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| Bearing Reviews (4976 Posts)
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lubing bearings
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On 9/16/1999 greaser
wrote in from
(209.91.nnn.nnn)
Just a reminder to not over lubricate your bearings. It will actually slow them down in the long run. My dad has worked with all types of bearings his entire life. When a bearing is over lubricated, the heat that builds up while it is in motion has no where to vent because of the excess lube resulting in overheating of the bearing and eventual breakdown. As far as abec ratings there is not so much to worry about.Different bearings can handle different loads exerted on them so a slolam skater might want a bearing with specific tolerances and also one that can handle the load of the quick side to side motion. He also has many books on bearings and one for skf bearings. Skate on!
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ABEC-SHMABEC
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On 9/16/1999
Bob
wrote in from
(192.73.nnn.nnn)
Dude -- Right On!
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ABEC-SHMABEC
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On 9/15/1999 mule
wrote in from
(209.63.nnn.nnn)
You guys should do some research on ABEC
ratings are really all about. It is absolutely irrelevent to skateboarding, unless your in marketing. Is it a
coincidence that ABEC ratings became all the rage about the
same time spacers and speed rings dissapeared from the shelves
of shops and the minds of skaters? No it's not! Sell them
overpriced bearings with overhyped stats, but don't give
them any spacers; they will eat it up because they are more
interested in advertising than product. Don't be duped by
marketing BS, which is precisely what ABEC ratings amount
to in terms of skateboarding. If you don't believe me call
a few bearing suppliers (not skateboard distributors) and
ask them how relevent ABEC is to skateboards. Then, if you
want to ask an important question abotu the bearings you ride;
ask how many of them are made in a country where the workers are not abused and
have a standard of living that is anywhere close to yours.
Ofcourse to a majority of people this will just not be
important.......
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Bearings
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On 9/15/1999 Herb
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
I got in touch with a local FAFNIR distributor and they had some low grade FAFNIRS that were 4.50 each they're gonna look up some higher ABECs and get back to me, while I was looking I found a place that sells ABEC7 imports real cheap,how bad could they be? I'll be selling them for 16 bucks+shipping or come on down. I'll test them out myself to and if they suck I will tell ya cause I didn't buy that many!
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FAFNIRs
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On 9/15/1999 Herbn
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
No,but I don't want to buy a set to find out,if some one out here in the N.Y. area feels like lifting this shroud of mystery lets arrange for a little friendly race with a bike pacing. No one has even posted a price ,I'd guess higher than ceramics,low twenties (each bearing). The owners of these bearings only seem to race each other, so it seems. If there is an actual statistic like, "my friend paced me on his bike ,and on my favorite hill ,with Cherry Bombs ,the FAFNIRs were 2.5 mph faster than my Swiss" I've never read it.
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cleaning old bearings
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On 9/15/1999 rick
wrote in from
(216.164.nnn.nnn)
I have some 15-20 year old Sims German racing bearings that I want to clean and relube. I'd like to be green, but I dropped $6+ on a small bottle of degradable bearing degreaser, and let the bearing soak for a few days, and the only effect is that the gold shields are now discolored. I know that I can clean the grease from the open side with a old toothbrush, but I won’t be able to get to the side with the metal seal. Is my problem due to old grease, or do these green products? Any other suggestions?
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fafnirs
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On 9/14/1999 buddy hascal
wrote in from
(209.91.nnn.nnn)
herbn, Any evalution on the fafnir bearings?
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Ceramics
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On 9/13/1999 Herbn
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
Only what I've read,They haul ass but slow down to ABEC5 speeds quite quickly which puts them in race only catagory for me, I would only use em to breakem in then savem for when moneys on the line.
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Herb N
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On 9/13/1999
D T
wrote in from
(209.223.nnn.nnn)
Herb,
Whats your experience with ceramic bearings?
