So.. will we all be screwing our faces up in years to come at todays ceramic bearings in hubs etc like we did after mavic came out with their expensive and puir pish ceramic rims that never lived up to the hype?

I think its going to be something in mtbing that i would like to forget going by what ive seen so far.

Out of curiosity, what exactly is wrong with my Mavic ceramic rims that have been refusing to wear through, not eating brake pads and stopping as well as discs(*) for the last 5 years?

* well, they have almost the power, but they don't actually have the feel of discs. But they are close.

same here, I loved Mavic ceramic rims.

Not sure if ceramic bearings are worth it on an MTB though, what with the relatively low speeds and large amount of drag from tyres etc. Do they last longer in muddy/wet conditions?

+ 1 here for ceramic rims. A pair 12 years old. Slightly higher pad wear, but much better stopping. Not as good as disks in the wet though!

Another +1 for Mavic ceramic rims, still got a set on my Chris King hubs that I had built in 2000. A lot of riding and racing since then. I've only switched onto disks at the start of this year.

My pair wore through,pads worn quickly and the braking was awful. Correct brake pads or standard,nothing would work.Then it started chipping off undamaged points of the rim.I think they cost £110 each.

With how rough (in such a short time) ive seen ceramic bearings it just reminded me of ceramic mavics with their silly cost compared to the standard version.

An XC717 Ceramic is £100 for 2011, last time I sold a pair in about 2003 they were £50, which is pretty reasonable. Ceramic was a bit of a misnomer anyway, it was a titanium/aluminium oxide coating. IME they worked very well indeed, so it was just you that had problems it would seem!

Ceramic bearings in hubs/BBs etc are different, as with steel there are various qualities, many use Si3N4 balls, the theory is that the bearing material is harder than the contaminants so the bearings break down the contaminant and burnish the races as they spin, they don't need as much grease and they spin with less friction, in part because they don't need so much grease.

The ultimate is full ceramic bearings, where everything is a ceramic material, they need virtually no lube at all, last a very long time and weigh sod all. They're expensive though. Most products that come with 'ceramic' bearings are no better than good quality steel ones!