bearing shields on or off?

[fulfillthedream]

whats the advantage with having them popped off? seen many people doing this.

[brokenheadphone]

My brother used to ride like that, as did a few other people I knew.

Popping the shields off can make the bearings run faster because without the seals you have less friction. Also, all the lubricant will probably come out and they'll get a lot louder too. The ride is much less smooth also. Other downsides are that you're exposing the cages and balls to the elements, which means they'll get dirty and the bearings will wear out a lot faster. I'd imagine that you have a much higher likelihood of breaking a bearing with the seals popped off.

Personally I'd rather have a decent set of bearings that I take care of and replace when necessary than ride around on ones with popped shields, but that's just me.

[Archers of Chaka]

I'm currently riding a set of shake junt abec 5's, which are pretty budget bearings, popped the shields off and so far it's been three months and they're still going strong. Whenever I pop the shields off bearings they always end up lasting longer than when I'd keep em on, and whenever they slow down just skate real fast or bomb a hill and they're fast again.

[john04o8]

looks like dirt gets in there faster if you do it that way

[Archers of Chaka]

looks like dirt gets in there faster if you do it that way

You'd think that, but it's not true. I thought the same thing at first too.

[noileum]

Expand Quote

looks like dirt gets in there faster if you do it that way

[close]

You'd think that, but it's not true. I thought the same thing at first too.

although dirt gets in easier it also gets out of there easier as well.  with shields on the shit that gets in there stays in there.

obv anytime you're skating through a lot of damp shit is going to make them wear faster, but that's true of shields/no shields

[john04o8]

i noticed some new bearings have no shields already but have you seen those consolidated bearings? they called filters and they got tiny holes, im guessing dirt reasons as well, cool box design too CIGARETTE BOX haaha

[finknoos]

I'm currently riding a set of shake junt abec 5's, which are pretty budget bearings, popped the shields off and so far it's been three months and they're still going strong. Whenever I pop the shields off bearings they always end up lasting longer than when I'd keep em on, and whenever they slow down just skate real fast or bomb a hill and they're fast again.

same, though mine have been like a year now

[Stonesthrowplease]

i was breaking bearings all the time(with shields on) until like a year ago i started popping the shields off and its been alot better. Like was said earlier i think with shields when shit gets in the bearing it stays there. also a couple times the shield got dented into the bearing and totally wrecked it and that dont happen anymore with no shields

[brokenheadphone]

You can also clean your bearings every now and then and replace bad shields. But if you're riding cheapos, the shields are probably pretty weak and you probably can't get replacement shields for them anyway.

If your truck axles slip just enough your bearings will get damaged. Installing your bearings by bashing your wheel into the truck axle is also a surefire way to jack up your bearings before you even ride them.

Lastly a lot of the bearings on the market are just varying degrees of the same cheap crap from the same Chinese factories. If you're going to ride cheapos, you might as well look into buying a bunch of bearings directly from a bearing supplier. Even in smaller quantities, you can probably find them for $5-6 a set if you look around. Better than spending $15 for essentially the same thing with shiny colored packaging.

[fulfillthedream]

i was breaking bearings all the time(with shields on) until like a year ago i started popping the shields off and its been alot better. Like was said earlier i think with shields when shit gets in the bearing it stays there. also a couple times the shield got dented into the bearing and totally wrecked it and that dont happen anymore with no shields

what bearings where they? i was skating some bones swiss, that i got last summer until i got water in em, and one by one they started blowing out. i noticed some rust. i just got some bones super reds, didn't have the hook up to get swiss this time.

[H8R part 4]

shields on.
while it might keep some dirt in, its keeps the big damage causing debris, out.



 

[Stonesthrowplease]

im sure they were bones reds . i had an mass collection of them for a while from working a distributor for a bit. Im still skating reds actually and they have been way better about the breaking since popping the shields off . it could all be random dont know if the shields on or off actually make a difference in that 

[ChildoftheGhetto]

they break in a week regardless.

[choke mayne]

shields off means the dirt that goes in goes out. i just buy grind king rims though, they make me feel like a real p.i.m.p.