Jason Mitchell, Seismic Nationals 2007, Hybrid Slalom.  Photo by Greg Fadell Northern California Downhill Skateboarding Association
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Skateboard Bearing Reviews

 
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Bearing Reviews (4976 Posts)
Bearing Review
re:what should I get
On 4/14/2000 Just-in wrote in from (165.248.nnn.nnn)

If your board is old, and you think it is slow, try cleaning your bearings, and spraying your wheels with WD-40. Maybe losen your axle nuts.

 
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Black Panthers
On 4/14/2000 Justin wrote in from (165.248.nnn.nnn)

Are black panthers good longboard bearings?

 
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Ceramic berings
On 4/14/2000 RooX wrote in from (142.66.nnn.nnn)

I know.. i dont run them.. i have good old 5's in mine too, i saw just saying.. he asked for the fastest, i gave him what is most likely the fastest. I would never waste my money o nthem.. but like i said, if i was rich, with a huge wad o cash burning a hole in my pocket then why not buy them.. for normal mortals and regular joes and even racers like yourself they are not needed.. i could have clarafied myself but i didnt. soory. Cheers

 
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CERAMICS
On 4/14/2000 MANU wrote in from (164.138.nnn.nnn)

Excuse me, but why make people buy so expansive bearings ?
We (i) don't even use them in speed downhill !
Of course, everybody is free to buy such bearings, but i'm
just thinking about the people who gonna buy them and who will
see that they aren't really faster than some other good bearings...
Most skateboarders aren't very rich and the difference between
an expansive ceram. and a good abec5 is not so big...exept the prize!

 
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Ninja ceramix
On 4/12/2000 RooX wrote in from (142.66.nnn.nnn)

hey if you really want speed and got a wad o cash got for ceramix.. speed to the max.. although the 7's are pretty swert too

 
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ninja 7
On 4/12/2000 benny wrote in from (216.56.nnn.nnn)

ninja 7s are the best

 
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what should I get
On 4/12/2000 Brian wrote in from (152.163.nnn.nnn)

I NEED MORE SPEED!!!!!! what would be the best setup I bomb everything and still not fast enough

 
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Bearing disassembly
On 4/8/2000 Herbn wrote in from (207.198.nnn.nnn)

The first time you disassemble your bearings you'll go nuts the retainer pops out easy enough shift all the bearings to one side and they'll pry apart,exactly how tight they fit will depend on the brand/abec/how worn out,they are,reassembly takes some practice,all that stuff just would rather shift around than go together.When all the bearings are in between the races space them equal and clip the retainer in,good luck.

 
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Lucky ABEC 3s
On 4/7/2000 Scott wrote in from (216.126.nnn.nnn)

How long do these bearings last? I've had mine for about 6 months and I clean them regularly. Today I cleaned them and they seem to have lost their spin. I always relube them with Bones Speedcream so I'm just not sure what's happening. Is there some way to take out those little plastic things that space the balls? Should I not bother to take them out when cleaning my bearings? I really don't want to have to buy new bearings.

 
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Oh yeah..
On 4/6/2000 eggman wrote in from (208.49.nnn.nnn)

They are super fast too!

 
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Greased Bearings
On 4/6/2000 eggman wrote in from (208.49.nnn.nnn)

I love my greased bearings! They are nice and worn in, and work great! They were real cheap too! (they are ABEC7's for those that still believe the hype)

 
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Ninja.
On 4/5/2000 namon wrote in from (209.209.nnn.nnn)

I think that I would use ninja bearings just because of the name. I like ninja's. I think that when I grow up, I am going to be a ninja.
Then lets fight. I will show you up then.
.
.
.
namon

bomb hills
not people

 
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fkd blueshield ABEC3
On 4/5/2000 timcross wrote in from (205.169.nnn.nnn)

Ive had my bearings for a year now and they seem to be better than the lucky black beautys (ABEC5).try it you'll see!!!

 
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ABEC controversy
On 4/5/2000 Bob wrote in from (192.73.nnn.nnn)

Just to clarrify...

I'm not saying there is no benefit to having high quality bearings. I just think that the ABEC rating is not a good measuring stick for skateboarding.

