608 vs 668 Bearings.

[mickz 107]

Personally I don't have a preference when it comes to regular sized or micro bearings. Which do you prefer and do you feel a difference in the two choices of bearings? I'm just wondering because I might be looking into buying a new set of indoor wheels (and maybe bearings) but the majority of these wheels use microbearings whereas I am using standard right now.

[saba 0]

608 Bones Swiss-too few good wheels at the 688 size

[mickz 107]

608 Bones Swiss-too few good wheels at the 688 size

I have yet to see swiss bearings where I live but they seem to be praised everywhere. The only decent bearings I find are made by Mission or Kryptonics...

[sdcopp 1]

You might check any local skateboarding shops, as they can be unsung heroes when it comes to finding things like swiss bearings. Bones swiss far and away are the choice bearing, and are well worth the cost.

[mrciv 0]

i have for sale bsb 16 swiss bearings new in package for $59.99+6 shipping in US.???? for anyone that needs swiss bearings just pm me!!

[mickz 107]

Are these Bones Swiss bearings only available in the US? I'm just shopping around right now and I did a Google search for their website. I found their dealer locator page but it's only for the US. Anyone know if it's available in Canada?

[nomorals 0]

I'd stick to regular bearings. I'm about 6'3" and around 185-195 lbs and I've had two separate sets of micro bearings shatter or warp on me from two separate manufacturers. The bones swiss bearings are an incredible bearing.

[thunderbirds_are_go 0]

I'd stay with the 608's too. If you can only find good wheels with 688 hubs then they're likely old stock, as there are a lot less 688 hub wheels around new these days. Mission were big into them but have now dropped the 688's for 608's, and CCM went from the top three models using them to now just the top one. The small weight saving and theoretically slightly better performance of 688's are more than balanced by the relative strength of 608 bearings and better selection of wheels (in most places).

[Fedorov91 0]

What is so great about these swiss bearings?

Also, is there any real performance advantage to micro vs. mini bearings?

[duckjob 1]

What is so great about these swiss bearings?

Also, is there any real performance advantage to micro vs. mini bearings?

I've used several different brands of bearings, there is no better quality bearing than the swiss. Only real benefit of the 688 bearings is the fact that they are lighter weight.

[MDE3 0]

The 688's are much more prone to rusting for some reason..you need to clean them regularily..like maybe every three usages. The rust is what causes them to fail so much faster.

They were more or less developed for long distance speed racing where they offered a slightly lower drag resistance that added up over a 20 k race..far less important in hockey.

The Swiss Bearings are made out of better(harder) steel it seems, and polished to a higher (finer) micron tolerance, even though they do not carry an ABEC rating. I have heard that if rated they would only be about an ABEC 1. The ABEC ratings only refer to the radial and lateral runout tolerances of the assembled bearings..not the tolerance or the finish of the individual bearing components..ie the ball bearings themselves and the races. Nor does it decribe the quality of the materials themselves.

The higher the ABEC rating the lower the runout numbers (tighter tolerances) and are really only meaningfull at much higher speeds than they will ever see when used in skates. (at very high speeds in some machine applications, the "runout" will begin to allow induced vibration at a certain speed, therefore theoretically the higher the ABEC rating, the higher the speed application the bearing can be used for)

On the down side..these tighter tolerances (higher ABEC numbers) are more prone to having increased drag from minute particle contamination(which will certainly happen in hockey), than bearings with lower ratings.

Those tight tolerances are fine when you clean them regularily, and if the bearing tolerance isn't so tight it will never spin freely due to relatively poor quality control(something I have seen often in ABEC 5's and higher)...so the Swiss with their very high micron polished finish and very hard alloys, even though they may have a slightly looser total runout tolerance..have always been a favorite for those who have used them. They run more freely, more smoothly, and seem to last longer.