I’ve never been to Interbike before, but it seems to me that lots of companies use the big show as an opportunity to display things that either a) they have no intention of ever producing, b) are so far off that they may as well never produce them, or c) are just some sort of elaborate industry insider joke. You know, like that pretzel-shaped FBM flatland frame, or the giant Landing Gear fork, or the Metal tandem.

When I first read about the Kink ceramic-bearing headset, which debuted at Interbike ‘08, I hoped it was the same sort of thing. Because all I’d ever heard about Kink headsets were how you more or less couldn’t tighten them because they forgot to have slots machined in the top dust cap. Which is the kind of attention to detail that makes you want to upgrade their $25 headset to a $100 one.

Tragically, it would appear that the hundred-dollar Kink headset is not only in production, but available for purchase. (Thanks whoever e-mailed me this.)

Ceramic bearings are nothing new to road and mountain cyclists. SRAM’s Red road group comes with ceramic bearings, and they sure seem to think they’re a good idea. From their own description of said bottom bracket:

They offer a performance advantage over traditional bottom bracket bearings that’s almost too great to believe. Besides being 10% lighter than standard bearings, ceramic bearings require an astonishing 78% less energy than the next-most efficient BB on the market.

Wow. That’s almost too great to believe! Although unless you spend your sessions trying quad barspins over and over, I don’t see how ceramic headset bearings would make a bit of difference for a BMXer. Anyway, let’s read on, shall we?

Ceramic bearings are more resistant to dirt and moisture and, when properly maintained, will outlast and outperform any other BB on the market.

The key phrase in there, for me, is “when properly maintained.” I don’t know about y’all, but I haven’t done “maintenance” on a headset since I ran a Tioga Beartrap back in like ‘90. Maintenance? You get a new frame, you put an FSA Impact (or similar) in there and forget about it. Maybe you get a new headset when you switch frames, but only if you’re super anal about that sort of thing. When I got my first Edwin I was bummed they didn’t have Campys left in stock, and went with the FSA. I figured I’d swap it out for a Campy later. Hasn’t happened yet, and that was four years and three or four frames ago. Are regular integrated headsets really that bad? Has there been an epidemic of barspins gone wrong?

What SRAM leaves out of their orgasmic description is that ceramic bearings are expensive as hell. One of their ceramic bottom brackets is $170. In comparison, a regular SRAM BB will run you around $35. (So the Kink headset is almost…underpriced?)

Now, the extra expense may be worthwhile if you’re a road racer who spends all day spinning out a 53/11 and climbs 10,000 vertical feet before breakfast. That whole “78% less energy” thing could make a real difference—and be well worth $135. (Come to think of it, a ceramic BMX bottom bracket would have been perfect for Mike Griffin and Luc-E.)

But a ceramic headset? For BMX? Just say no. Please.