Which bearings would you guys recommend to me if I don't care about them being super fast, I just want them to hold up super long without ever cleaning them? They just need to be ok in terms of speed, and stay that way virtually forever.
There are often two different ways of going down the bearing path.
Some swear by the Bones Swiss, initial spend is a bit more, but they last a long time, can go through many sets of wheels and hold up really well (for the most part for most people) for a long, long time.
Others go more for whatever they can get, Spitfire Cheapshots, Modus Black or Mini logo bearings, skate them for as long as the wheels last and then it is new wheels with new bearings time. Their thinking is usually get bearing that work - yes all three of those work fine for a budget bearing - don't need to spend a whole lot, leave the bearings in the wheels when done and just the small initial outlay every time works out better for them.
Either way, I have both options going on and think they are both good, as far as Bones Swiss really do hold up a long time for me, but then when trying some of the cheaper bearings, just to see how they go, when I am not going super fast and just rolling around, the cheap ones do work well and I have no complaints about them, don't feel like they are a lot slower than Swiss, don't need to pump my guts out to hit every transition wall or push and push and push from one side of a park to the other, etc.
In that way, you can spread the cost out and get new bearings every time you get new wheels and have that crispy smooth roll every time, which is what those people do and what I found setting up these ones on some boards over the last year or so.
I also have Super Reds and quite a few other mid range bearings too, all of which work great, many of which I have not really had to look after a whole lot, or just give them a quick spray and they hold up fine. I keep shields on and never take them completely apart to clean either, for that matter.