Recommendation for Hub bearing upgrade? - Vision SC40 TLR Ceramics NOT available

[Dubl]

So I bought a new bike a couple months back, and opted to spend the extra $$ to add the carbon rims. They are Vision SC40 TLRs. Nice enough rims, but in my never-ending quest for "the next way to reduce resistance", I decided to look into upgrading to ceramic bearings. I like the idea of the decreased resistance, and more importantly, the longer bearing life. Pulled my hubs apart to get the bearings sizes I'd need to shop for. Lo and behold, the front hubs have 18x28x7 bearings. Searched everywhere, contacted all of the well proven ceramic bearing sources (Boca Bearing, Ceramic Speed, and others), and have found out that ceramics aren't available in this size, which leads me to think that FSA put bearings into these units so that you can't upgrade your rims to "match" comparable Zipp rims. Just an assumption on my part, but I can't figure any other reason to use a bearing that isn't "standard" fare for this application.

That being said, does anyone have a recommendation that would be a high quality replacement for the stock bearings? Currently all bearings installed are "S&S" brand, "2RS" sealed bearings. Does anyone have any info on brands and part numbers that would be high quality upgrades for 18x28x7, 17x28x7, 6803, and 6903 bearings? Looking for "non-contact" seals, low rolling resistance, and good bearing life. I ride road, and live in an arid climate, so not worried about mud/gunk intrusion, etc. I can find the stated bearing sizes in steel everywhere online, so I'm looking specifically for brand and part#s so I know what to look for, based on people's good experiences.

Thanks!

 

[CXRAndy]

Just use SKf, fag, or NTN bearings. Dont worry about the miniscule drag from double seals

 

[si_c]

Ceramic bearing don't actually seem to have any benefits over steel in bicycle applications. The main benefit to using these bearings seems to be from the low friction lubricant used rather than the bearings themselves.

 

[neil_merseyside]

Ceramic bearings are used in high speed close tolerance machinery but they are very brittle and dislike sudden knocks [1]
So I imagine they are a risk in bike as they can be knocked so easily.

I killed a set in a machine by knocking the head when it was stopped, the ceramic bearings cost £500 against a steel race of maybe £20, luckily swapping the bearings was the job that day

 

[silva]

Recently my rear wheel all of sudden showed alot play.
A luck I had a spare wheel so the bike was quickly back usable.

This happened a few times over all time, all bicycles.
But before, the play began small, gradually grew, you saw it coming.
This was different, and as the dealer informed me, it's a ceramic bearing.
I looked up info, and indeed, brittle and also prone to temperature shocks.
Sudden knocks are unavoidable here, due to the many elevated bicycle sections government decided over the past decades, every street aside is a double hit. It was replaced by again a ceramic one (didn't know at the time) but if it happens again, I'll consider a steel one.
Their cost was 14 euro, 28 / pair, + the labor.

The bearings were 4 years in service. Heavy bike, heavy loads, all weather. No idea if that life cycle is good or bad.