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.
I picked up some Cortina GT for stupidly cheap a month or two ago thinking they'd just be another set of cheapies I could throw in my winter wheels and not feel bad about but they surprised the shit out of me. Just doing the hand spin test they spun longer than I think anything else I've tried, it was well over a minute and closer to 2 if I recall correctly and thats fresh out of the box with the factory lube in them. I know thats not an actual test or indicator of how a bearing will perform under load but you can still get a general idea of whether or not a bearing is trash. Anyways from the lasered logos on the races and the cages/shields they reminded me a lot of Bronson raws but with shields, and they were quite fast and had a lovely hiss to them. Sadly I did use them for winter wheels and got them soaked then ended up getting swamped at work that morning. By the time I remembered and went to pop them out it was too late and they'd already rusted a little bit... not enough to seize up so I was able to salvage them but theres some noticeable rough spots now and they aren't quite as fast. I still have them in one of my setups and skate them from time to time but I wish I hadn't fucked them up so I could see if they held up long-term or were just a "start strong but turn to shit in a few weeks" thing like the raws were for me.
I tried Andale swiss a while back and they sucked fat dong, and for some reason I just mentally grouped Cortina in with them and assumed they'd be shit too but they weren't at all. I'd totally buy them again, if I found those GT ones on sale again it would be a no-brainer for me.
Currently running Big Balls, Modus 7, and Bronson G2 (I switch between wheels depending on if theres snow or lots of salt or whatever) and the Modus are great but the other 2 haven't really impressed me.