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Skateboarding => Shoes & Gear => Topic started by: WWD4D? on October 19, 2010, 06:16:04 PM
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So for the longest time I have ridden my bearings with the shields on. I mean, it's pretty obvious that it's the smart thing to do, it blocks dirt and other crap from getting into your bearings and keeps from messing them up. I've ridden shieldless a few times in the past, but after like 4 or 5 days the bearings are just done and won't spin fast at all anymore. So from these past experiences I've always been one to just leave the shields on, even though so many people believe in popping them off. I've always thought it was just some stupid trend that people did only cause pros did it to make them louder.
I usually go through bearings pretty fast anyways though and they never last me too long, so I got a set of random mixed used bearings from a friend. They were given to me with the shields already popped off, but I didn't have any other bearings at the time, so I decided to put them on my board anyways because that's all I had. Well, within a few days as expected the bearings were all slow and laggy, but i didn't have any other bearings to put in and I was too low on cash to buy new ones, so I decided to just ride the slowed down bearings for a little while longer until i could get new ones. After another week of riding though I noticed that they all of a sudden spin really fast, as if they were brand new. They went from supper laggy to fast as fuck in just a weeks time. They were shitty for a week, but after riding em for a while i guess the dirt just flies out and theyre fast again, who knows. It's been a few weeks now, been skating close to every day, rode through some dirty grounds and I'm still riding this set of shieldless bearings and they're going faster than ever. So could this whole "shieldless is faster" thing really be true?
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probably if they're bones swiss.
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Bearings (whatever kind) roll fastest when the bearings and the races are free of shit... including oils. When you take the shields off nothing collects, so for a time your bearings are way faster. The shitty thing is they degrade quicker. Some like bones will last longer than some of the other cheaper brands, but eventually they all suck shit. I used to take the shields out but now I find that if I just take one side out and keep the open side in (towards the wheel hub) I get the same affect; they're a little sluggish at first then wicked fast. And they last!
I got Bones red ceramics in right now - single shield shield - and they're fast as fuck. I've been riding them for more than 6 months now and they're awesome. I throw a drop (really, one drop) of oil in there every three or four weeks and it's all good!
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I just noticed your username isn't "WD-40?".
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Shields off bearings last longer and go faster. Nothing more to it. Nobody believes it until they try it, then they never go back.
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Will they get fucked up easier tho?
my bearing shields pop off after like a week anyway and i tend to just leave them like that, but doesnt it shorten their life?
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I ride swiss no shields. If you skate everywhere i would not take them off. but if you drive to spots rather than skate then i'd say it's a go. I've noticed that having shields on traps dirt inside but with no shields the faster you go the more the dirt is forced away from the core of the bearings and to the outside of your wheel.
I've skated the same set of bearings for 2 years now, I only clean them with gun oil and rubbing alcohol, then an air compressor.
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To clean the bearings I use a citrus based bike chain cleaner once the shields are popped, skating in the winter in the Uk is very wet so the shields go back on about nowish. But yeah the dirt flies out my bearings, they last longer and my bearings seem to be faster than most peole I skate with.
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Will they get fucked up easier tho?
my bearing shields pop off after like a week anyway and i tend to just leave them like that, but doesnt it shorten their life?
No. Don't ask why. It doesn't make sense. But they last longer. Just do it. Bearings last me for years and still spin fast as fuck.
Sidenote: to those new to this, take of the SHIELDS and NOT THE CROWNS. You take out the crowns and your bearings will blow out quickly.
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a must
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Shields off bearings last longer and go faster. Nothing more to it. Nobody believes it until they try it, then they never go back.
DONE.
I don't do it to be louder either, that's regular.
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i've been riding with the shields on for pretty much my entire skate life.
imagine how clean your car would stay if you had no windows of windshields.
imagine how much faster you'd go with the additional drag.
people ride with the shields off because the pros do it. its same reason why people ride their wheels graphic side in, because the pros do it. people are fuckin lame and unoriginal.
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^^^
Yeah, that's what I thought at first too. Like I said earlier I've popped the shields off of bearings before on numerous occasions and they turn to shit within like 4 days, and I'll immediately replace them after that. The trick is though to just keep on riding them even when they're slow and laggy for like a week or so longer, then after that they get fast as fuck again. I don't know why, but they just get super fast. I always just threw em out because I thought they were done for, but if you just keep on riding em they'll wear back in and be fast as hell.
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it actually makes sense that they would go faster, bearing companies put grease in their bearings which can get dirty and clog shit up. the shields trap all of this grease and dirt inside, but if you take them off, all that dirt and grease can just fall out.
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this thread fascinates me.
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i've been riding with the shields on for pretty much my entire skate life.
imagine how clean your car would stay if you had no windows of windshields.
imagine how much faster you'd go with the additional drag.
people ride with the shields off because the pros do it. its same reason why people ride their wheels graphic side in, because the pros do it. people are fuckin lame and unoriginal.
Yeah tell me about it, I liked everyone way more when they weren't all sellouts. They used to have integrity :'(
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this thread fascinates me.
I seriously never took out shields before, do you use a razor blade?
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^^^
If the shields are rubber, then yeah you can just pop em off with a razor blade.
If they're metal shielded, you're gonna have to pop the C-ring off, then the shield should just come right off.
If they're metal shielded but it's crimped on and there's crimped tabs holding the shield on, then there's no way to take em off.
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this thread fascinates me.
I seriously never took out shields before, do you use a razor blade?
It's quite easy. Just use needle or something similar and poke from open side of bearing between crown and outer ring. Those rubber shields will just pop out.
http://www.bonesbearings.com/support/maintenance/ (http://www.bonesbearings.com/support/maintenance/)
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this thread fascinates me.
I seriously never took out shields before, do you use a razor blade?
yeah bones ones just pop off.
i had an ocd about cleaning them a few years ago but always put the shields back on.
i know lots of folks leave them off, but the streets...they seem so dirty.
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I've only done it with some cheap ones, and the balls fell out before I even skated them. I guess I did it wrong...
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Expand Quote
Expand Quote
this thread fascinates me.
I seriously never took out shields before, do you use a razor blade?
yeah bones ones just pop off.
i had an ocd about cleaning them a few years ago but always put the shields back on.
i know lots of folks leave them off, but the streets...they seem so dirty.
(http://www.bonesbearings.com/images/graphics/bearing_exploded-lg.jpg)
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