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| Bearing Reviews (4976 Posts)
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bones
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On 12/21/2000 mikez
wrote in from
(196.2.nnn.nnn)
does anyone know the performance differance on average between Reds and swiss?
Is it really worth the extra money?
(I am the thousandth person to post in bearing reviews he he)
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s-love bearings
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On 12/21/2000
hugh r
wrote in from
(205.216.nnn.nnn)
stonelove,
You will need to use a degreaser... birchwood casey gun scrubber works well... HR
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reds
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On 12/21/2000 salty potatoe
wrote in from
(196.2.nnn.nnn)
Can I safely skate bones reds without the red sheild on them?
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cleanig
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On 12/21/2000
stonelove
wrote in from
(195.37.nnn.nnn)
how do you really clean shielded bearings???
does the dirt really come out?
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Harry Balls
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On 12/20/2000
Kaylee
wrote in from
(209.43.nnn.nnn)
The best thing to do to your Harry Balls is throw them on the rainboard or the dirtboard and get almost ANY other bearing for your main board, then you will be faster. The ones I got with my 17" flexdex SUK!! Pure crapola beyond help.
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faster balls for harry
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On 12/20/2000
roger
wrote in from
(198.206.nnn.nnn)
James,
To get the most out of any bearing it is important to keep them clean, lubed, and free of dirt and water, there is a great deal of information to be found here and in the archives. I think Harry Ball bearings are double shielded (if so you will have to remove one of the shields) and lubed with gel rather than oil. Gel lasts longer, is more resistant to dirt and water, but very slow when cold. Oil is faster but may require more maintenance and have little/no protection from water.
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china bones reds
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On 12/20/2000 karl roberts
wrote in from
(195.92.nnn.nnn)
i think reds are the sweetest bearings available and are real cheap i bought some of the new speed demons with clear shields and there crap
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bearings
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On 12/20/2000 James
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
what could i do to my Harry ball bearings to make them faster?'
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breakin in
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On 12/19/2000 ed
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
I would say it takes about 45-60 minutes to break in china bones. their the best bearings for under $30, way faster then my black panthers, and cheaper to.
skate hard
ed
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washers
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On 12/15/2000
hugh r
wrote in from
(205.216.nnn.nnn)
d-uh,
I would put the polished side to the bearings if it were me... HR
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speed washers
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On 12/15/2000 D-UH
wrote in from
(209.53.nnn.nnn)
Hey, does it matter which way speed washers face? I just got some and noticed there is a sort of convex, polished side, and a flat side. No they are not like the Randal ones, much smaller. I assume the polished side rides against the bearings, am I right?
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Chinas
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On 12/15/2000
Jon
wrote in from
(195.92.nnn.nnn)
how long does it take to breakin my reds?
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WD-40
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On 12/14/2000 Pre-School Rider
wrote in from
(209.198.nnn.nnn)
While cleaning up a board to sell,I found that two of my rides had not been wiped down when I parked them. Because they had been rode shortly after a snowstorm,the road salt dust had badly covered the shields with a coat of Rust!Yuck! luckily,I remembered that wd-40 is a rust inhibitor,and with some fine emery cloth,paper towels,and the Wd-40,I was able to remove the rust.I still use Singer Sewing machine oil inside the bearings,but that Wd-40 saved two sets of bearings,and several washers/spacers as well.Hey,what works for the SAC works for me!
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LPS
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On 12/14/2000
John Gilmour
wrote in from
(172.137.nnn.nnn)
When I was younger I read an article that said Henry Heser used to pop both seals off his IKS bearings and run straight WD-40. When I was lighter that worked, despite the fact that WD-40 is not a lubricant it is a corrosion inhibitor that was designed to protect missiles in missile silos. However it works well for a lot of things. I like LPS 2 spray lubricant if I'm cleaning my bearings frequently. Not cleanings bearings a lot if you use a low viscosity lube is like turning abec 5's into abec 1's in a matter of days. Grease is great for high temps and oil is good for low temps. Below 20 degrees greased bearings really don't spin well. Sewing machine oil is good as well as it doesn't see much load. Ideally you want a lubricant with low viscosity that is matched well to the load bourne by a single bearing in each wheel. I find that most of the packaged lubes are no better than commercially available lubes.
First get the crap out of your bearings. You can either use environmentally friendly citrus degreaser or super environmentally unfriendly explosive and dangerous starter fluid for cars (pure ether that will get you wasted if you are not careful about breathing it- Also being highly volatile you can easily blow up your house if you are working with it indoors and some idiot switches on a light or you are too near a pilot light or thermostat).. Note that anything which evaporates quickly will cool the bearings causing condensation- so as soon as you finish spraying the crap out of the bearing place them in a warm place like a preheated dish covered with a lint free cloth to heat the bearing above room temp to stop any chance for condensation. Do not spin a dry bearing. Now add your lube. No more than 4 drops. For best results clean every 3miles of use. The best way to do this is to buy 5 sets of bearings at one and clean them all together. Sort out yout fastest 8 out of the batch of 50---there will be considerable variance. Those are your set of fast bearings for race day. I talk about this stuff, but rarely do I ever do it. In fact the last time I raced I used some stock bearings I borrowed that were dirty- gotta send those back clean to Ed Economy.
