Which Bearings Are You Guys Running?

[troy]

Does anyone have experience with any of the bulk retailers? I was thinking about starting a homie bearing company.

[imuseless]

I've been skating only Reds for years. Now my local shop seems to have Mini-Logo too so I'm gonna give them a try. I just can't convince myself that Swiss would last years and not lock up like Reds.

[Noble Experiment]

Can’t remember if I already posted in here or not but I’m currently riding a mix of Enjoi abec 7s, HKD abec 7s, and shake junt abec 7s; might be a Modus black or a mini logo in there as well, can’t remember; all with the shields popped off though. As long as the shields are removable and it’s got a cage that’s not metal then I’ll skate whatever really. Bearings are the one thing I probably care about the least; I put them in then forget about them and I’ll skate em and then replace em one by one as they break over time from wear n tear. Used to bother me when I was younger if all my bearings weren’t the same brand and didn’t match (my gear OCD was a lot worse back then, which is funny because usually it gets worse as you get older, but these days I stopped caring and obsessing over little minute gear details as much), but now I just ride my shit all Frankensteined out.

[weon]

tiny truck thread made me stumble onto these:

https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/KwiK-Bearings/102291

Set of 16 Swiss bearings for like 80 bucks? 8mm as well so should be all good. what’s yalls take?

[legion]

tiny truck thread made me stumble onto these:

https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/KwiK-Bearings/102291

Set of 16 Swiss bearings for like 80 bucks? 8mm as well so should be all good. what’s yalls take?

I thought about it but the delrin retainers put me off cuz I think they'd crack more easily from impacts. Skateboard stuff uses nylon retainers. But I'm not jumping down stuff so they might survive?
Pre-spun sounds interesting, would help with break-in.

Here's a some other interesting roller companies.
https://www.cheezeballs.com/index-1.html lol. Gouda
https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/Antik-Skates/Moto-Bearings lil better than kwik?
http://www.catsbearing.com/products/ the prices!

[skatefresh]

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

[JudoOrigami]

I have like 8 setups with diff bones bearings and feel the big balls have the best price/performance ratio but I dunno how long they will last

[authentic_creed_bratton]

tiny truck thread made me stumble onto these:

https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/KwiK-Bearings/102291

Set of 16 Swiss bearings for like 80 bucks? 8mm as well so should be all good. what’s yalls take?

imo pass on that shit... non-removable shields would suck ass, and i wouldn’t think they would put them on bearings worth a shit

[pica]

Swiss ceramics on a cruiser, REDs on the set up.
Shields popped off.

[Ok]

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

I had some Swiss 6 that were the best. Since then my Swiss have been just ok. Reds are really all over. Sometimes they are sick, sometimes I wish I had just gotten mini logos. I can’t call it. I kinda feel like bearings all go similar in speed, but some last longer. I know this isn’t accurate. Been awhile since I’ve had some that felt great.
I for sure don’t do a good job cleaning stuff. I have taken the shields off, thrown everything in a Gatorade bottle with 91% alcohol, shaken em about....after that tho. As soon as I put speed cream they are back to wack. I always fuck up shields....obviously I’m a real champ mechanically

[legion]

Expand Quote

tiny truck thread made me stumble onto these:

https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/KwiK-Bearings/102291

Set of 16 Swiss bearings for like 80 bucks? 8mm as well so should be all good. what’s yalls take?

[close]

imo pass on that shit... non-removable shields would suck ass, and i wouldn’t think they would put them on bearings worth a shit

Forgot most roller stuff uses those shields. Could remove em, tough to put em back.
Black Panther had some weird metal shields that were removable, held in with a tiny c-clip.


If you search for Jesa 608 bearings there might be more options. The ones I've found have metal shields too.
https://bont.com/products/608-jesa-black-series-inline-bearing their bearing press looks nice
edit "The shields are easily removed for cleaning."

http://www.wicked-hardware.com/portfolio/wcd-swiss-p5-bearings-by-jesa/

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

The inner race? Or the plastic ring that holds the balls? Inner race would be tough to break. Retainers break and there's replacements, maybe I'd do that for bones swiss.

