Knackered ole knees! BB Ceramic make a difference?

[bernieUK]

Good evening

I have knackered ole knees due to severe arthritis and I would like to keep cycling for as long as I can.

I am a strictly a commuter using a single speed riding only around 15 miles per day 5 days a week. I have made my bike as light as possible which has certainly helped. My local Evans Cycles - good local branch too - have suggested changing the Truvativ GXP bottom bracket I currently have for one with ceramic bearings. Apparently it will likely be easier to pedal in general especially from a standing/stop (traffic lights etc). The cost is around £120.00. The chainset I have is 48T to 18T.

On here I have always been given good advice so, ladies & gentlemen, would using this bottom bracket likely make a difference?

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Hi Bernie. IMHO a single speed for one with arthritic knees is not too good. I would have thought that gears would be more useful than ceramic bearings. Cheaper too.

 

[bernieUK]

Hi Bernie. IMHO a single speed for one with arthritic knees is not too good. I would have thought that gears would be more useful than ceramic bearings. Cheaper too.

Thanks for replying. The thought had crossed my mind about gears. I like my single speed Bob Jackson and would hate to see it go but perhaps selling it might be a good idea and get something more practical with a range of gears.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

No possibility of converting the frame to gears?

 

[bernieUK]

No possibility of converting the frame to gears?

It might mean new rear wheel & chainset and the frame has horizontal drop outs. Technically possible maybe.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Yep, I reckon it is. If the dropouts are a problem, then Bob Jackson will more than likely be able to change them, although you would then have the expense of re-finishing the frame too. Worth some investigation though.

 

[RedBike]

To be honest I don't think you'd notice any difference.
I have a ceramic BB in my road bike but it doesn't feel any different to ride than 'normal'

I would look at gears. You can fit a Sturmey Archer (or similar) rear geared hub if you don't have a mech hanger.

 

[Joe24]

To be honest I don't think you'd notice any difference.
I have a ceramic BB in my road bike but it doesn't feel any different to ride than 'normal'

I would look at gears. You can fit a Sturmey Archer (or similar) rear geared hub if you don't have a mech hanger.

Yep, you could have a new rear wheel, with hub gears instead, and you can keep the Bob Jackson and the sort of looks of the single speed.
Although, im not sure if the frame is spaced right, but its something to look at, and means you can keep your frame, and be cheaper then just buying a geared bike.
I agree with the others, having a singlespeed might be abit hard, and having a gear so you can spin and just take it easy, might well be better.
You can put gears on horizontal drop outs anyway. So there's no problem there.
Infact, my TT bike, has track ends, and no mech hanger, and it used to have gears IIRC.
Although, im guessing someone else would of said this if it was right, so i could be wrong.

 

[Ivan Ardon]

It sounds like your LBS have a load of ceramic BBs they want to shift.

You'd be hard pressed to measure the difference in a lab, let alone on a bike.

 

[Joe24]

Its Evans. They are fiddle
Sorry for the language, but they are, or some of the people are.
Total tossers.
Went in to buy a helmet today, mum wanted to get me one for my Bday, but didn't have time to go get one before my bday, so went today.
I had set the helmet up right on my head, my bloody mother decides to ask the guy if its OK.
He takes the helmet, loosens the back band to look for the size. I say medium.
Then i take it back off him, put it on my head, have to tighten up the back band again, for him to touch it and say, yeh that's fine.
Well you idiot, why didn't you do that in the first place. You could have saved yourself some time and the pointlessness of what he did.
Problem there, is you hardly ever get treated like you know what your talking about, even if you do.
Infact, i may ride into Evans one day, with my fixed, and ask them some rather difficult questions.
I went in to get my tyre pumped up, after i got a puncture, the guy made it seem like it was a big job. I actually expected him to say i would either have to pay, or leave it with him. He even asked if i had fitted the new tube up right.
Yes you idiot, and pumped it up so much with my mini pump, but i didnt want to faff about on my lunch hour with the mini pump, now either pass me the pump or pump up the tyre.

Im not a huge fan of Evans, nor Freewheel, nor Bunnies bikes.
Freewheel, they will sometimes look down on your abit, or don't really know much.
Went in to get some lube, got asked if that was the one i wanted.
Bunnies, the fat bloke is an idiot. The old guy looks down on you. I was asking him about wiring up a dynamo light, after buying bulbs from him, and he went and answered a phone, even though there were other people just stood around not doing anything, and it wasn't busy.

Sorry, got into a rant about bike shops.

GO TO A PROPER BIKE SHOP!!!!

 

[Mr Pig]

IMHO a single speed for one with arthritic knees is not too good. I would have thought that gears would be more useful than ceramic bearings.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Keep the knees spinning but put less pressure on them. I don't have your kind of issues but my knees are a bit weak. I'm very thankful for gears.

 

[Landslide]

Ceramic bearings were developed for applications where high temperatures are an issue. For bicycle use, good-quality steel bearings will be far more efficient than poor-quality ceramic. Sounds to me like Evans are selling you a buzzword.

 

[MacB]

I'd suggest a sturmey archer 3 speed AW hub, you can definitely space it to match your existing chainline. Either get an old AW or a new SRF3 and make sure you get a 22 sprocket to go with your 48T chainring. This will give you gears around 43, 57 and 76 inches. If you want a gear the same as your current you'd need a new chainring with 44T, giving you 39, 52 and 70 inches. This gives you two gears for accelerating and climbing, you pay a slight weight penalty.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Hi Bernie.

I too reckon the ceramic bearing thing is bull. Your problem is not having gears to reduce the pressure on the knees. The best soultion IMO is to have a hub gear fitted to your Bob Jackson assuming the rear wheel spacing's OK. You could go 3, 5 or 14 speed Rohloff hubbed.

 

[MacB]

Hi Bernie.

I too reckon the ceramic bearing thing is bull. Your problem is not having gears to reduce the pressure on the knees. The best soultion IMO is to have a hub gear fitted to your Bob Jackson assuming the rear wheel spacing's OK. You could go 3, 5 or 14 speed Rohloff hubbed.

excellent suggestion may I suggest the Rohloff and, if you dislike it, may I be the first to put dibs on it for half price