Make sure you remove any outside residue of oil from the outer bearing seal by dipping a cloth into starter fluid and gently wiping the bearing shield without coming close to the inner race or the degreaser will get wicked into the bearing ruining everything. Now take a drill or air gun and spin your wheels up to about 40mph. The excess oil will spin out. Wipe this stuff off again. Now your bearings will stay cleaner longer as oil tends to collect dirt. That is the anal retentive bearing master's secret formula. I used to clean my bearings a lot when downhill races were really close. I am sure if I had personally cleaned and selected Chris Chaput's bearings he would havecome home with several Gold Medals from Seattle.
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Lube
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On 12/13/2000 LowRider
wrote in from
(169.237.nnn.nnn)
Dave,
My dads a barber. I got access to it. Ive used it before and found it to be a fine, thin oil. I agree with yah, its good stuff.
LowRider
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lube
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On 12/13/2000
Hamm
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
I, like Hugh, own a few weapons and also have found that gun oil works well in bearings. But recently I've been using the Wahl oil that I lube my hair clippers with. Good stuff! Very much reminds me of sewing machine oil.
Dave
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lubes
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On 12/13/2000
hugh r
wrote in from
(205.216.nnn.nnn)
Lowrider,
I'm not sure about changing vescosity for the seasons (might be a good idea, hopefully some of the other guys have some experience) But I would avoid wd-40... it tends to grab a lot of dust.
I like Rem-oil with teflon the best. But sometimes I will use sewing machine or key oil (for locks)
You'll find that there will be as many opinions on lubes as their are guys who use them!
My two cents... HR
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spin
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On 12/13/2000
hugh r
wrote in from
(205.216.nnn.nnn)
King,
The best things that you can do for your bearings are to keep them clean and lubed. Check through the archives for lots of ways to do that.
Also remember that unloaded wheel spin is not a good measure of how well your bearings will perform under load. An unlubed bearing will generally out spin a lubed one, but it won't be safe or last as long.
Long wheel spins are cool but they aren't whats most important. A bearing that holds up well and is fast under load is what really counts... HR
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Grease vs. Oil Lubed Bearings
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On 12/13/2000 LowRider
wrote in from
(169.237.nnn.nnn)
Im newbie to all this.
Does weather have an affeect on what lube I should use in my bearing?
Whats best? Oil in the summer (hot weather?) or grease? Its winter, what now? Oil, Grease? TRi-flow? WD-40?
Lowrider
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Lucky Sevens
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On 12/12/2000 king
wrote in from
(128.175.nnn.nnn)
I bought a new set of Lucky 7's for my new gravity Super G's. They are suprisingly quiet and smooth, but even with speed rings and firm wheel placement, they don't spin that long when hand spun. They don't spin nearly as long as my buddy's rusted up stock bearings that came with his hypercarve, and they're like two years old. How can I adjust my setup to achieve maximum spin, while keeping them tight and responsive. Some of you guys that seem to really know what's going on have posted suggestions such as breaking them in first, then removing them and cleaning them, I have considered this, but I want to know If there is anything additional I can do to make my wheels fast as hell. Any general information on the L7's would be appreciated as well.
Keep Cruzin - King
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Swedish bearings
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On 12/10/2000
John Gilmour
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
Anyone find any good swedish bearings out there. I like the steel quality (low oxide content) and nice tight tolerances of the swedish bearings.
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bearing removal tool
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On 12/8/2000 rene
wrote in from
(216.101.nnn.nnn)
The cheapest tool possible that we have found after our extensive testing over the years in the huge arena of skateboarding world wide we have found that u can actually remove your bearings with a standard grade steel axle that comes on the skate truck that you removed your wheels from, what do u know, good thing we are consultants to the NASA program and figured this one out!
:c)
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hubcaps
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On 12/6/2000
nobody
wrote in from
(209.240.nnn.nnn)
Roger,
hey thanks for the link i didnt even know something like that existed.unfortunetly i didnt see the hubcap for the latter side of the extremewheelz.is it just a onesided hubcap? removable.yeah u got me there,well u can remove them (with some effort) but not affix them back on right away.as for longevity they last about one year. iv gone through one set.ill post a pic as soon as i get my new puter around xmas.thanks again for the feedback.
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Single bearings
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On 12/5/2000
kaspian
wrote in from
(208.244.nnn.nnn)
For Groove Champion:
You can buy single German-made GMN bearings from www.oldschoolskates.com. Last time I checked, these were on sale for $1.65, but the regular price is not much higher (maybe $2.50). As I recall, they charge actual shipping costs, so the postage wouldn't be much.
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dust covers
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On 12/5/2000
hugh r
wrote in from
(205.216.nnn.nnn)
The best removable/flexible dust covers I have seen were made by using packing tape across the face of the wheel... HR
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