Which Bearings Are You Guys Running?

[moonordie]

Need to finally get off my last set of G3s(everything else is QBS) figured I’d try some Bones Swiss. Anyone ridden the swiss 6 and the regular Swiss? If so, preferences? I’m kinda leaning towards the 6, but figured there has to be people who’ve ridden both.
Opinions?


*edit
I mainly skate small tight trans, curbs, flat, and the occasional 4 stair. No hucking anymore.

To me the only difference between regular swiss and 6 is that 6 last longer. In my experience I get 5 years from swiss and 6 from swiss 6.

[Plan9Customs]

Thanks. Got the 6.

[swongolianbbq]

Ive had my swiss 6's for 5 years, skating them on and off. I skated them in the rain once and let my board sit, they rusted together and shit. Popped em in the bones bearings cleaner with some 99% isopropyl alcohol and got them moving again and they're still super good. Really impressed

[rikki]

Swiss 6 with sewing machine oil = fastest bearings you can get.

[Richard Skidder]

Just grabbed a set of Olympia Silver Grade ( 6-ball).
Felt pretty smooth on the garage quarter pipe but they’re new.
I’ll be breaking them in next week teaching skate camps for the city and will have a decent review for you after the end of June.
Will report back.

My impression so far is a couple weeks in they are still surprisingly smooth. I don’t feel like I have to work for speed and they’re breaking in nicely.
I’m actually pretty impressed with the Olympia 6-ball and I’m usually pretty underwhelmed by most bearings.
I’ll give you all my final take in another week or so.

[logjammin]

I've been riding those quantum vectors for a bit, definitely had to clean em with rubbing alcohol out of the tin cause they were soaked in oil. since the first roll they've always been nice and noisy which is what I was looking for cause I hate silent new bearings. they run for a long time during the spin test and running them shieldless and bone dry. they definitely aren't super fast like say some swiss 6 balls and some moments in feel like I could be going faster but I can't expect a perfect bearing for $20. these are definitely way better than any cheap bearing at that price point and certainly better than $40 Bronson raws. I'll never buy those things again.

[sflinux]

For the bearing nerds, how many have tried cleaning with Windex?
https://youtu.be/-HYL41ResR0?si=1ipH6cve1KtR7gP5
I was skeptical, but I find it works better than isopropanol (bearings spin faster).  For stubborn bearings I may still soak in isopropanol but will always follow with Windex.  I still conclude with a touch of oil (and shields on the edge of each wheel (i.e. outside)). 
But on the topic of bearings I still have a set of 25 year old Bones Swiss going strong.  I did buy a set of Bones Big Ball Reds that I have yet to try though.

[TheCrimsonShroud]

For the bearing nerds, how many have tried cleaning with Windex?
https://youtu.be/-HYL41ResR0?si=1ipH6cve1KtR7gP5
I was skeptical, but I find it works better than isopropanol (bearings spin faster).  For stubborn bearings I may still soak in isopropanol but will always follow with Windex.  I still conclude with a touch of oil (and shields on the edge of each wheel (i.e. outside)). 
But on the topic of bearings I still have a set of 25 year old Bones Swiss going strong.  I did buy a set of Bones Big Ball Reds that I have yet to try though.

I’ve used windex to some success. If they’re not too dirty I soak em in windex for a bit, dry them, and put some speed cream on. For dirtier bearings I’ll also use penetrating lubricant at some point in the process.

[Unkle Fleak]

Andale Swiss are decent bearings.

[Scab Picker]

Has anyone had the Diamond bearings for Quantum? How do they compare to Bones Swiss Ceramics? The rain has ruined my plans to skate multiple times a week, and I'm setting up a rain board with waterproof bearings.

[Richard Skidder]

Expand Quote

Just grabbed a set of Olympia Silver Grade ( 6-ball).
Felt pretty smooth on the garage quarter pipe but they’re new.
I’ll be breaking them in next week teaching skate camps for the city and will have a decent review for you after the end of June.
Will report back.

[close]

My impression so far is a couple weeks in they are still surprisingly smooth. I don’t feel like I have to work for speed and they’re breaking in nicely.
I’m actually pretty impressed with the Olympia 6-ball and I’m usually pretty underwhelmed by most bearings.
I’ll give you all my final take in another week or so.

Final take on the Olympia Gold:
After a month of skating them they are just as good if not faster. They were definitely worth the $30 and I would easily buy them again. If you’re looking for a 6 ball bearing in an affordable price point these things are great.

[neonbrown]

Swiss 6 with sewing machine oil = fastest bearings you can get.

I'm pretty sure that most "bearing lubes" are just expensive little bottles of sewing machine oil.

