I always used all first line from SKF, rubber sealed 2RS, I’m on my second board with the same set of bearings, never cleaned, never opened and roll like new
For me it makes no sense to use skate “brand” bearings instead of a company that been developing and improving for decades and is used in all fields of industry, be it NSK, SKF, FAG, Nachi
Obviously they don’t roll like skate bearing, that because the grease is actually dimensioned for the load they are rated, instead of using a oil to make them spin faster, but probably wearing much more
We all have our reasons for bearings. This is gonna be a never ending debate.
I’ve had
steel bearings, cages blow out
ceramic bearings balls explode
rusted races on both cermic and steel
Other
I don’t run integrated spacers. I dislike them
I only run bearings with double bunas
I’ll skate in a drizzle but not a rain
I don’t like lithium or any greases. I like my bearings fast as f***
I clean my bearings literally every 150 miles.
So for me, this means. I have the option of
ceramics without integrated spacers, but I like my bearings fast. Any bit of rust on the races with oil based lube and I’ve had balls explode
steel, see below
Really I only know of two bearing brands that meet my criteria.
double bunas seals
non ceramic, so balls don’t explode
I run oil based lube because I like fast
no integrated spacers
good tolerances
This pretty much narrows it to OUST MOC 5,7, or 9, or Bronson G2 or G3.
OUST bearings have super tight tolerances, and each revisions higher (7 over 5, or 9 over 7) the polish of the races is finer. While this is nice and all for a DH and some super speed, the tolerances are too tight and as soon as you do any sliding, good luck not blowing your ball cages with such tight tolerances.
Bronson’s, little looser tolerances, steel, double bunas, no integrated spacers,fast as fuck, even thier slogan is “fast as fuck”.
If you know of another double buna, non integrated spacer, steel, with good tolerances. I’m all ears, show me the way. But this whole debate is really going to be rider dependent.
I’ve actually purchased x2 sets of ceramic bearings in the last year or so, both turned to crap in a matter of days. I don’t know why. I had a set of amphetamines that multiple balls cracked in, and a set of bones ceramic that weirdly a couple of the balls powdered.
I’ve stuck with mid-grade bearings since then as I personally have better luck, lifetime wise, with them.
DH about 40mph, hit a large rock, few hundred feet later my rear right wheel started wobbling, did a shutdown to try to keep the wheel on. When I inspected it, the bearing cages we’re still intact, lost the outer seal, and a couple balls that looked like disintegrated sand.
I won’t run them again. I’d rather clean steel every day then come close to a bail like that. I can’t account for every rock on the road. But I do expect my bearings to not shit on me because of a hard impact.
Same reason I won’t run OUST anymore… bearing cages fell apart while sliding because the tolerances are too tight. Like I said not trying to fuel the debate. But everyone is gonna have different experiences with bearings.
Well I can’t say much since I have been out of street skating since I torn my ankle up last year in the enertion raptor 2 tour. But before hand, over 2 years of hard, high impact (I skated a lot of 10 stair sized rails, hubas, ect.) with bones swiss ceramics. I used to get a few weeks at best from the cheap bearings. Being in San Francisco, it means a lot of hill bombing. The cheap bearings just don’t hold up at high speed, ate shit many times cause a bearing broke while bombing hills. There’s a reason why the pros don’t ride cheap bearings.
Cheap bearings are not the same as swiss ceramics. They have required zero maintenance, while the cheap bearings need it within a week of hard skating.
Now granted, theres no high impact on electric skateboards, but rolling resistance is important for range and last thing you want at 30 mph is to have a bearing break. Swiss ceramics won’t break for a very long time. The other stuff, it just doesn’t hold up.
This is why the DH longboarders I know trust new bearings over ceramic bearings or whatever your skate shop is trying to push. New bearings saves lives. Anybody looking to get Ceramic bearings for the supposed zero-maintenance schedules (that nobody has ever scientifically proven) is in for a good hurtin’.
Interestingy enough I was texting back and forth with the pro downhiller friend of mine about this very subject. Our discussion was about a world record attempt board and what bearing to run on it. He stated that 10mm bearings were ancient technology and phased out in longboarding long time ago. I also inquired about as to what precision bearing he prefered to run, his answer was short. “Anything will work.” The truth is is precision bearings this day and age are top-of-the-line As Good As It Gets. Branded bearings are just exactly what they are branded to get your extra dollars. It gives you a placebo effect and makes you think you’re getting something special.
Maybe not scientifically proven, but I was going through bearings like crazy before I got ceramics and never did any maintenance, and they spin better today (after 2 years of heavy usage) then the cheap bearings do new.
I agree with most of that. For me… the extra doll hairs for Bronson g3s is because of the double buna seal. Metal sealed always get dirty inside for me. Though this is probably because I’m an oil fan…not a grease fan.
10mm were phased out because they were less convenient/less available, not because they were outdated in some way. People didn’t want to have to deal with multiple sizes of bearings.
They’ve got more balls, and of a smaller size.
IME that makes feel a little more tolerant, and last a little bit longer.
But they’re such a pain to get, and the selection is so limited.
I have 4 boards I ride regularly, 3 have swiss ceramics that I ride in the rain, they get the most miles and my trampa running some japanese steel bearings. Roughly each season I strip and clean them all. Strip and clean my trucks, ronins, pivots… I get about 3 weeks a board of daily use before a strip and clean.
steel bearing in winter don’t work for daily abuse.
strip and clean means a triple wash in solvent through my heated ultrasonic bath, dry & re-lube.
edit: for dry running just replacing steel bearings works, but if you ride everyday in winter/water… you can’t change bearings every day so the ceramics for me have started to work. Plus now I live on a island by the sea so corrosion is increased…
The last set of Ceramics i had (Zealous Ceramics) ended up grenading on me after riding them through rain a handful of times. That was while I was attempting a standard downhill bomb in my (then) regular commute. The ceramic balls won’t rust (though they do disintegrate like sand), but the steel track and races in a ceramic bearing do. Lesson learned? I don’t trust wet/dirty bearings. Regardless. I already have too much shit to worry about failing and causing a wheel lockup. I don’t need to also worry about my bearings every time I decide to push my board hard…
Its pretty crazy there’s so many anecdotes here about ceramic bearings.
I’ve been in the longboard community for… a good while now.
And I’ve been keeping an eye out for anecdotes on ceramic bearings but honestly most people simply don’t ride them. But I’ve asked multiple times and gotten no stories of people breaking balls.
And here, you not only are there people who’ve bought and used ceramic bearings, but a whole bunch who have used them to failure.
I’ve been using Bones Reds Racers but i’m up or anything better and less expensive. Or at least on par but less expensive.
I’ve just always used Bones bearings. I hear Zealous are great too.
Rain and brine is shit for more than just wheel bearings. It will fuck up ALL your bearings eventually. Motor bearings, pulley bearings, and not to mention rust your hardware. I get boards back for maintenance sometimes that are covered in corrosion from salt and other bullshit. Fucked up looking truck bolts, kingpin nuts if crusties, bushings with asphalt grime in them… gross.
It makes me angry. Clean your fucking boards before you send them in. Shit, you should be cleaning them every night when you get off the street. Just wipe the shit down a little.
I’ll bet you motherfuckers brush your teeth before you go to the dentist. Why wouldn’t you wipe your board down before i have to sample your localness all over my bench? Yuk.