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Speed Demons New ABEC5
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On 9/13/1999 Herb N
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
These are also really fast bearings right out of the box,forever spin. They replaced my Hawk/NTN crap bearings those things got even stiffer, I made it around a corner with them,thought I was doing 40 cause I bombed the hill, but I went back and rebombed the hill with the speed demons and let me tell ya ,thats a whole different side of 40.I have to stick with my recommendation of Reflex ABEC5 I personnally have 2 sets and none of the sheilds have come out ,and even if the sheilds come out?, big deal.I rode recycled Swiss .Back to life from rusted solid,and abandoned at my shop in favor of new bearings. On a challenge, I soaked em in Triflo and worked em loose then blewem out with air,and relubed , with the seals out I ran them backwards for more than a year ,until recently when they got noticably loud even when relubed.Unless you dirt board or need to do silly lipslides on the dirt next to the street sheilds are really not that important, you may just need to relube a little more often.I'm gonna do a bearing/wheel speed test soon, will post results.
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Pig ABEC 3 w/spacers
spacers
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On 9/12/1999
Bob
wrote in from
(207.200.nnn.nnn)
Well, I was actually a bit disappointed with the actual bearings, but the spacers are useful. The
bearings (Pig Abec 3s) are OK, but I really don't find them any better than my $8 set of NMBs. I find
that with the whole spacer/speed washer set up, you can really tell that the higher Abec ratings make
NO difference in the ride. As we've said before in this forum, you want a quality bearing, but abec
does not rate quality.
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Pig ABEC 3 w/ spacers
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On 9/11/1999
D T
wrote in from
(209.223.nnn.nnn)
Bob, how do you like your pigs?how much?
Has anyone else used these, what did you think?
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Popping bearings out
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On 9/4/1999 Adam
wrote in from
(63.192.nnn.nnn)
Herb's advice is right on target. A truck axle is a great bearing installation/removal tool. I would avoid prying at installed bearings with any type of tool-- screwdriver, allen wrench, or otherwise, as Brian's experience proves. The only tool I've come across that works better than a truck axle is a skateboarding combo-wrench with a bearing tool on one stalk that looks like a stubby truck axle.
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what's the problem herb?
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On 9/4/1999 comrade12
wrote in from
(206.105.nnn.nnn)
to each his own. if it works it works, no need to be anal.
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Bearing remover
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On 9/4/1999 Herb N
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
I was waiting to see what the answer to that "dumb question" would be and jez it never fails, screwdriver or small allen wrench? everybody that owns a skateboard already owns the best bearing remover. Are you ready? use the axle of the truck on your board stick it into the bearing but not quite all the way through and pry to the side. To press bearings in, put the bearings on the truck,the side you want facing out towards the hanger and push the wheel down over the bearing flip the wheel put the spacer on the axle and push the wheel over the bearing with the spacer already in place and if you started with the inner bearing your wheel is in place and ready to roll just tighten down the axle nut. A Fix Stik is a little better for pushing bearings into really hard wheels,I've done this thousands of times and have never ruined a bearing,unless the cage was already broken .
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Popping bearings out
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On 9/4/1999
brian
wrote in from
(206.105.nnn.nnn)
to get the bearings out you could either buy one of those
tools they sell or use a screw driver or small allen wrench.
if you have a board with messed up bearings in it, it would
be good to practice on that. just put the tool you are
using into the bearings and pull up. do this gently until
it works loose enough to just pull out. BE REALLY CAREFULL!
I messed up three bearings using this method. be especially
careful if your wheels are small cuz the bearings tend to be
alot tighter.
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Popping bearings out
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On 9/3/1999
Michelle
wrote in from
(132.185.nnn.nnn)
Hi, dumb question (i'm new to this) how do you get the bearings out of the wheels? The guys at the skate shop just like did it. I can't remember how he did it.
