Centertrac, flat, ceramic, gold: what's up with those bearings?

There is a related topic on different types of concave bearings

My strong pref is for a fairly strong concave bearing, because I suck, and my throws on a flat bearing may end up on the far right or left sides dragging against the response pads. :wink: The counter argument to that is when you do lots of string layering tricks, a flat bearing gives more room for the string to naturally spread out more.

I agree with @ferrocile that the “groove” or “V” type is a little too extreme, as the string is basically forced into the exact center at all times, so perhaps the best compromise is the “pixel” or “double-straight” type with multiple steps?

That or pure concave would be my pick.

I do not feel ceramic bearings are worth it at all, because they’re noisier, more fragile, and don’t really offer that much practical improvement over a quality stainless bearing… and they are all flat too. Well I guess the ceramic ball type could have concave stainless outer ring, I suppose, but the full ceramic ones that I’ve seen / used are always flat.

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