[SwitchBenihana]

Has anyone had the Diamond bearings for Quantum? How do they compare to Bones Swiss Ceramics? The rain has ruined my plans to skate multiple times a week, and I'm setting up a rain board with waterproof bearings.

I have a rain board and your best bet might be to leave the shields off and immediately use a battery powered duster to blow them dry once home and put a drop of dry lube on them. The issue is just getting them dry so the gunk doesn't solidify. I sometimes drop rubbing alcohol in each wheel and spin it out, wipe, then dry. Fancy bearings sort of help, but shit still gets in.

[swongolianbbq]

Expand Quote

Has anyone had the Diamond bearings for Quantum? How do they compare to Bones Swiss Ceramics? The rain has ruined my plans to skate multiple times a week, and I'm setting up a rain board with waterproof bearings.

[close]

I have a rain board and your best bet might be to leave the shields off and immediately use a battery powered duster to blow them dry once home and put a drop of dry lube on them. The issue is just getting them dry so the gunk doesn't solidify. I sometimes drop rubbing alcohol in each wheel and spin it out, wipe, then dry. Fancy bearings sort of help, but shit still gets in.

My rain board had ceramic reds with extra speed cream, shields on

Rode in the rain, in puddles etc, never had a problem until one wheel got kinda gunked up but I rolled around for a bit and it loosened right back up.

My plan now for a rain board is the seismic ceramic 6-ball built-ins packed with Phil Wood grease. Cause they're built-ins and the nut will be tightened down and the spacers connect the whole thing, water getting in through the axle won't be a thing, and the only access point would be between the shields and inner race and hopefully the grease would repel it to where it would be kinda like a cartridge bearing on a bicycle hub, bottom bracket, or headset... Minimal maintenance

Anyways right now I'm running swiss 6's, shieldless and degreased and it's the same as it always is. I think these are four years old? I've been on either bones swiss or swiss 6, no shields and dry, for about 20 years. I went back to shields on, stock with the lube in there last year and it was fine but I went back to shields off. I can't explain it hahah

[SwitchBenihana]

Never heard of those I'll have to check out. I was a bike mechanic for a long time so I'm thinking along the lines of chain wear and cup-and-cone bearing maintenance. I always recommend people immediately wipe their chain and apply lube after a wet ride so I think of this in a similar manner. Grease will for sure stay applied better, but it will embed grime more and be way more of a pain to clean.

[neonbrown]

Never heard of those I'll have to check out. I was a bike mechanic for a long time so I'm thinking along the lines of chain wear and cup-and-cone bearing maintenance. I always recommend people immediately wipe their chain and apply lube after a wet ride so I think of this in a similar manner. Grease will for sure stay applied better, but it will embed grime more and be way more of a pain to clean.

Hello fellow former wrench turner.

[SwitchBenihana]

Expand Quote

Never heard of those I'll have to check out. I was a bike mechanic for a long time so I'm thinking along the lines of chain wear and cup-and-cone bearing maintenance. I always recommend people immediately wipe their chain and apply lube after a wet ride so I think of this in a similar manner. Grease will for sure stay applied better, but it will embed grime more and be way more of a pain to clean.

[close]

Hello fellow former wrench turner.

My brother in Christ may you change my flat for free on my 15 year old hybrid on this fine Monday morning?

[neonbrown]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Never heard of those I'll have to check out. I was a bike mechanic for a long time so I'm thinking along the lines of chain wear and cup-and-cone bearing maintenance. I always recommend people immediately wipe their chain and apply lube after a wet ride so I think of this in a similar manner. Grease will for sure stay applied better, but it will embed grime more and be way more of a pain to clean.

[close]

Hello fellow former wrench turner.

[close]

My brother in Christ may you change my flat for free on my 15 year old hybrid on this fine Monday morning?

Sir I see you have chosen to lubricate your chain with Crisco. Serving you would be my pleasure.

[swongolianbbq]

Never heard of those I'll have to check out. I was a bike mechanic for a long time so I'm thinking along the lines of chain wear and cup-and-cone bearing maintenance. I always recommend people immediately wipe their chain and apply lube after a wet ride so I think of this in a similar manner. Grease will for sure stay applied better, but it will embed grime more and be way more of a pain to clean.

I switched all my cup-and-cone stuff on my commuter for cartridge bearings, and they look like skateboard bearings. Riding in heinous conditions with those with way less maintenance

[logjammin]

still loving these quantum vectors. I think they now hold the torch for the best bearings on the market at the $20 price point

[Doosh215]

Modus Ceramics. Been on Swiss or Swiss 6 for the last 20+ years, but decided to give Modus a try because I think the company is cool and wanted to try something different. They're the smoothest bearings I've ever skated, and extremely fast. Even picked up some nice pants from them too.

