CTRider
Member
Bearing grease is sooooo slow. Even after riding them for like a week they were still too slow so I went with a lighter lubricant.
Bearing SUPER THREAD!
- Thread starter tarrymonz
- Start date
liltony
I got myself banned.
ever spun a car bearing? didnt think so, because its near impossible. the car bearings are hard as my penis but cars go fast. weight, size of wheels, and what wheels make your scooter go fast or slow
J dub
Bronze member
I'm sorry but this simply is not true. Let me throw out a word, as someone who has heavily researched every aspect of what makes a bearing good, and what makes it bad.
First off, the advice given should be taken by everyone. This is general maint. for unsealed bearings. Clean them, oil them, and replace. That said... do NOT use grease, use a lightweight oil/lubricant.
Now, why a wheel would be fast... is a few things. One... is it perfectly round? A high dollar wheel, you can be assured they spent some time making sure it's PERFECTLY round, and the bearings fit in precisely. However, that said, that all a wheel is... a round object. Round is round is round. The BEARING is what is rotating that object...
Speed is determined by how smoothly your bearing spins. Ease of spin can be caused by material (how smooth/slick it is, minimal friction) used, lubricant (once again... must reduce friction/drag) and bearing size (how many balls, quality of the shape, roundness etc.).
Now the reason why a cheap wheel won't spin well no matter what is more than likely because you're testing this theory on a well worn plastic wheel. Well, the plastic simply won't hold a bearing as precisely as metal/aluminum. As there is more give, and even flex, not to mention will ovalize much quicker. Where as a fresh eagle will have a perfect circle, be metal and fit the bearing tightly.
However, I can take a brand new stock 100mm pro wheel, install a set of our silk 7's, then take a fresh 100mm eagle, and install a pair of $0.50 abec 5's, and the pro wheel will spin more than twice as long as the eagle, easy. The wheel simply must have proper weight distribution, good bearing slots and roundness, and even those will only have a small effect on how your wheel will spin when in turn compared to the quality of the bearing itself.
CTRider
Member
I agree with most of what you said, but how long a bearing spins without load is practically irrelevant to the speed when you are actually riding the scooter. Friction and compression of the urethane have a key role in wheel speed. When you actually ride a scooter, wheels are more important than your bearings unless your bearings are rusted/seized to hell. I rode crappy bearings for while and people would comment on the speed of my scoot simply because I had 91a wheels while they were riding stocker with much faster bearings in a no load situation.
J dub
Bronze member
Now this is true, friction of the urethane is a factor, HOWEVER, what makes a bad wheel or a good wheel? Softness? A rock hard wheel might roll like mad, but where's the grip? Would you not contest that a proto gripper and a proto slider would roll differently? Of course, different urethane, BUT both a quality wheel. So while I would say it's very true... I simply contest that the urethane makes less of a difference than the bearing itself.... unless you get a wheel so soft that the entire wheel can flex when rolling.
I'd be happy to set up a local ride test to validate my theory, as I have a stock of protos, eagles, yak, pro and cheap no name wheels, and then see how they work with cheapo bearings, basic abec 7s, abec 9's, bone swiss, super sixes, ceramics and silk 7's.... go through the ENTIRE gamut, and see how they work...
CTRider
Member
Of course different hardnesses may have less grip, but this thread is about speed, not overall wheel performance. Just speaking from personal experience, the wheel is much more important than the bearing. I have run abec 5's up to high end ceramics. When you are riding the scooter changing wheels is far more noticable than changing bearings.
Liltony's theory is somewhat applicable. Bearing grease is extremely thick, but still produces fast rolling characteristics when weight is applied.
Liltony's theory is somewhat applicable. Bearing grease is extremely thick, but still produces fast rolling characteristics when weight is applied.
DavidCronin
Steel Member
the only way you can tell the different speeds with bearings is if ones either compleatly rusted or shot
J dub
Bronze member
Sorry but simply not true. Take 3 brand new metalcores, try 3 different bearings, a cheap abec 5, a good high end bearing and then a ceramic. Night and day difference. If this wasn't true, there would be zero market for skateboard bearings as everyone would be running the cheapest ones they could find.
