Bones swiss.

[Chavo]

99% isopropyl alcohol also works well as a cleaner. I've only seen it at Safeway or Safeway-owned supermarkets (most guys sell the 92%). Skate bearings use oil instead of grease so you don't really need anything expensive or heavy duty.

[Thelonious P]

I've had some cheapy bearings for the past year and a half and they're absolutely fine, cost like a tenner, they're still spinning and riding great while I watch my mates bones reds disintegrate around me, weird

Spoke too soon, they've just started blowing out

[Upgrayedd]

Ran my set for years. Loved em

[Randozzi]

been skating the 6 ball version for about two years now, only had to clean them once.

[fulfillthedream]

I've had some cheapy bearings for the past year and a half and they're absolutely fine, cost like a tenner, they're still spinning and riding great while I watch my mates bones reds disintegrate around me, weird

Spoke too soon, they've just started blowing out

one of the worst things i've experienced while skating is a blown out bearing. i mostly have spares with me after a time i had to walk a mile back to my house skating some spot as a teen ager- shit really sucks having to hold a board in your hand and walking back all due to a bearing blowing a part. you just gotta keep em clean and rust free and they will usually last.

[Archers of Chaka]

Been rocking a set of Reds with no shields for half a year now, still going strong and not one has broke yet.

[AssBandit]

Any adult skater should have a pair of swiss.  Like after you turn a certain age, you Have to ride independent trucks. 

I usually clean my swiss with break or carb cleaner for cars.  Since I don't rock bearing covers, i don't have to take the wheels off and go through the whole dipping process. 


Sleazy:  Can you notice a difference in speed with the Ceramics verses regular Swiss?  Always thought about getting a pair, but never could justify the price, even on a homie discount level. 

[poor alice]

no bearings are worth ?120+
i have been skating the same set of enuff(small uk based budget skate hardware comapny) swiss made bearings for over a year now and only in the last moneth did one of them get broked, and this is after skating in the rain, cleaning them once and having my entire setup submerged in the worst water
they cost ?10, and are the smoothest bearings ive ever skated,  try them now thank me later

[Antonio_SC]

no bearings are worth ?120+
i have been skating the same set of enuff(small uk based budget skate hardware comapny) swiss made bearings for over a year now and only in the last moneth did one of them get broked, and this is after skating in the rain, cleaning them once and having my entire setup submerged in the worst water
they cost ?10, and are the smoothest bearings ive ever skated,  try them now thank me later

I had a set of enuff swiss too and my experience was totally different! After a month or so they became unskateable, I think they kind of "bended" and almost didn't spin at all even after cleaning them. A couple of the falled apart too after another week, maybe I had a bad set!

[360 frip]

Any adult skater should have a pair of swiss.  Like after you turn a certain age, you Have to ride independent trucks. 

I usually clean my swiss with break or carb cleaner for cars.  Since I don't rock bearing covers, i don't have to take the wheels off and go through the whole dipping process. 


Sleazy:  Can you notice a difference in speed with the Ceramics verses regular Swiss?  Always thought about getting a pair, but never could justify the price, even on a homie discount level. 

Why do North Americans say "pair" for a "set." Has it just become accepted as correct?

[i'm nocturnal.]

enuff as a whole are preety wack.

[Sleazy]

Any adult skater should have a pair of swiss.  Like after you turn a certain age, you Have to ride independent trucks. 

I usually clean my swiss with break or carb cleaner for cars.  Since I don't rock bearing covers, i don't have to take the wheels off and go through the whole dipping process. 


Sleazy:  Can you notice a difference in speed with the Ceramics verses regular Swiss?  Always thought about getting a pair, but never could justify the price, even on a homie discount level. 

for me they took some getting used to because they were faster when i first put them in and it messed up my timing. that said i was replacing an older set of swiss and got new wheels at the same time. so not exactly a scientific analysis.

the up front cost was higher and i took a while before i stepped to it. but i'm about to turn 40 and i'm at an age where my coworkers spend thousands on their hobbies so it didn't seem like a big deal to treat myself to a set of swiss ceramics and drop 120 on my birthday 3 or so years ago after skating pretty much my whole life. at the time i was just doing it for speed. now i realize it's also the cheapest option as they last way, way longer. i've never had a set of swiss last this long, be this good and not have a single one break. a year was pretty much max for me for swiss.

[AssBandit]

Any adult skater should have a pair of swiss.  Like after you turn a certain age, you Have to ride independent trucks. 

I usually clean my swiss with break or carb cleaner for cars.  Since I don't rock bearing covers, i don't have to take the wheels off and go through the whole dipping process. 


