C-Bear Ceramic Bearings was founded in Belgium in 2009 by Bart Schouten. An avid cyclist who felt there should be a more durable solution for bottom brackets. Mountain bikers in Belgium typically ride through all season and were replacing bottom bracket bearings up to three times per winter.
We were the first and only company to make specific bearings for bicycle applications. The demands that cycling puts on bearings are completely different from the design perspective that is used for generic industrial bearings. Industrial bearings are typically designed to work in a clean and well lubed environment and not designed to deal with rain, mud and dust. C-BEAR bearings are ABEC 5 standard, with grade 3 (norm is only grade 5, a lower standard) silic nitrate ceramic balls. Together with our custom seal and components design and specific grease formulation, C-Bear bearings are truly unique.
We offer our bearings with two different applications in mind: speed and durability.
Our road (speed) bearings use seals that are more open and give you the lowest possible friction. This does not only help professional athletes, in fact the guys in the pro peloton generate so much aerodynamic drag that the friction in bearings is only a small percentage of the total. Cyclists riding at lower speeds can gain a big advantage from minimizing their rolling resistance.
Our mountain bike (durability) bearings use tighter seals to keep out dirt. They require a run in period of 200 miles to reach full performance. By then they will still roll better than any stainless steel bearing you have tried. Also they will keep your mind at ease when cycling through puddles or power hosing your bike at a cyclocross event.
Our first product was a bearing set and adapters for the Shimano Hollowtech II standard, which was very popular at the time and is still used in many frames today.
Today we are specialized in designing quality bottom bracket solutions to put almost any crank set in any road or mountain bike. We do not believe in stacking a pile of adapters on top of each other to make things fit. Bart’s famous quote is: ‘Just because it fits, doesn’t make it right’. We aim to provide any bottom bracket in any peloton with a creak-free solution that is right from the start, with the proper design and material.
In fact, we are so proud of our products that we back them with a full two year warranty. That warranty includes wear and tear, which is unique to the entire bearing industry. If you are not happy with a C-BEAR product, please contact us. Product performance and customer satisfaction are of vital significance. Obviously besides correct and quality product, installation is equally important. Therefore please ensure the product is properly installed by qualified technician – knowledge, experience and sometimes creativity all factors into perfect installation.
We are always working closely with the pro cyclists to test our products before putting it to market. When Andre Greipel pumps 1800 watts into a bottom bracket and does not make it creak, it is probably good enough for most of us.
We have many fans in the pro peloton. Being a sponsor of the Lotto Belisol team since 2009, we love the fact that riders leaving that team still call us and buy our bearings. The biggest champions in recent history have been achieving their podiums with our bearings: Cadel Evans and Philippe Gilbert winning the rainbow jersey on the road, Niels Albert doing the same in cyclo cross. Three stage wins in the 2012 Tour de France with Greipel, another two in the Vuelta by Gilbert and the 2011 Tour de France yellow jersey. These were all riders equipped with C-Bear ceramic bearings.
The C-Bear USA office is a new start up in 2013 by Ard Kessels, an amateur mountain bike racer who sold his high end bike shop in Belgium to follow the dreams of his wife to work for the US government. We are aiming to have every single product in stock, to provide you with the best possible delivery times and service. Should an article not be available in our US office, we will make sure to get it to you from our head quarters in Belgium in 2-3 weeks maximum.
Become a C-bear fan too! If you have any questions about our products or installation, please do contact us. We are bike geeks just like you and love nothing more than to talk bike and how to improve yours for you.