[Sativa Lung]

Expand Quote

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

[close]

I had some Swiss 6 that were the best. Since then my Swiss have been just ok. Reds are really all over. Sometimes they are sick, sometimes I wish I had just gotten mini logos. I can’t call it. I kinda feel like bearings all go similar in speed, but some last longer. I know this isn’t accurate. Been awhile since I’ve had some that felt great.
I for sure don’t do a good job cleaning stuff. I have taken the shields off, thrown everything in a Gatorade bottle with 91% alcohol, shaken em about....after that tho. As soon as I put speed cream they are back to wack. I always fuck up shields....obviously I’m a real champ mechanically

Bearings are always going to initially run slower with lube, so don't think just because they aren't spinning for a minute from a hand spin after you add the speed cream that it's making them slower. They perform differently under load (ie with your fat ass standing on them) and I've had bearings that would spin for 2 minutes without a load but were slow as hell when you actually skated them. Also, you have to skate them for a while and let it really get evenly distributed and dissipated before they start to "feel" fast again.

Be careful about how much lube you use too... literally just a drop or two is what you want. It might even look like there's not enough in there to cover all the surfaces but once you get rolling and they heat up it'll spread around the bearing evenly. I've seen people literally squirt a stream of the shit in their bearings before a session and then complain it doesn't work.

[Sila]

Running Modus Blues and just scored Modus Titaniums for cheap. Havn't skated them yet but Blues are my go to budget bearing. They seem more durable than Reds but there are so many variables to consider that I don't really know. All I am sure of is that they actually worth buying.

[TD]

I tried Bronsons' when they came out, worst set of bearings. cunts lasted less than 4 months

Since then, random shit - cheapshots, black panthers I got on sale (which also sucked surprisingly), modus etc, avoided reds for a while for whatever reason.

Just bought a set of swiss for less than the price of a set of Sunday's, so we'll see how they go.

[JudoOrigami]

Don't let Made in China stop you from buying something. They are excellent at manufacturing products at reasonable prices

[JudoOrigami]

Hating a communist authoritarian government is all well and good but the Chinese have dominated the factory game for a reason. Their small hands and diligent work ethic make for excellent efficiency. The fact americans can't wrap there head around this is understandable but its whatever to me personally. We are all slave laborers in one way or another

[Heywoodfloyd]

It's a long time since i skated regular Reds, i have two sets of Super Reds wich i really like, i'm not shure if they are worth the price hike though.

I also have a set of Reds Big balls, so far they feel a little bit more sluggish, but it might be the wheels i use them with.

[weon]

Expand Quote

tiny truck thread made me stumble onto these:

https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/KwiK-Bearings/102291

Set of 16 Swiss bearings for like 80 bucks? 8mm as well so should be all good. what’s yalls take?

[close]

imo pass on that shit... non-removable shields would suck ass, and i wouldn’t think they would put them on bearings worth a shit

would not have caught that myself, thx homie.
maybe it is time to splurge on some Swiss 6.

[Kevve]

Running the new Bones 'big balls' right now. The shop only carried Bones so I just picked the bearings One Price tag above reds.

Always rode Indy abec7s and reds before. Cant say anything about THE big balls yet, not mindblown not disapointed. I Guess they Will last a little longer since they got 6 bigger balls compared to a regular 7.

Only thing im bummed about is that theyre not sealed on the inside. Sure it cant be much dirt getting inside the wheels but in the long run a fully sealed bearing would stay clean for longer, right?

[moonordie]

Looking for bearings to have on ice. Not sure if I should get big balls or raws.

[skatefresh]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

tiny truck thread made me stumble onto these:

https://www.roller.riedellskates.com/Catalog/KwiK-Bearings/102291

Set of 16 Swiss bearings for like 80 bucks? 8mm as well so should be all good. what’s yalls take?

[close]

imo pass on that shit... non-removable shields would suck ass, and i wouldn’t think they would put them on bearings worth a shit

[close]

Forgot most roller stuff uses those shields. Could remove em, tough to put em back.
Black Panther had some weird metal shields that were removable, held in with a tiny c-clip.


If you search for Jesa 608 bearings there might be more options. The ones I've found have metal shields too.
https://bont.com/products/608-jesa-black-series-inline-bearing their bearing press looks nice
http://www.wicked-hardware.com/portfolio/wcd-swiss-p5-bearings-by-jesa/

Expand Quote

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

[close]

The inner race? Or the plastic ring that holds the balls? Inner race would be tough to break. Retainers break and there's replacements, maybe I'd do that for bones swiss.

My bad it's the plastic ring on the non shielded side.

