To minimize the distortion of bearing steel components during manufacturing processes, 100Cr6 steel (SAE 52100) has been produced by spray forming as an alternative approach to conventional continuous casting process. Material characteristics and distortion behaviour of the spray formed 100Cr6 steel were investigated in comparison with continuous cast material. The investigation showed that the spray formed 100Cr6 steel exhibited lower distortion potential than the conventional material due to much better metallurgical homogeneity. (C) 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.