VCRC Ceramic Pulley Set Pro Review
- 11t VCRC Ceramic Pulley Set
- Compatible with: Shimano 10 Speed, Campy 10 Speed, SRAM Road 10 Speed
- VCRC Ceramic Balls – ABEC 7
- Plastic Pulley Bodies for Quietest Performance
- Sold as a set of 2 pulleys – Only 9g each, 18g/set
- MSRP – $129.95
- Company website – www.velocarbon.com
VCRC has been around since 2002 and might be remembered originally as Velo Carbon. But in 2004, they began to develop other lightweight products and changed their name to VCRC. They began offering lightweight alloy parts (stems, handlebars, and seatposts) along with their carbon offerings. At the same time, they started to develop a new product, ceramic bearings. What began as a joint venture between F1 Ceramic Bearings and VCRC has now developed into a product line that includes bottom brackets, pulleys, and ceramic upgrades for various different product manufacturers.
A year ago, we reviewed VCRC’s Shimano compatible ceramic bottom bracket and found it to be a great upgrade for the price. What we have on review now is something that is aimed to compliment that upgrade, the VCRC Ceramic Pulley Set. The package comes from VCRC with two pulleys, an upper and a lower (both labeled accordingly), a spacer tree with the various sets of spacers you’ll need depending on which drivetrain you’re running, and instructions on how to install the set.
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I have enduro ceramic bb bearings and FSA ceramic pulley bearings. I can feel the difference rotating my crankarms by hand as compared to my other bike without these mods. If you can feel it by hand, then the legs must notice it too. Now as to how much this difference is measurable for a cyclotourist such as myself, I would agree its all in my head (my head is important though). If I had serious competative goals I would consider these upgrades a must. An engineer friend of mine noted that the pulley upgrade is the most important; because of their relative high rpms, the frictional savings of a ceramic upgrade is greater. I’ve also bought into the hype of corrosion resistance and durability, but I’ve never had problems in those areas before anyway. Having my upgrades doesn’t keep me from being dropped on Sierra Rd. but maybe I get dropped a few inches later:). Ceramic bearings are therefore bling for my bike, sort of like having drilled brake rotors on the car you drive to work. . .I like knowing they are there.