[skatefresh]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

[close]

I had some Swiss 6 that were the best. Since then my Swiss have been just ok. Reds are really all over. Sometimes they are sick, sometimes I wish I had just gotten mini logos. I can’t call it. I kinda feel like bearings all go similar in speed, but some last longer. I know this isn’t accurate. Been awhile since I’ve had some that felt great.
I for sure don’t do a good job cleaning stuff. I have taken the shields off, thrown everything in a Gatorade bottle with 91% alcohol, shaken em about....after that tho. As soon as I put speed cream they are back to wack. I always fuck up shields....obviously I’m a real champ mechanically

[close]

Bearings are always going to initially run slower with lube, so don't think just because they aren't spinning for a minute from a hand spin after you add the speed cream that it's making them slower. They perform differently under load (ie with your fat ass standing on them) and I've had bearings that would spin for 2 minutes without a load but were slow as hell when you actually skated them. Also, you have to skate them for a while and let it really get evenly distributed and dissipated before they start to "feel" fast again.

Be careful about how much lube you use too... literally just a drop or two is what you want. It might even look like there's not enough in there to cover all the surfaces but once you get rolling and they heat up it'll spread around the bearing evenly. I've seen people literally squirt a stream of the shit in their bearings before a session and then complain it doesn't work.

I used to be bad about this. Now I go with 2 generous drops and spin the bearing and then wipe excess off the backside with a paper towel.

[Ok]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

The set of swiss I've had for a little over a year has a crack on one of the inner races. I didn't skate all winter and pretty much only skate flat so it's kind of disappointing. The super swiss 6 I had before that did the same with multiple bearings after taking a trip to Utah after a couple years of service. I had one set of swiss last me a good 4 years. Starting to think I'm better off buying reds and throwing them out as I'm tired of hassling with cleaning them.

[close]

I had some Swiss 6 that were the best. Since then my Swiss have been just ok. Reds are really all over. Sometimes they are sick, sometimes I wish I had just gotten mini logos. I can’t call it. I kinda feel like bearings all go similar in speed, but some last longer. I know this isn’t accurate. Been awhile since I’ve had some that felt great.
I for sure don’t do a good job cleaning stuff. I have taken the shields off, thrown everything in a Gatorade bottle with 91% alcohol, shaken em about....after that tho. As soon as I put speed cream they are back to wack. I always fuck up shields....obviously I’m a real champ mechanically

[close]

Bearings are always going to initially run slower with lube, so don't think just because they aren't spinning for a minute from a hand spin after you add the speed cream that it's making them slower. They perform differently under load (ie with your fat ass standing on them) and I've had bearings that would spin for 2 minutes without a load but were slow as hell when you actually skated them. Also, you have to skate them for a while and let it really get evenly distributed and dissipated before they start to "feel" fast again.

Be careful about how much lube you use too... literally just a drop or two is what you want. It might even look like there's not enough in there to cover all the surfaces but once you get rolling and they heat up it'll spread around the bearing evenly. I've seen people literally squirt a stream of the shit in their bearings before a session and then complain it doesn't work.

[close]

I used to be bad about this. Now I go with 2 generous drops and spin the bearing and then wipe excess off the backside with a paper towel.

All decent info, thanks.

Yeah I only put a drop or two of speed cream on. I usually ditch the shields, when I clean them, but I don’t ‘pop the shields’ to begin with.

[legion]

Yep to just a couple drops. Think that's in the Bones info too.
An extra oil gets flung out in that black sun/star pattern.


https://www.proskatersplace.com/shop/inline-skates/inline-skate-bearings/ilq-x-mr2-16-pk/
Another crazy inline bearing. I don't think it's 608 size but would fit like a 608. That weird cone-shaped piece is a sleeve to bring the bore down to 8mm. Guessing it has 10mm ID.

[tzhangdox]

Those of you that run swiss/swiss 6 or reds for over a year... how the fuck. Do you guys never land primo or powerslide or anything? I've had a set of swiss and swiss 6 and they were both great, swiss 6 noticeably better than cheap bearings at its peak, but even so, they only lasted me about 5 months... cleaned them when they got janky with acetone then lubed with speed cream, they just ended up seizing and not spinning well.

I've skated mini logos, reds, super reds, indy blacks, modus blues, bronson raws just to name a few. Give or take a bit, they're all pretty close to each other in performance with the raws and indy blacks seeming to be a bit faster off the bat and modus blues are greased up thicker initially but break in well, I seem to have the worst luck with reds and super reds... nothing seems to last more than a few months even if I try clean it, they just lock up or stop spinning.

