Ceramic Bearings

[Ailuropoda]

i have a wheels manufacturing angular contact bearing bottom bracket.  I have about 2000 miles on it.  I'm planning to ride the Tour Divide and I'm concerned about durability. 

Is there any advantage to a similar bottom bracket with ceramic bearings?

I have a SRAM X9 GXP crank and a 2x10 setup.   The bottom bracket that came with the crank lasted about two hundred miles.

[harryonaspot]

I don't have any experience with that particular b.b. But as with any part with those miles, open it up and inspect it. Or have your lbs do it. And any other high mileage part you plan on using. Wheels headset brake pads and cables. You will be putting 2 seasons wear on your parts in just a few weeks. And you will be, at times, pretty far from a decent shop.

[dream4est]

No advantage to ceramic. BB life really boils down to how you ride on day 2 IMO. Trying to ride all the puddles between Flathead and Cabin Passes can kill the bearings if one is not careful. Press fit bb failures (mostly the bb30 type) are more common than external cup failures IMO.

[ridebikeme]

I know I may have a different opinion on this than some, but can honestly say that I have replaced more BB's that are outboard than any other type of BB. I have customers(own a small shop) that have BB30's but only as road bikes for now, so no experience there. But I have replaced several outboard BB's this summer alone... including my own. Although there isn't a lot of choice depending on your drivetrain; I'd much prefer the old square tapered BB's.