offer a measurable wattage savings between 1.5 and 9 watts per bearing set, depending on the condition of your existing bearings.

Pricing and more kit information after the break.

Zipp CeramicSpeed Bearing Kit 61803
One kit required for:
– Zipp 88, 30 and 60 front hubs
– Zipp 188v8 rear hubs
– Zipp ALL free hub driver bodies

• Inner Dia: 17mm
• Outer Dia: 26mm
• Width: 5mm
• MSRP: $255 / €227 / £194
• Availability: Immediate

Zipp CeramicSpeed Bearing Kit 61903
One kit required for:
Zipp 188v9, 30 and 60 rear hubs

• Inner Dia: 17mm
• Outer Dia: 30mm
• Width: 7mm
• MSRP: $255 / €227 / £194
• Availability: Immediate

Zipp CeramicSpeed Bearing Kit 61803/61903
One kit required for:
Zipp Super-9 and Sub9-disc rear hubs

• Inner Dia: 17mm, 17mm
• Outer Dia: 26mm, 30mm
• Width: 5mm, 7mm
• MSRP: $255 / €227 / £194
• Availability: Immediate

Note: 88 front and 188v9 rear hubs are on all 2014 and newer Zipp 101, 202, 303, 404, 808.

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33 Comments
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iperov
iperov
9 years ago

why?

Stamps
Stamps
9 years ago

Ooohhh….1.5 watt gain! For only $200+ more! Who buys this stuff?

gibbon
gibbon
9 years ago

Triathletes (actually It’d need to be $400 for them to buy it).

Collin S
Collin S
9 years ago

Am I reading this correctly that one kit is required per wheel, so your talking a $500 upgrade per wheelset on a wheelset that already costs $2600? How are these 3-5x better than Endro Ceramic bearings?

CXisfun
CXisfun
9 years ago

$510 for 3 watts. Jesus.

k
k
9 years ago

Regular Zipp bearings are so smooth already, this stuff is a total waste of time.

nightfend
nightfend
9 years ago

Don’t believe the marketing, you will not get 3 watts improvement over standard steel bearings.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago

Damn the haters – I’m buying them purely for the packaging!

Matt Holland
Matt Holland
9 years ago

Ha! They cost more than the super precision bearing we use at work (for space applications) and 6-8x more than other ceramic bearings. I would love to stick them in one of our test rigs and look at the torque versus a range of other options

AV
AV
9 years ago

Overpriced bearings on overpriced wheels. Zipp rims are decent, but their hubs are junk. For a $3k wheelset they could at least give you decent hubs and not try to pry another ~$500 out of your hands for snake oil bearings. You would likely save more watts with shoe covers.

NASH
NASH
9 years ago

Zipp up your pockets!

Bas
Bas
9 years ago

zipp surely knows how to make money. design sh*t wheels, sell an expensive upgrade to fix a problem all their products have..

who has a good source for super precision steel brgs that ships to EU / NL? matt?

Lander Jennings
Lander Jennings
9 years ago

Call me picky but I could use a bit more packaging.

Matt Holland
Matt Holland
9 years ago

GRW or Barden come to mind, if i were into that kind of thing (which i’m not), i’d have training wheels and then race wheels, with metal shielded bearings running oil impregnated phenolic cages, you’re likely to get lower torque resistance than any rubber shielded bearing

Dr. Sartorious
Dr. Sartorious
9 years ago

This is the equivalent of someone racing a F1 race car made by Toyota, and then Toyota sending them a mailer telling them that their car isn’t all that it could be, and that upgrading the paper air filter is the difference between second place and world fame.

“You have the very best wheels, but…they could be better.”

Colin
Colin
9 years ago

Good Dr., Toyota has been out of F1 for near a decade…

I’m with some of the others, I can’t see how these are that expensive. Enduro Zero bearings seem to have a lot more going for them, at least on paper. Ceramic Speed also doesn’t list any spec on their bearings, at least that i can find.

What grade are the balls? 5? 3? 100? What is the ABEC rating? 9, or 1?

Alex
Alex
9 years ago

This is part of the reason why I purchased Rolf Prima wheels, instead of Zipp. Rolf’s carbon wheels already include factory-installed ceramic bearings (made by Enduro), and are priced still several hundred dollars below Zipp, despite Rolf being handbuilt in Oregon. Moreover, Rolf’s hubs are made by White Industries in California, while Zipp’s are made I don’t know where exactly in Asia.

cio
cio
9 years ago

“waste not, watt not” clearly the waste is in the $250

Mindless
Mindless
9 years ago

Now I will win!

Victor
Victor
9 years ago

Zipp is fully aware that this is not for the regular consumer. There’s an interview with Zipps technical director who said that this would be absurd for the average rider. Their steel bearings are one of the highest grades and better than most ceramic bearings in the market. But they offer these high precision ceramic bearings so the ultra elite riders who want it have that option.

Mindless
Mindless
9 years ago

..I do not believe the 3W claim. No way good steel dissipates that much. Lies.

PeterFal
PeterFal
9 years ago

You can buy ceramic hybrid bearings from the HubDoctor, (Orange, California), for about $10 each. I replaced my PF30, front and rear hub – 8 bearings in all for less than half what ZIPP is charging.

In your hand, they are smoother and with less resistance compared to regular new bearings. After the seals break in and bearings loosen up a bit after a few rides, you will notice how much better they freewheel in the stand. This translates into less energy expended. How much better I couldn’t tell you, but according to ZIPP, a measurable amount.

Alex
Alex
9 years ago

@Victor: the “ultra elite riders” are sponsored. They’ll never need to spend money on Zipp (or any other) after-market ceramic bearings. Zipp is clearly offering these ceramic bearings for non-professional cyclists.

Rico
Rico
9 years ago

Lots of brands offer this type of upgrade or just super high end hubs like DT 180s. I agree though that you can get bearings just as nice for super cheap. I get smaller ceramics online for dirt cheap from an RC car shop. They work perfectly in my AC hubs.

Also, Zipp wheels do not suck. Try the latest gen 404 tubs with some FMB tires and then find me a better feeling road wheel.

goridebikes
goridebikes
9 years ago

Ceramic HYBRID bearings?!

THIS IS NOT PRO ENOUGH. Need full ceramic plz.

phyclist
phyclist
9 years ago

If there is measurable wattage savings between 1.5 and 9 watts per bearing set, then there would be measurable heating of respective steal bearing.

Boris
Boris
9 years ago

haha, what a nonsense, if you have the legs to win, you win, even with old fashion style hubs with single steel balls!

Rico
Rico
9 years ago

Boris – what about when 5 or so guys have the legs to win or at a photo finish? I personally don’t need them, but some people make tiny gains via equipment after they are in perfect form and fit.

Adam
Adam
9 years ago

It grates me how much unnecessary packaging waste this company generates.

ifbikes
ifbikes
9 years ago

i’m going to totally thrash my bearings, then buy these, so it’ll be a 200 watt savings, totally worth it!!!

BocaJeff
BocaJeff
9 years ago

Boca bearings offer the best upgrade ceramic bearings around

Marcin
Marcin
9 years ago

That’s rip off!!!

Martin
9 years ago

A sophisticated article on this topic…
http://bikeboard.cc/ceramicspeed-ceramic-hybrid-bearings-ber5694

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