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Ninja bearings
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On 8/31/1999
Keith Fellmy
wrote in from
(134.68.nnn.nnn)
You think 75 Canadian bucks is expensive (I think so too)? Try 235 dollars for a set of Ninja ceramic bearings. they aren't even the 608 size. They are smaller but wow are they fast. They hold up to 75 mph on a luge too. these are the fastest bearings I've ever rode down a hill on. WHEW!!!!!!
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swiss bearings
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On 8/31/1999
pierre
wrote in from
(207.253.nnn.nnn)
I have a set of swiss Bones that are very fast but the metal shield rusted after 2 rides, i also have a set of Boss swiss,
they are as fast if not faster than the Bones and never rusted but they cost way too much, i found them in a blade shop (what was i doin' there?) for half price (75$ Can) for 16. The old Germans abec3 were very durable and cheap if you can find some.
I use some electric motor grease that keep my bearings lubricated for a long time, it is not as fast as oil but i don't want to take all my free time relubing my bearings
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Lucky's, china bones reds, reflex
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On 8/31/1999 gut up kid
wrote in from
(204.210.nnn.nnn)
I used tri-flow on all of these:
Got the lucky's first (back when they only made the green shielded ones-abec3 I believe). They rolled quite well, fast but noisy. Didn't last long though. While carving, one of them disintegrated with all the little balls rolling out. 16.00 bucks a set.
Next I bought China bones with the red rubber shields. These were very fast, and quiet, the rubber shield didn't rattle and you didn't have to worry about denting it with wrenches and what not. They even came with bearing spacers...hey, what more can you ask for. Very good bearings. 14.00 bucks a set. Economical too.
Next I bought Reflex bearings (blue shield abec-5) from alien workshop. After reading all the good comments I figured I'd find out what all the hype is about. Spent 24.00 bucks on the set (what was I thinking). On my first ride one of the metal shields popped out. Their noisy and a lot slower than china bones. When cruising on flat, I push twice as much as I did with china's.
I'll stick with china bones. Fast and inexpensive.
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Lucky vs. China Bones vs. Boss
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On 8/30/1999
D.T.
wrote in from
(209.223.nnn.nnn)
I am curious to know, how everyone feels about lucky, china bones, and boss bearings or any others. Has anyone had any problems with these? Are some of these built better than others, faster, need more maintence, etc? I've heard alot about swiss bones, are they really that much better or is all the hype psychalogical?
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Hawk bearings
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On 8/29/1999 Herbn
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
My first impression was ,fancy container,but they seemed,dry lubed,ok. They seemed smooth and fast for a couple of rides ,same as any new bearings ,after yesterdays rides (and after posting) I noticed one of the back wheels was buzzing to a stop after a few short spins, a little triflon cleared it up, I didn't want pry a seal off so I snuck the triflon past the sheild and wiped off the excess,this is halfassed but these things got like 8 miles on them 10 at the most, I'm a shop owner and I really feel like sending these overpriced ,monogramed, using his X game name to cash in big time, crappy bearings back to birdhouse on their dime (call tag), they look exactly like the NTNs of old ,they were never good,with fancy red sheilds on one side ,not a abec5 anywhere on the bearing ,only on the bottom of the container does it say theyre ABEC5 ,maybe the tin they come in is ABEC5 cause the bearings surely are not.
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About WD40....
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On 8/27/1999
brian
wrote in from
(206.105.nnn.nnn)
I used to use WD40 on my short board alot but when i
went to change the bearings there was this nasty, nasty
build up up inside there.
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Tri-flow
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On 8/23/1999
flexer
wrote in from
(208.243.nnn.nnn)
tri-flow is the best stuff you can use to make your bearings go very very very very fast. now my swisses spin for 4 minutes yes there abec5s
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Wd40
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On 8/22/1999 Herb n
wrote in from
(207.198.nnn.nnn)
From what I have heard the WD in WD-40 stands for water dispersion I have heard that its not much for lubricating you may be racing on very clean dry bearings that have a little residual oil left on them, this may work for a while ,it may work very well if you keep getting new bearings but some lube like triflon will be better in the long run.
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