Bearings

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

What kind of bearings are good? What should I get/look for? bla bla bla? All the bearings I usually get are the ones that come with the skates, then I outgrow them before I might need to replace them or something. I'm looking into it, and they all look the same...

[sdcopp 1]

Bearings have been covered all over this board, but I'll try to give you a concise rundown.

You have two main options when looking at bearings. ABEC rated and skate rated. ABEC rating is a mechanical engineering type rating for how tight the tolerance of the bearing is for machinery.

In the strictest sense an ABEC 9 bearing is better than ABEC 1, but it also has to do with how high of quality each companies bearings are. Boss bearings have been in skates in a long time, as have Bevo and will likely be a better quality than smaller, newer companies.

On the other side of you have skate rated bearings, most notably swiss bearings. These bearings are not ABEC rated and in many cases are engineered for skating alone, not indutrial machinery. Boss (BSB) or Bones are most notable for these offerings. Bones are almost legendary in all forms of skating for performance and durability. Both companies also offer cheaper versions of "swiss" bearings that are made in China, but to the same specs with the same materials. Boss has Swiss Lite and Bones has Bones Reds.

If you're looking for an initial upgrade, I'd try Bones Reds as they run a little over $30 for a full set as opposed to $60+ for actual swiss bearings.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

thanks. i ran a search for "bearings" and that wasn't very helpful...

[mattzilla 0]

i use bones reds (5's), and i love them.

but i also have a set of black panthers ( ABEC 7's ), and HKD's (7's) that im itching to use.

[MDE3 0]

Remember an ABEC rating is only a measure of radial and lateral runout..where those numbers get smaller where the ABEC numbers get larger. These ratings have little to do with the pure quality of the bearing itself.

The measurement is purely of the ASSEMBLED bearing, not it's internal components. So in theory, a bearing which is equipped with 12 balls could have say 3 balls minutely larger than the others, and spaced uniformely at every 4th position, result in a higher ABEC number...because it would have less total radial and lateral runout, than the same bearing equipped with 12 uniform but slightly smaller balls....which bearing might fail more quickly?

ABEC ratings do not address the internal precision of machining tolerances of the components(balls and races)..but assume a certain level of compliance, ABEC ratings do not address durability, nor quality of alloys used in manufacture.

All this to say that there is lot's of high ABEC numbered bearings on the market which are in fact crap.....Go with the proven bearings...Boss Swiss were always smooth, fast and durable. The mini's were developed for low drag, and light weight...for long distance racing...not for the high impact loads of inline hockey...stick with the 608's if you want more reliability. Racers tended to swap bearings for every race.

[mattzilla 0]

the store i used to work at sold these really cheap abec 9s that kids would snap up because they were 9's, but i always had a hard time explaining to them that the abec rating doesnt really mean that much and that there is significant quality differences and durability differences.

that being said, that was a skate shop. i find skateboard bearings are made to withstand quite a beating due to the nature of skateboarding and that they hold up well. the bones reds are my choice, cheap and durable. ive never had an issue with them ( as i said earlier )

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

any feedback on 20pk bearings? I have 5-wheel goalie skates and I don't feel like buying two 16pks :D

[SickLife 2]

any feedback on 20pk bearings? I have 5-wheel goalie skates and I don't feel like buying two 16pks :D

the 20 pack's are for reasons like yours...

i just ordered some bones super swiss today. hope i like. for $40, can't beat it though.

[wk_style 0]

Swiss bearing, or Titanium, are the best ive used. Spin is nice and they last for what seems like forever.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

where are you guys getting em?

[sdcopp 1]

online, LHS, skateboarding shops in just about any given mall, etc.

[SickLife 2]

where are you guys getting em?

i got mine from inlinewarehouse

[TBLfan 25]

I was considering getting some swiss bearings and this helped me nicely, thanks guys.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

online, LHS, skateboarding shops in just about any given mall, etc.

I'll check thouse skate shops. never thought of that before...

[bigmack 0]

cant go wrong with swiss mini!

[TheSnake22 0]

anyone used swiss lites? how do they compare to regular swiss?

[windflare 0]

How are the K2 Accelerator ABEC 7 bearings? Anybody used them before?

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

The discussion begins and ends with:

Things are tanks and I play outdoor, clean them once a week and they're still going after a year. Only thing better would be the ceramics for durability.

[sdcopp 1]

anyone used swiss lites? how do they compare to regular swiss?

they're the BSB version of Bones Reds, a Swiss spec'd bearing made in China for cheaper. I for one would rather pay 30 for the Reds than 50-60 for the BSBs

[TheSnake22 0]

cool thanks

[philatangy 0]

Do hockey skates use 7mm or 8mm? I found a very cheap place to buy bones red, but am unsure which size.

Bones red 16pk

[sdcopp 1]

8mm

[philatangy 0]

8mm

Cheers.

Now I just gotta figure out if I'm goinna get bones reds or get swiss super six or bones swiss...I read that bones reds are equivalent to abec 5? What do you guys think? This place seems to have good deals on all of them. Currently, I have whatever abec 7's come with last years tours - so I guess probably any of these would be upgrades.

[sdcopp 1]

Bones are not ABEC rated. There's been multiple threads on ABEC vs Skate rated/non rated bearings, so I'd search if you want more info on that.

Basically though, ABEC is used by the engineering community for mechanical load properties whereas skate rated are designed for skating loads. I replaced the Abec 9's on my Wicked 7's with Reds, and the Reds are superior. If you can dish the doubled price tag, get the Super 6 or regular Swiss. I've found nothing better than standard Bones Swiss in the last 10 yrs, and skaters from across every discipline (hockey, speed, figure, quad, skateboarders, etc.) love them. Don't get hung up on ABEC ratings and just buy the best you can afford. Remember that ABEC rating also has nothing to do with quality or materials, just the engineering and design.

[philatangy 0]

Bones are not ABEC rated. There's been multiple threads on ABEC vs Skate rated/non rated bearings, so I'd search if you want more info on that.

Basically though, ABEC is used by the engineering community for mechanical load properties whereas skate rated are designed for skating loads. I replaced the Abec 9's on my Wicked 7's with Reds, and the Reds are superior. If you can dish the doubled price tag, get the Super 6 or regular Swiss. I've found nothing better than standard Bones Swiss in the last 10 yrs, and skaters from across every discipline (hockey, speed, figure, quad, skateboarders, etc.) love them. Don't get hung up on ABEC ratings and just buy the best you can afford. Remember that ABEC rating also has nothing to do with quality or materials, just the engineering and design.

Cheers!