[JimmyFive]

Modus Ceramics. Been on Swiss or Swiss 6 for the last 20+ years, but decided to give Modus a try because I think the company is cool and wanted to try something different. They're the smoothest bearings I've ever skated, and extremely fast. Even picked up some nice pants from them too.

Heard good things about these. I'm guessing they use the light grease that Modus use in their other bearings? I really rate Modus and especially Modus Blue's for a fast and smooth, long lasting bearing but low price bearing.

[brosi]

Did anyone ever try tungsten disulfide powder as dry lube for shieldless degreased bearings?
Afaik it is the stuff Bronson uses for their raws.

[Slave IV]

For those who use bearing spacers, I always hear you are supposed to tighten axel nuts all the way for them to work properly. I get the concept that all the contact is only on the inner bearing and it should reduce slippage between the bearing and axel so that it is actually working as intended, with the outer bearing spinning with the wheel around the inner bearing and axel.

However, this has never worked for me. Whenever I tighten all the way down, my wheels don't turn at all. I always use washers so I know the contact is only on the inner bearing but it just doesn’t work. I always have to loosen a slight turn just like I would with any setup with bearing spacers or not. Anyone else experience this or it actually works for them. Seems like when I see videos of people doing it, it works for them.

[swongolianbbq]

That happens when the bearing spacer is shorter than the core of the wheel

If the spacer is longer than the inside of the wheel, you can tighten it all the way down and it works as intended. If it's too short, it's useless and just sits in there doing nothing. I stopped using bearing spacers the first year I was learning to skate

[Slave IV]

That happens when the bearing spacer is shorter than the core of the wheel

If the spacer is longer than the inside of the wheel, you can tighten it all the way down and it works as intended. If it's too short, it's useless and just sits in there doing nothing. I stopped using bearing spacers the first year I was learning to skate

I guess my spacers have always been too short my entire life since I’ve never had them work as intended since the 80’s. If so, I think they could still provide some support between the bearings. If I have em, I use them but don’t really worry about it either way. Just wondering if anyone has ever had them work in real life because I find it kinda unbelievable that every wheel I’ve ever had has had too much space in the middle.

[Jort250]

Rog from the Nine Club swears by spacers but I’m not clear if he’s credible or out to lunch

Bearings: SS6. I tried Swiss before and they weren’t durable for me. These SS6 seem much more solid

[Slave IV]

Rog from the Nine Club swears by spacers but I’m not clear if he’s credible or out to lunch

Bearings: SS6. I tried Swiss before and they weren’t durable for me. These SS6 seem much more solid

They must exist for a reason. Haha.

SS6 are the only Swiss bearings I ever bought. Still have them from over 15 years ago and they are still faster or as fast as any bearings I’ve bought since. FWIW, I’ve always run them with the spacers they came with but tighten my wheels as I always have, spin the wheel and tighten until they stop, then loosen until they spin freely (usually quarter to half turn). 

[BALARGUE]

If you tighten too much and spacer is too small
It ends up like this

|       | Outer races
 \    /
  |   | Inner races connected to spacer
 /    \
|       | Outer races

It bends the cage and it can’t spin that way.

It’s a real challenge to get spacers and wheels that match, because tolerances in skateboarding manufacturing are rather «wide».
I feel like the quest for the holy spacer is kinda vain.

In the perfect case, they serve a purpose though:
- Everything is aligned
- Spacers provide support when you hit your wheel
- Only the balls and the outer races spin (best performance for a bearing)

If you really want to use them without the hassle, make it tight and loosen a bit til the wheel spin right but you won’t get all the benefits.

[meeevs]

If you tighten too much and spacer is too small
It ends up like this

|       | Outer races
 \    /
  |   | Inner races connected to spacer
 /    \
|       | Outer races

It bends the cage and it can’t spin that way.

It’s a real challenge to get spacers and wheels that match, because tolerances in skateboarding manufacturing are rather «wide».
I feel like the quest for the holy spacer is kinda vain.

In the perfect case, they serve a purpose though:
- Everything is aligned
- Spacers provide support when you hit your wheel
- Only the balls and the outer races spin (best performance for a bearing)

If you really want to use them without the hassle, make it tight and loosen a bit til the wheel spin right but you won’t get all the benefits.

I only had one set of spacers that ever worked properly and they came with my CNC milled downhill trucks. I also think for this purpose it helps that proper longboard/speed wheels have cores which give a defined tolerance compared to regular wheels. I prefer to run built-ins if possible anyway.