Which Bearings Are You Guys Running?

[max power]

Swiss 6's for life.

[Noble Experiment]

Currently rocking a mix of Modus Blacks, Super Reds, and one Swiss 6, all with shields popped off. They get the job done.

[maggotspawn]

Those fake Bones Swiss were POS bearings, they were making noise after one day of skating. I complained to the E-bay seller and he refunded my money for the 2 sets I bought. I'm paranoid now, I'm just going to order them direct from Powell now.

[MaitlandPrivado]

Those fake Bones Swiss were POS bearings, they were making noise after one day of skating. I complained to the E-bay seller and he refunded my money for the 2 sets I bought. I'm paranoid now, I'm just going to order them direct from Powell now.

I wouldn't buy from ebay or amazon but any reputable skate shop whether brick and mortar or online like SW, Tactics, Daddies, CCS, etc. will have the real thing.

[Willie]

Expand Quote

Those fake Bones Swiss were POS bearings, they were making noise after one day of skating. I complained to the E-bay seller and he refunded my money for the 2 sets I bought. I'm paranoid now, I'm just going to order them direct from Powell now.

[close]

I wouldn't buy from ebay or amazon but any reputable skate shop whether brick and mortar or online like SW, Tactics, Daddies, CCS, etc. will have the real thing.

Yeah, I was doing ok on eBay and then I got those fakes and got spooked. There are a few bigger outfits that have an eBay presence that might be cheaper than your local but if it seems like a great deal it probably isn't.

[maggotspawn]

http://www.oustbearings.com
Anybody ever hear of Oust bearings? Apparently a lot of downhill guys use them.

[backinaction]

InlineWarehouse is a sister company of SkateWarehouse, so I think I trust them.  They have Bones bearings cheap, although the best deals are on sets of 16.

Currently Swiss pricing is $43 (plus shipping) for one or two sets (16 bearings) for $80 (free shipping).  SW has one set for $60.

Two sets of Swiss 6 for $89.

https://www.inlinewarehouse.com/Bones_Skate_Bearings/catpage-BONESBEAR.html

[maggotspawn]

InlineWarehouse is a sister company of SkateWarehouse, so I think I trust them.  They have Bones bearings cheap, although the best deals are on sets of 16.

Currently Swiss pricing is $43 (plus shipping) for one or two sets (16 bearings) for $80 (free shipping).  SW has one set for $60.

Two sets of Swiss 6 for $89.

https://www.inlinewarehouse.com/Bones_Skate_Bearings/catpage-BONESBEAR.html

They aren't an authorized Bones Bearings dealer, according to the Skate One website.
I wouldn't mess around, and just use authorized dealers or buy direct from Powell.

[spanyard]

I had good luck with the Bones Race Reds with the built in spacers.

[Diocletian]

I wanted a fresh summer complete and knew I was gonna get Bones as usual. Usually the Swiss 6. This time around I tried something different: the Swiss Labyrinth L2’s. These bearings are insane. Fresh out of the box at the local park I was getting too much speed, they felt even faster than the six balls which didn’t make sense. But that’s not a bad thing.

They’re dead silent, moreso than any other bearing when new. They also have the Swiss shield on both sides of the bearing so I have no idea whether there’s any with the cage facing out or in, in my wheels. Highly recommend these bearings.

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

Does the inner race stick out enough that you can crank your axel nut?  The extended you can do this which is why I like them.....to me it's mind blowing.  It's the way a bearing should work.  You should never crank anything back a quarter turn.......

[Switch FS K-Swiss Grind]

I went a bit gear crazy uhhh in 2018 and ended up buying two sets of the cortina "pro" bearings (among a bunch of other shit), a Kyle Walker set and either Elijah Berle or Nak, i forget. I liked them for a week then hated them. They squeaked like they were rusty or something. I ended up putting a set on a full setup I built for a friend who had lost his board. We went skating and I could hear them squeak each time he rolled past, I almost felt bad for giving them to him.
I saw him the other day, he's had those bearings 4 - 6 months now and they've actually really broken in nicely. The squeaking noise is gone and they're loud and dry, and spin super easy. I had a roll on them and they're now probably the best bearings I've skated other than Bones Swiss.

I talked a lot of shit on them at the time so I thought I'd post this to atone for my crimes.

