Is there a performace advantage in using ceramic?
Which lasts longer?

The above is for top end .21 Nova engines.

Any other pros or cons?

Reason I ask is that a 14.5mm Nova steel bearing is $25 cheaper than ceramic and to be honest I dont thing the standard ceramics dont last long.

I thought about TKO but I hate the way the balls face the front of the engine because the off set inner race is on the other side.

The TKO's are excellent and faster than a steel bearing.

have you had any issues with the balls facing the front of the engine, looks strange in the engine because you cant see any balls

No. It's not a problem. Why would it be?

Balls not exposed for proper lubrication, there is a reason why all engines have the balls facing the rear.

+1 very true.

It doesnt take long to destroy an engine due to a bearing going bad during a race

Could be that it was just a fluke, my fault or bad luck, but I will never buy TKO bearing again. My rear ceramic bearing felt notchy out of the bag. I installed it anyway with the Novarossi extraction and mounting tools following TKO's instructions. Ran the engine for 5 tanks, then it seized and the engine was totally destroyed. Dismantled it and found a broken ceramic ball of the rear bearing. Next time I will buy Novarossi...

Fulcrum, I have to agree with you 100%, the TKO felt notchy new, nothing like a new nova one

It's not sealed. There is plenty of room for oil to get to it.

Haven't had a notchy one and I've used quite a few. The only problem I have had was the first batch of 14.5 ones had too much play in them. They have fixed that since then.

The main reason is that on that side the rounding is larger on the edge of the inner disc of the bearing. Due that rounding the crankshaft (which has that rounding as well) will fell deep enough. If it is face in the wrong way the edge is sharper and will not let the crankshaft fell deep enough with as result when fitting a flywheel you will lock up the bearings.