Look Pedals with Ceramic Bearings - worth it?

[Nickldn]

Advice needed:

I need to get me some new pedals for the road bike.

Been using Look Keo Carbons for the past 10 years and have developed a good relationship with the grey cleats. I find them comfortable and v easy to clip in/out. Sure walking isn't great, but they are comfortable and my knees are happy.

These pedals are going onto my training/winter bike now and I want to replace them with Look Keo Blades. In short, I don't want to run 2 different types of Clipless pedals, so don't want to consider Shimano/Speedplay/Time, etc.

What I would appreciate your views on is whether it's worth getting ceramic bearings.

The normal cromoly steel bearing Blades are currently £98 in Sigma, but the ceramic bearing cromoly ones go for £144 (I can't afford the Ti ceramics they are just too pricey).

Is it worth spending an extra £50 on ceramic bearings, or is it a rip-off?

[CraigKnobovitch]

In my opinion, overkill. regular Keo Blades or Keo Blade Carbons will do the job just fine. Personally I run basic keo blades even though I can get higher-end models at industry prices (cost minus 20%). Honestly, regular, save the extra $ and put it towards something else.

[Mesorhizobium]

Ceramic bearings in pedals dont make much sense.

[Nickldn]

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll go for the bog standard cromoly pedals.

To add a bit of bling I am tempted to get a pair on J&L titanium spindles off ebay to save some weight (apparently 44g for a pair). They're £35, so they seem much better value than than Look's version. Ceramic bearings are only another £7.50 (or a staggering £2 more than steel bearings), which is probably a good indication of what they are actually worth!

[alcatraz]

If the pedals can be serviced then it doesn't matter much. You can swap in any bearing you like later.

Ceramic balls can't take as high a load as steel. It's possible you'll crush the balls on your first bunny hop, but definitely you will destroy those steel races.

[HShimada]

I meannnnn... I hate Look pedals and hate ceramic bearings. Guess I'll stay out of this one

[IrrelevantD]

The problem I have with ceramic bearings is they are designed for high speed high load industrial aplications. You're going to see minimal, if any improvement in pedals and bottom brackets at 80~120rpm. Independant tests have shown that you're going to gain maybe 1~1.5w with a ceramic BB vs. a decent steel one.

Additionally, unless the races are ceramic coated, the balls are harder than the races and will actually promote premature wear. In wheels and derailleurs you may see a little more benefit, but I doubt it'd be more than a handful of watts and you'd probably be better off putting the money into a better rim or other components.

[C36]

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll go for the bog standard cromoly pedals.

To add a bit of bling I am tempted to get a pair on J&L titanium spindles off ebay to save some weight (apparently 44g for a pair). They're £35, so they seem much better value than than Look's version. Ceramic bearings are only another £7.50 (or a staggering £2 more than steel bearings), which is probably a good indication of what they are actually worth!

That’s the best option IMO. Cromo pedals aftermarket Ti axles.
Bearings can’t be evaluated by price. A bearing has incredible amount of engineering (for those with a bit of science background Dow load SKF manuals... just on friction you have close to 20 pages of calculs) and mastering the geometry and tolerances is quite tougher than just putting ceramic balls.
All this to say that very high quality bearings are expensive in steel and even more expensive in ceramic. Now regarding the friction gains, seals and grease are the very large portion of the friction, the balls not.


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[Butcher]

This is Weightweenies. I'm certain the ceramic bearings are lighter!

[Nickldn]

This is Weightweenies. I'm certain the ceramic bearings are lighter!

Yes, this is Weightweenies after all, so every gram counts somewhat more then common sense and practicality!! Let's not mention price either....

I can't honestly believe ceramic bearings and titanium spindles will do anything for performance, but it's quite hard to resist a 40g weight saving.

But seriously, not sure why they are selling ceramic bearings if they are so easy to damage (I'll be sure to grind them into a paste after a few sprints and then complain to the nice people at ZyroFisher, who deal with aftersales for Look). Will let you know how that goes.