I've just resigned myself to skating mini logos with shields on, popping them when they bend or slow down a bit, and replacing them after two months or so. If anyone has a secret bearing suggestion thats super durable or any tips on how to clean or restore damaged/locked/seized bearings so that I can run swiss 6 for more than a year I'm all ears.

[Fred Gerwer Frank Gall]

Those of you that run swiss/swiss 6 or reds for over a year... how the fuck. Do you guys never land primo or powerslide or anything?

Swiss 6 have been the only bearing that has survived my tendency to land primo and I love power slides. I get a solid year out of them.

Do you use washers and spacers?

[rocklobster]

Those of you that run swiss/swiss 6 or reds for over a year... how the fuck. Do you guys never land primo or powerslide or anything? I've had a set of swiss and swiss 6 and they were both great, swiss 6 noticeably better than cheap bearings at its peak, but even so, they only lasted me about 5 months... cleaned them when they got janky with acetone then lubed with speed cream, they just ended up seizing and not spinning well.

I've skated mini logos, reds, super reds, indy blacks, modus blues, bronson raws just to name a few. Give or take a bit, they're all pretty close to each other in performance with the raws and indy blacks seeming to be a bit faster off the bat and modus blues are greased up thicker initially but break in well, I seem to have the worst luck with reds and super reds... nothing seems to last more than a few months even if I try clean it, they just lock up or stop spinning.

I've just resigned myself to skating mini logos with shields on, popping them when they bend or slow down a bit, and replacing them after two months or so. If anyone has a secret bearing suggestion thats super durable or any tips on how to clean or restore damaged/locked/seized bearings so that I can run swiss 6 for more than a year I'm all ears.

Same camp, I'm convinced that very little separates the premium $80+ bearings from cheaper $10-20 stuff. I can't be arsed to clean and maintain the fancy stuff and I lack to space in my apartment to keep the cleaning agents. If you chance across a set of the fancy stuff on discount then go for it; if not the regular stuff like Reds are plenty good.

[tzhangdox]

Expand Quote

Those of you that run swiss/swiss 6 or reds for over a year... how the fuck. Do you guys never land primo or powerslide or anything? I've had a set of swiss and swiss 6 and they were both great, swiss 6 noticeably better than cheap bearings at its peak, but even so, they only lasted me about 5 months... cleaned them when they got janky with acetone then lubed with speed cream, they just ended up seizing and not spinning well.

I've skated mini logos, reds, super reds, indy blacks, modus blues, bronson raws just to name a few. Give or take a bit, they're all pretty close to each other in performance with the raws and indy blacks seeming to be a bit faster off the bat and modus blues are greased up thicker initially but break in well, I seem to have the worst luck with reds and super reds... nothing seems to last more than a few months even if I try clean it, they just lock up or stop spinning.

I've just resigned myself to skating mini logos with shields on, popping them when they bend or slow down a bit, and replacing them after two months or so. If anyone has a secret bearing suggestion thats super durable or any tips on how to clean or restore damaged/locked/seized bearings so that I can run swiss 6 for more than a year I'm all ears.

[close]

Same camp, I'm convinced that very little separates the premium $80+ bearings from cheaper $10-20 stuff. I can't be arsed to clean and maintain the fancy stuff and I lack to space in my apartment to keep the cleaning agents. If you chance across a set of the fancy stuff on discount then go for it; if not the regular stuff like Reds are plenty good.

I don't mind the cleaning process at all, can be kinda fun honestly... but cleaning swiss 6s on the regular and having them still last less than a year just feels kinda stupid. If I could make them last over a year with cleaning I'd be 100% with it.

Expand Quote

Those of you that run swiss/swiss 6 or reds for over a year... how the fuck. Do you guys never land primo or powerslide or anything?

[close]

Swiss 6 have been the only bearing that has survived my tendency to land primo and I love power slides. I get a solid year out of them.

Do you use washers and spacers?

Yup, though I don't like having it completely cranked down such that there's no play at all, makes the board sound too waterlogged. But definitely leave very little room and use washers and spacers.  I think it helps a tiny bit as I can see the spacer start to get very slightly deformed after a while.

[moonordie]

Big balls or Raws?

[thinlizzy]

Big balls or Raws?

big balls. I did enjoy the raws though