Tested to the limit (and beyond) 

When we set out to test our SLT Bearings in the lab, our first area of interest was their ability to perform under load without being fully rotated. Almost all bearings on a bike rotate 360 degrees which helps build up an oil film between the balls inside the bearing, which will keep them running and protected. Except for headset and rear suspension pivot bearings, that is.

So, we put our OPD (Optimized Pivot Design) SLT Bearings under the gun in one of our test machines that imitate the bearing movement inside a full suspension MTB. In this case, it was 15 degrees of rotation instead of 360. And to get the full picture we included what is widely recognized as the market leader of pivot bearings as a means of comparison.

After 200.000 cycles the "market leader bearing" began showing visible signs of deterioration, and after 600.000 cycles the bearing was clearly worn-out. Actually a respectable performance, but in comparison, our OPD SLT Bearing ran well over 1.800.000 cycles without failure or any critical visible wear...

You can see how the test machine works in the video below.