 Enduro Full Ceramic Bearings Si3N4
Enduro is the first to produce a truly sealed Full Ceramic Bearing. The balls and the races are made from Si3N4 (Silicon Nitride) material which is the hardest, most resilient and the lightest weight material a bearing can be made from. A standard steel type sealed bearing design would be an inferior way to utilize this material. However, through a new design of the race assembly, we are able to seal these bearings on the side facing the elements, while shielding the internal side with the PTFE retainer. The seal is also made from Silicone material which is the lowest friction and the superior material a seal can be made from. These seals are also easily removable and replaceable. The level of precision for these bearings are ABEC 5 and the Si3N4 balls are Grade 5 giving an almost zero level of friction from your bearings. We use finally a special grease to lubricate the bearing after it has been installed.
As these bearings are made from an exotic material and with the highest tolerances, they must be installed with extreme care. In fact, we require that people send their wheels or hubs to an approved installation specialist so that there will be no problems or questions of installation proceedures. With the mulititude of hub designs and varying tolerances of them, differing press fits, etc., this is a precaution to leave the installation to an expert to fit not only the correct bearing, but the correct internal clearance bearing to the hub assembly.
What is in these bearings?
Silicon Nitride Ceramic: Made from pure Silicon Nitride material with extreme high density from uniform compaction (3.25 g/cm3), the micro-structural development of this material during manufacture is second to none. These high precision Grade 5, SI3N4 pure ceramic balls are 5/1,000,000” from exactly round in sphericity. 60% ligher weight, and 7 times harder than steel, friction is reduced to near zero. Resistance to heat is 8 times greater than that of steel while there is simply no comparison for corrosion resistance and magnetic problems with our SI3N4 balls.
Enduro Ceramic Hybrid Series
Si3N4 balls mated with 52100 High Carbon Chromium Alloy Races with Cryogenic Treatment: Starting with vacuum de-gassed alloy and hardened to Rockwell C-64, these super high precision races are cryogenically treated not once, but three times during the final super polishing phase. Cryogenic treatement means taking the races down to minus 300º Farenheit to nomalize the crystalline structure of the material so that the races will resist the hardness of the ceramic balls and get the maximum wear potential. This critical treatement to the races is left out by many manufacturers, but not by Enduro.
Retainers are Nylon with Graphite the smoothest running: These retainers are virtually frictionless while providing constant lubrication.
Grease: At Enduro we utilize several types of grease depending on the projected application of the bearing.
For Enduro Ceramic Hybrid Bearings, we use Kyodo Yushi PS-2 for its protective interface between ceramic balls and metal races and for the high speed properties for minimum rolling resistance. Speed and Protection.
For Enduro MAX type bearings, we use CRC Sta-Plex SL-3120 Marine Grease. This grease will not wash out or break down under any extreme conditions including power washing, salt water intrusion from the salted roads, or even dirt getting into the rolling areas. The High Pressure property of this grease provides a cushion for the sharp blows suspension pivots will endure. Tough and Tenacious.
For Enduro ABEC 3 level precision Enduro Bearings we use Mobile HP 222 which is another high pressure grease for maximum protection and constant lubrication. We also use the Kyodo Yushi PS-2 as above depending on the application. All of the ABEC 5 level precision bearings use this grease.
There are a lot of misconceptions about how a wheel or BB can spin in your hand. If you remember an old metal roller skate wheel with no seals or grease in it and you spin it, it will go for a long time before it slows down. Then later, cartridge bearings came out for polyurethane wheels and the grease and seals would not allow the bearing to "hand spin" like that. Once under load however, this is an entirely different situation; the grease is allowing the balls and wheels to spin with less work and the seals are keeping the grease clean to allow this preferred state of motion to continue. We do not make bearings for "hand wheels", we make bearings professional bicycle racing wheels.
|