[Xen]

Small ride: Bones Big Balls, popped shields

Big ride: Swiss Six, popped shields

Cruiser: Tekton 6-Ball (Built in speed washers and spacers), shields



Used but not abused, cleaned, lubed and sitting on ice:

Zealous 'greens' - thick grease, built in spacers and rings (I rotate these out with my cruiser bearings)
Indy blacks - still going strong
Bronson G3s popped shields
Spit Burners (Thanks Reed!) never got around to skating them

[munchbox]

My cruiser has been riding the same Reds for about 5 years now. Those things regularly go through rain, dirt, mud, and dust and still roll flawlessly. I've been through 3 pairs of Swiss on my 'regular' board in the same time span.

did you ride them down a coke mountain or something? i need to know whats in between them bearings and stuff it in mine

[Shuh]

Anyone try Bones Big Balls yet

[satan]

When did Bones bearing prices jump 50%? I stopped paying attention to prices and just started looking again this past summer.

What's a good bearing for $20? $30? $40?


I'm fairly gentle on bearings nowadays, I rarely roll thru water or land primo enough to get bad axle slip. Not that I'm super on it, just old..

Bones Swiss 6. Seem like they take longer to break in than regular (2000's) Swiss but I also can't rule out me being slower now.
Pushing a year old and never cleaned them, did add a couple drops of Speed Cream a few months ago. My local curb spot is a dirt planter so they get dusty/dirty, even muddy a few times.
My only gripe about them is they don't have the same zing sound as regular Swiss. I worry that ppl won't know that a G is coming.
Gonna clean and relube soon.


Old Bones Reds. Great for the price. Not as fast as Swiss but accelerated pretty easily, lil loud but a nice zing. Had them for years but skated off and on, cleaned them randomly. Have used them to test lubes, Boeshield is slow, should try penetrating oil next.


I'm curious about Oust.
Mullen was sponsored (involved?) for a while and the bushings still use the Uber name. I think they were claiming that freestyle and 360's put stress on bearings that their design was better equipped to handle. I'm pretty sure that's from deep groove races and it seems like a normal option when you look at industrial bearing catalogs.
Also saw a vid that said the top downhill slalom guys all used them. That might mean something for its true.

Their Met-OL lube is supposed to be good stuff. Apparently fishermen love it for reel oil.

[Frank]

i run the "still pretty aight" 9 ball edition abec z rated with lost popped shields by this brand called assorted.

got em basically dirt cheap and they do the job. i like that they all look and ride a little different, adds character.

[Xen]

Anyone try Bones Big Balls yet

Lots of us have. So far, they aren't impressing me, it's as if they won't break in. I've been tempted to clean and relube with speed cream just to see if it's the way they come stock or if they are just not worth it over reds or an equivalent Abecwhateverthefuck, let alone compete with Swiss Six.

My G3s feel faster than the Big Balls. And Swiss Six are lightyears ahead.

When you ride Swiss or Swiss Six, after a week or so you really start to feel the love, the big balls just feel like 'bearings'. My shields on the big balls bent pretty quick too so popped them off not giving a fuck.

[Sila]

Modus Blues, pretty much the same as Reds but not as noisy as far as I can tell. How often do you guys clean your bearings?

[the snake]

2 sessions on Bones Big Balls, they feel good so far, we'll see if they last
I was running some frankesteinized Rush abec7 titatiums with a mix of Lucky & Minilogo cages (stock ones all broke one after one) shiels off

[Toadfish Rebecchi]

This Australian company, Aegis. Shieldless (as always) and they’re fast. In 30 years of skating I popped a lot of bearings UNTIL I started popping the shields about a decade ago. Never popped one since. I skate for transport a lot too and they’re very fast.

Waiting for someone to come on and start explaining that I’ve fallen for marketing and then explain bearing engineering to me.

[radcunt]

Swiss and Swiss 6.  Wish I stopped fuckin' around 30 years ago and put the money down.  So good.

[chris.]

Cheap Andale, Modus, and Mini Logo. Pop shields and forget about em.  Y’all doing too much.

[moonordie]

Swiss 6. Nothing better.

[Stigmata]

Ive been riding the Bones Big Balls and i really like em. They have a really smooth and quiet roll. I wanna try the Swiss versions next.

[TwisT]

bones swiss... ... ...fuck the rest?


if for whatever reason I'm not riding bones swiss, then I get minilogo any thing in between is a waste of money.

[layzieyez]

Bones 6 ball in one setup. Rock'n Ron ceramics in the other ones. I'm also using the ceramic version of those Zealous bearings in my cruisers.

[Uncle Gavone]

The only bones shit I buy, Reds

[GoneWithTheSchwinn]

Bones Swiss for the past couple years. Solid and going well.

[Xen]

Cheap Andale, Modus, and Mini Logo. Pop shields and forget about em.  Y’all doing too much.

My 'Cheap' Andale 7s were shit out of the box, had to clean and relube them to get 4 of them to spin. They were still fucking slow.

I've run Modus (forgot I still have a set) and ML; can't be beat for the price. ML even better now that they dropped the metal shields.