Bearings - Techy person required!

Right then, I'm about to replace the bearings on my Ellsworth (sorry modern) and I'm aware that some bottom brackets etc now have ceramic bearings in them, usually at some considerable extra cost. However a bearing distributor that I spoke to said that ceramic or hybrid bearings won't last as long as steel in an MTB application because they are for low loads and will be too brittle. This seems contradictory to what manufacturers like Hope are offering (Bottom Brackets being an area of high load no?).

My question is: Will I gain any performance/durability by using ceramic hybrid bearings over the best stainless steel ones, or should I just buy the standard steel bearings that are a fraction of the price? :?

(for the record the steel bearings that came as standard in the frame have corroded and look tatty).

Help!

Well this is a retro site. So it must be the steel Like you I was told the modern new bearings are stronger etc etc. but when they do break then it's big time blow. Would be :roll:
Sorry not much help

I use hope's stainless steel bearings, they have lasted a year which is good when compare to the XT ones I had that lasted 6 months - both should last longer with a normal setup.... mine puts a bit of sideways preload on which prematurely knackers the bearings.

One of the benefits of the hope bearings is they do not have a plastics shim between the axle and bearing like most other brands.

Steel is fine and the reason they look tatty is cos theyre old and needing replaced with some nice new shiny ones

ceramic are just a waste of money[imho]

Id go with steel.

Dont wanna crack the ceramic outers, itll mash your races. Sounds like a gimmick to me.

For reference, I contacted a bearing company in the USA and they said the following:
"The ceramic hybrids I have suggested below will increase performance, last longer and will allow you to use less effort to acheive it. These are the best bearings, outside of full ceramics, for ultimate performance."

So it seems they are better, but obviously whether they are twice the price (£30-35 each) better is a question I'm not prepared to find out at the moment!

I'd just use these.

I forgot about BETD! I've gone for some stainless SKS bearings from a wholesaler on the web. I've used the bearings before and they seem to be good quality. Wasn't sure if I could justify spending £100 on pivot bearings!