Sleazy:  Can you notice a difference in speed with the Ceramics verses regular Swiss?  Always thought about getting a pair, but never could justify the price, even on a homie discount level. 

for me they took some getting used to because they were faster when i first put them in and it messed up my timing. that said i was replacing an older set of swiss and got new wheels at the same time. so not exactly a scientific analysis.

the up front cost was higher and i took a while before i stepped to it. but i'm about to turn 40 and i'm at an age where my coworkers spend thousands on their hobbies so it didn't seem like a big deal to treat myself to a set of swiss ceramics and drop 120 on my birthday 3 or so years ago after skating pretty much my whole life. at the time i was just doing it for speed. now i realize it's also the cheapest option as they last way, way longer. i've never had a set of swiss last this long, be this good and not have a single one break. a year was pretty much max for me for swiss.

thanks for the real response.  i'm definitely down to try it now.  Kind of a toss up price wise with those China Swiss Ceramics, but I'd rather go for the gusto instead of half step.

[Schismatic]

are they really worth the money?

a hell of a lot of pros rep swiss,
are they really the shit?

Bones Swiss have changed a lot since I rode them last, which was around the time they stopped having built in spacers and there was really only one kind, no different grades, ceramics, etc. Heres my opinion:

They're good. Worth $50 (what mine cost 15 years ago)? Yeah. But, to keep performance you gotta maintain them. Clean them religiously, which you should do with any bearing but its especially important when you're paying a lot. Not saying an acetone bath every week is necessary, at least keep the shields wiped down and deep clean semi-regularly. Also, protect your investment with spacers and washers to reduce stress on bearings. That's important with any bearings.

That said; I don't ride Bones Swiss because I've been just as happy with cheaper alternatives. Spitfire Burners are a good bearing for under $20 and they're durable as hell. Been riding Swissfire for about 8 months with no problems and no signs of slowing down so I think they're a great deal for a higher quality bearing ($50 range).

Bones actually makes the cleaning bottle kit which is handy and cool to have if you got $15 burning a hole in your pocket. A flat bottom dish works too.

[poor alice]

no bearings are worth ?120+
i have been skating the same set of enuff(small uk based budget skate hardware comapny) swiss made bearings for over a year now and only in the last moneth did one of them get broked, and this is after skating in the rain, cleaning them once and having my entire setup submerged in the worst water
they cost ?10, and are the smoothest bearings ive ever skated,  try them now thank me later

I had a set of enuff swiss too and my experience was totally different! After a month or so they became unskateable, I think they kind of "bended" and almost didn't spin at all even after cleaning them. A couple of the falled apart too after another week, maybe I had a bad set!

I think either i've got a fantastic pair or you got terible one. They have been literally one of the best skate purchases in recent years. I'm still riding them and only one has given me a problem, I have another brand new set waiting to be skated so will see how they go too...

[the snake]

Bones actually makes the cleaning bottle kit which is handy and cool to have if you got $15 burning a hole in your pocket. A flat bottom dish works too.

a jar of pickles is perfect for that, the plastic thing in it resists to acethone so you can remove your bearings from it easily

[Seamus_McShamebag]

I gave up on Reds after having a bearing blowup sending my wheel into the sky while I was skating a pretty big bowl and leaving me on my ass wondering how I got there.  I tried Bones Swiss Ceramics and love them.  It's a "poor man can only afford the best" type of deal.   The huge plus is that not only do they last forever, they stay fast forever.  Every time I clean them and give them a spin they are just as fast as the day I set them up. 

Just buy the Bones Bearing cleaning unit, it's worth every penny.  If you want to cheap out then take a close look at one, you can make your own really cheap with a wide mouth plastic bottle, long bolt, a few nuts, a wing nut and some spacers.  These things clean the shit out of your bearings and will keep them fast and you'll get more life out of them.  As far as cleaner, I like to use Mineral Spirits which is cheap and you can find it in the paint thinner section of Home Depot.  This is good if you have bearings with plastic spacers or cages because it won't eat away at the plastic like acetone.  Also, it's white so you can just leave it in the bottle and reuse it until you notice it starting to turn gray indicating that it's dirty and needs to be replaced.  Just clean your bearings with the bottle, let them dry and then hit them each with a drop of lube.

Lastly, taking your shields off completely fucks up your bearing regardless of how often you clean them.  I have a few sets that I ran without shields because I was being core as fuck.  I cleaned them and just looking at them you can tell a difference compared to the ones I ran with shields.  The shield-less sets just look like hammered shit and you can feel how gnarled up they are when you spin them compared to the set that I have always kept the shields on. 

[j....soy.....]

Hey....is one bearing more durable than the next?

[Seamus_McShamebag]

I am convinced that ceramic is the way to go, the only ones I have tried are Bones Swiss Ceramics.  The fact that the bearings are actually harder than the bearing races has got to help kept them from deforming and allegedly they smooth out any imperfections in the races for this same reason.

Here is a quick rundown on ceramic...

Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) Ceramic Balls are formed from a new material suitable for applications where high loads, high speeds and extreme temeratures are factors. Long life and the need for minimal lubrication make this material appropriate for extreme applications. Silicon Nitirde is non-porous, non-magentic, non corrosive, lighter than steel and, in ball form, is harder than steel. Because ceramic balls are non-porous they are virtually frictionless and are capable of spinning faster than steel balls.

http://www.bocabearings.com/bearing-types/balls/ceramic-silicon-nitride--si3n4--series

[BRIX SKWIKZ]

SK8BOARDING = STEEL BALLS

[Thelonious P]

I've had some cheapy bearings for the past year and a half and they're absolutely fine, cost like a tenner, they're still spinning and riding great while I watch my mates bones reds disintegrate around me, weird

Spoke too soon, they've just started blowing out

one of the worst things i've experienced while skating is a blown out bearing. i mostly have spares with me after a time i had to walk a mile back to my house skating some spot as a teen ager- shit really sucks having to hold a board in your hand and walking back all due to a bearing blowing a part. you just gotta keep em clean and rust free and they will usually last.

It's a bummer whenever one of my bearings blow out it has to be on a trip or while i'm travelling a long distance to skate, never when I'm just going local, but funnily enough the wheel with the one blown out bearing still spun okay (mind you a little slanted and shaky) as the bearings balls and plastic ball casing had broken off and fallen out and the metal outer casing and middle where still intact creating a sort of ghost bearing, shit would've been annoying if I was kinda of ocd about my setup but it rolled without causing too much of a racket so I was coo  

enuff as a whole are preety wack.

I agree somewhat but I got some enuff precision bearings which lasted a year and a half, never been a fan of their boards or the company in general, but they were on sale and they turned out to be really decent bearings.

[fulfillthedream]

^ word. hope it works out. like many dudes on hear said a good investment into bearings is worth it if they are well maintained.

-also who'se on your sig- stylish front nose

[Thelonious P]

^ word. hope it works out. like many dudes on hear said a good investment into bearings is worth it if they are well maintained.

-also who'se on your sig- stylish front nose

Sleepy Dixon, from his Good For The Soul part, dude's sick

Sleepy Dixon's Part in GOOD FOR THE SOUL (7 of 9)	Small | Large

[sethoon]

ceramics also dont rust, you can skate in the rain and not worry about them locking up the next day. 
I wouldnt say ceramics are any faster then swiss regs, but i feel like they are smoother if that makes any sense

[fulfillthedream]

^ word. hope it works out. like many dudes on hear said a good investment into bearings is worth it if they are well maintained.

-also who'se on your sig- stylish front nose

Sleepy Dixon, from his Good For The Soul part, dude's sick
Sleepy Dixon's Part in GOOD FOR THE SOUL (7 of 9)

whooaa! thanks for putting me onto this! cheers homie!

[Thelonious P]

^ word. hope it works out. like many dudes on hear said a good investment into bearings is worth it if they are well maintained.

-also who'se on your sig- stylish front nose

Sleepy Dixon, from his Good For The Soul part, dude's sick
Sleepy Dixon's Part in GOOD FOR THE SOUL (7 of 9)

whooaa! thanks for putting me onto this! cheers homie!

No problem man! Stoked you're feeling it!

[pile]

mini logo

[Seamus_McShamebag]

This video shits on the theory that either Swiss or Ceramic bearings are any better than anything else...

ABEC, Swiss, Ceramic, and the Best Skateboard Bearings

[Sleazy]

how so? he confirmed that bones are harder and resistant to the kinds of things that steel balls aren't which lines up perfectly with how they are marketed by bones and why they last longer than bones swiss. the chip tolerence is obviously higher than swiss' dent tolernence.

then he unsucessfully tried to make the assertion that because swiss is an internal designation by bones that it doesn't mean that they are made better (when clearly that's not the case). that's like saying that because M3 and M5 are proprietary to BMW and not an industry standard or goverment standard that implies they meaningless (when clearly that's not the case). he also backed that up by stating that "swiss doens't imply a higher abec rating" right after going on a long rant about how abec ratings don't effect performance meaning that implying a higher abec rating wouldn't imply higher quality anyway acording to him. he can't even keep his own nonesense straight form one moment to the next. i'd say this guy is affliated with bones US competitors and this video is their marketing material. plus he's trying to bite alton brown's style.

regardless of all this guys bs, bones charges different prices for different products of increasing quality and bones reputation in skating is up there with indy. you going to let a tech tensor ad make you give up your indys when every skater you've every met back indy? come on now, just because someone tries to sound smart doesn't mean they aren't selling snake oil.

[floop]

Any adult skater should have a pair of swiss.  Like after you turn a certain age, you Have to ride independent trucks. 

i feel the same way.  i guess if i was 15 years old and had no money i would be looking for the cheapest bearings.  but at this point in my life i pretty much only buy the best shit.  life is too short.  i try to pass along my used stuff to kids in need to squelch any possible guilt i might have for spoiling myself.   honestly though, i find that cleaning bearings is too much of a pain in the ass to be worth it.  maybe i'm doing it wrong but the times i've done it i didn't notice any big changes, and the time it took was a pain.  i'd just rather buy new bearings and get rid of the other ones

i'm stimulating our economy