I think you really tell the difference, you would need to test, for instance, and NMB bearing of ABEC1 against its almost identical ABEC 7 counterpart. The bearing would need to have identical shielding (double vs. single, shield material), identical lube, etc. Make it so the the ABEC rating is the only variable that is different.

I don't think its a good test to run a ceramic bearing against some generic brand -- at least for determing the value of a high abec rating.

 
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ABEC Clarification
On 4/5/2000 Ike wrote in from (207.108.nnn.nnn)

ABSEC was a typo.

oops.

 
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ABSEC Clarification
On 4/5/2000 Ike wrote in from (207.108.nnn.nnn)

I found an informative bearing info. site in the links section of this site:

http://www.minibearings.com.au/skate.htm#1

Ike

 
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bearings + abec
On 4/5/2000 herbn wrote in from (207.198.nnn.nnn)

can this be settled? i wish someone ,i'd do it if i there were some more downhillers in the area (northern n.j),lets take a whole bunch of rides with car shuttles back up,with bearing swaps between rides ,I even have a new set of ceramic swiss to test. Maybe non-competitive rolldowns, I have a feeling that while Abec might be worthless for fun riding , higher rated bearings will probabely nudge out lower rated bearings, greased bearings will be slower until they're broken in,and if they stay clean until then. There are tons of variables and we may never really know ,but there will probabely be some sort of patterns or indicators of what makes a faster bearing.

 
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what abec means
On 4/4/2000 Bob wrote in from (192.73.nnn.nnn)

ABEC stands for "annular bearing engineers committe". If you want the real technical dope on bearings, go to the following page from the NMB Corporation website, and download the PDF file. It will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about bearings. It will also reveal the reasons that the ABEC rating is not really very relevent for skateboarding.

http://nt1.glyphix.com/nmb/html/miniengineer.html

Later,

Bob

 
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What does abec really mean?
On 4/4/2000 MAcker wrote in from (205.188.nnn.nnn)

What does the term abec really mean
i have abec 3 so what is the difference between abec 3 & 5
does it make any difference do i care?

 
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What site
On 4/2/2000 Sean wrote in from (209.254.nnn.nnn)

where can I order some real good bearings on-line?

 
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Bearing Break-in
On 3/29/2000 Pre-School Rider wrote in from (209.198.nnn.nnn)

Lindsay,there's no one pat answer to your query,but the bearing normally finds a wear "groove" within the inner race,which is caused by the "polishing" effect of the bearing balls as they spin.This "polished" area on the inner race is hopefully smooth and even.The internal tolerances of the bearing change due to this wear,which loosens the spin and "frees" the bearing.Too much wear,and you've got rolling junk,but adding a higher viscosity lube can offset wear in older bearings.That's why bearings that come packed with grease rather than oil wear in slower,but ultimately last longer.The real trick is to keep a bearing "broken in",without it getting worn out.

 
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Breaking in
On 3/29/2000 Lindsay wrote in from (202.37.nnn.nnn)

Hey what exactly happens when bearings break in?

 
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World Industry-red sheilds
On 3/28/2000 Mark wrote in from (169.147.nnn.nnn)

I have a set of these and love them. Around 18 bucks. I think they are abec 5. Only sheilded on one side. I clean them with wd40, then lube them with a teflon spray from Schwinn bike shop. They use this creamy lube on chains. They said one company makes the teflon lube then sells it under diff brands. It works for me! I'm curious about the Powell bearings to.

 
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black panthers
On 3/26/2000 Jessie wrote in from (171.218.nnn.nnn)

I'm getting the vibe that bearings vary a lot... my friend has some swiss bones that are just as used as my panthers and my board runs all over his, I can hold my own with him and he runs 70mm wheels and I run 65s... his bearings seem to be a little defective tho... I think it's a crap shoot really

 
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sorry
On 3/26/2000 tim harrison wrote in from (137.28.nnn.nnn)

Fellow longboarders, I am truly sorry for my repetative posting of that all too hostile message, i don't know what got into me, I will never do it again!
Sorry and Thanks, Tim

 
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