Upgrading Fulcrum racing Zero with CULT/ CeramicSpeed ?

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TonyM
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by TonyM

Hello,

I have a set of Fulcrum racing zero nite 2015 as a reserve wheelset that I will only use for wet weather and most probably also in the mountain region instead of my carbon wheelset.

Unfortunately the Fulcrum Racing Zero Nite have USB Bearing and not the CULT bearings :(
I am thinking of upgrading these with Ceramic bearings from CeramicSpeed (hubs ad cassette body) or with the Campa CULT bearings (afaik only possible for the hubs, right?).

Which option is better ? What do you think :?:


Tony

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kgt
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by kgt

Every version of Fulcrum Zero hubs is top performance and USB are great bearings. I would not care. Spend your money elsewhere IMHO.

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martinko
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by martinko

Ceramic bearings and wet weather aren't the two things that comes together in my mind.

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TonyM
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by TonyM

kgt wrote:Every version of Fulcrum Zero hubs is top performance and USB are great bearings. I would not care. Spend your money elsewhere IMHO.


But comparing the USB to the CULT/ CeramicSpeed in the reviews tend to push me to an upgrade. Maybe too much marketring indeed :twisted:
On the other end, when I spent so much $ in a bike (C60 w/ SR) another upgrade makes sense to have the "best" bike.

The CeramicSpeed are indeed very expensive but is a updgrade with the CULT bearings possible (not so expensive) ?

Tony

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TonyM
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by TonyM

martinko wrote:Ceramic bearings and wet weather aren't the two things that comes together in my mind.


I was rather thinking on ceramic bearings for a possible saving of power when climbing (I suppose that the ceramic bearings are ok with a wet weather).

When climbing every possible "help" is more than welcome :mrgreen:

stormur
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by stormur

0.000002W :mrgreen:

idea has no sense.. you won't feel / gain anything. Waisting of money & effort. Every high quality bearing( steel / ceramic… ) properly ( mean adequately to conditions and mileage ) maintained will perform very OK. Ceramic's has less friction- no doubt here- but it won't change your performance.

If you want to go really extreme , go under climb on 2nd wheelset, than change for "climbing". In these, remove ALL grease, put few drops of very light but sticky oil , remove all gaskets and sealings, replace cone adjusting ring nut for Ti, …. got it ? ;)

Sounds like madness, but I saw TT bike with all of it REALLY done. In hubs, bb… but it was in Pro peloton, not for "mortals" :up:

BTW did it change time by 1 sec ? Nope :welcome: just gave "mental advantage" / "i did 1 step more" .

In real life most of us sell wheels before difference between lifespan of ceramic : non-ceramic balls & races can be noticed.

For the rest , bearing replacing cost after so many thousand of km/ miles is … irrelevant. And possibly rims are worn too :)


I saw somewhere video where guy from bearings ( well known ) manufacturer with very serious face explaining : just 2/3 of race length of grease, otherwise you increase friction significally…. :mrgreen: UNBELIVABLE.
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Calnago
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by Calnago

stormur wrote:If you want to go really extreme , go under climb on 2nd wheelset, than change for "climbing". In these, remove ALL grease, put few drops of very light but sticky oil , remove all gaskets and sealings, replace cone adjusting ring nut for Ti, …. got it ? ;)


Uh... what you've just described is, in fact, a CULT bearing setup. No Grease, couple drops of very fine oil (but not "sticky", that would be silly), no seals, no gaskets. Chronitec races and ceramic bearings, cup and cone adjustment... doesn't get any better. And much better at withstanding the ravages of water, etc.

Will it make that much of a difference in real life, not really. But they sure are nice. Putting grease in a Campy Cult bearing would effectively defeat the whole purpose of having them.

I've never had to replace a set of cult bearings in a Super Record crank, or wheelset for that matter. And that's after seeing some pretty heavy bad weather use.

They are expensive for sure, but better than so called "hybrid" ceramic, which are really ceramic bearings but running on steel races.

I have however had to replace sealed steel bearings (Chorus) that after a wet winter and a about 3 months had to be pounded out they were so rusted and shot. These are what I eventually got out of that bottom bracket... it is a mixture of rust and penetrating oil, which I had to use along with a hammer in order to get this seized mess apart...
Image

Not pretty. With the cult bearings, the only maintenance I've ever done is blow them out with compressed air, add a couple drops of fine oil, and good to go.
Are they worth the extra money, probably not. But can't deny they are awfully nice.
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dj97223
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by dj97223

crank install with lots of grease between cup and bearing will go a long way to prevent a recurrence of that problem.
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Calnago
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by Calnago

Always a lot of grease in the Ultratorque cups before installing the cranks. This install was no different. This was caused completely by water entering the bearings through some very wet winter riding. And likely some cleaning of the bike afterwards with a hose spraying right onto the crank. Not good. There was also no drain hole in the BB which made ventilation between rides even more difficult.
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Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

On a side note those wheells may not stay particularly pretty if the cosmetic look of that coating isn't a fan of wet braking like the Mavics?
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stormur
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by stormur

Somwhere I have pic of Bb30 bearings after 3 years w/o service in gravel grinder ;) ….

Dirt gets into any non really fully sealed bearing. No mercy.

"sticky" : iI meant oil which is "gluing" by itself to surface ( some idea had Castrol while a go, I believe (?) )

But still, every 3 months 15 min of job to clean and re lubricate bearings in wheels, plus 5 min for crank… Gain from ceramic is none, OP already has smi-ceramic. Still don't see the point. But it's just MO.
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by fromtrektocolnago

Ceramic bearings don't bring anything to the table when it comes to bike wheels, which is why I went Dura Ace wheels. Wrong application in my opinion.
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TonyM
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by TonyM

(OK ceramic bearings mainly for a mental advantage 8) )

Here an Update from ceramic Speed as I have just received the answer from CeramicSpeed for the upgrading of the Fulcrum zero (Nite):

A kit of CeramicSpeed Fulcrum 1 (for front and rear hubs) 275€ and a kit CeramicSpeed Fulcrum 2 (for the body cassette) 175€ are needed.
Total: 450€ (vs. 1000€ for the wheelset itself).

-> Is it possible to upgrade the Fulcrum zero with the CULT bearings from Campagnolo ? Which part-number should be bought ?
(AFAIK it is only possible for the bearings of the front und rear hubs and not for the cassette body)

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mvacolnago
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by mvacolnago

I replaced my USB bearings with cermamic speed bearings several years and many 1000's of kilometers ago. The harder bearings destroyed the standard bearing cups and the axel cones. replacing them with the harder CULT parts was very expensive.

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TonyM
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by TonyM

mvacolnago wrote:I replaced my USB bearings with cermamic speed bearings several years and many 1000's of kilometers ago. The harder bearings destroyed the standard bearing cups and the axel cones. replacing them with the harder CULT parts was very expensive.


Hi mvacolnago,

Ok that means that the CeramicSpeed bearings instead of the USB is not a option. Thanks for the information!

What about the Campagnolo CULT bearings? Is this a valuable option compared to the USB in your view ? Does it works in your wheels and do you see a better performance of the wheels than with USB ? Would you switch again ?




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