DavidCronin
Steel Member
from my experiences, all bearings feel/roll the same to me and its pretty much the wheel. my opinion, i think companies try to make bearings stronger and last longer than fast
Billie Rainbow
Silver Member
my method: run stock bearings or buy industrial bearings and clean them out and put in silicone oil(low friction, doesn't attract dirt easily) only thing after-market bearings do is last longer which in my experience no one cares about that much unless you are retarded enough to not know how to pull a bearing apart. Ive been there and tested it all already, wheels are the key factor in speed, as an example 12-spoke pro wheels were slow as all hell but 14 spoke ones are extremely fast considering they are plastic cores. so its more up to the lube in the bearings if it was an unlikely chance that the bearings are slowing you down, ive been told that a teflon based one would be faster but im not much for spending money.
DavidCronin
Steel Member
ive broke lots of bearings scootering and skateboarding, just whatever you do dont buy halo bearings
J dub
Bronze member
The are a variety of components to a bearing that will make it faster, or slower. For one, the casing has to be strong enough not to flex and and bind on the balls, and then of course materials choice, as it's true, teflon and ceramics are slicker thus enhance "speed". For example, our silk 7's use teflon shields, which, while when combined with a strong casing help in just that little extra speed.
Riley Hughes
Steel Member
you guys know that the apec rating has NOTHING to do with speed, right? it's a durability rating. while most apec 9 wheels are multiple times faster than apec 5 wheels, bones swiss and bones reds don't have an apec rating.
J dub
Bronze member
quote............ The ABEC rating of a bearing is determined by the following (for a 608 size bearing):
1. How close the bore is to 8mm in microns
2. How close the outer diameter is to 22 in microns
3. How close the width is to 7mm in microns
4. The rotating accuracy in microns
Also, many skate bearings DON'T follow the abec rating, they're almost like... marketing ploys. And often refer to how many balls are in the bearing.
quote from a bearing expert...... "Out of dozens I've measured and tested, few met the advertised ABEC specification," said Foster from his facility in Chatsworth, California. "I have purchased and tested bearings masked ABEC 5 and ABEC 7 from skate shops, online stores, and eBay. There are dozens of skate bearing companies supplying overseas manufactured ABEC 1 bearings that are stamped ABEC 5 or ABEC 7," he said.
"ABEC has nothing to do with speed, quality, raceway finish, workmanship or the bearings’ ability to stay clean."
"In some countries it is legal to print anything you want on a part. Shields can be interchanged or marked with whatever you want. You can mark, "made from bubblegum" on the shield just as easily as you can put ABEC 9 or Solid Gold – or whatever you want," said Foster, adding, "Just because it says so doesn’t always mean it is true."
and... If you skate pools or vert, do not use a steel cage. The cage must be non-metallic in order to be quick and fast enough.
just to throw it out there.
It was an interesting little article.
1. How close the bore is to 8mm in microns
2. How close the outer diameter is to 22 in microns
3. How close the width is to 7mm in microns
4. The rotating accuracy in microns
Also, many skate bearings DON'T follow the abec rating, they're almost like... marketing ploys. And often refer to how many balls are in the bearing.
quote from a bearing expert...... "Out of dozens I've measured and tested, few met the advertised ABEC specification," said Foster from his facility in Chatsworth, California. "I have purchased and tested bearings masked ABEC 5 and ABEC 7 from skate shops, online stores, and eBay. There are dozens of skate bearing companies supplying overseas manufactured ABEC 1 bearings that are stamped ABEC 5 or ABEC 7," he said.
"ABEC has nothing to do with speed, quality, raceway finish, workmanship or the bearings’ ability to stay clean."
"In some countries it is legal to print anything you want on a part. Shields can be interchanged or marked with whatever you want. You can mark, "made from bubblegum" on the shield just as easily as you can put ABEC 9 or Solid Gold – or whatever you want," said Foster, adding, "Just because it says so doesn’t always mean it is true."
and... If you skate pools or vert, do not use a steel cage. The cage must be non-metallic in order to be quick and fast enough.
just to throw it out there.
It was an interesting little article.
ihavsnot
Member
hey just buy shop bearings take out the oil and their fast and when they break ther like 5 dollars ( I ride reds ceramic )
ashz893scootys
Member
i run dry bearings lmfao
everyday i get my scooter the wheels dont spin then about 5 minutes later there all good again
everyday i get my scooter the wheels dont spin then about 5 minutes later there all good again
i run dry bearings lmfao
everyday i get my scooter the wheels dont spin then about 5 minutes later there all good again
haha
i'd not go scootering if my bearings were fucking up
i run dry bearings lmfao
everyday i get my scooter the wheels dont spin then about 5 minutes later there all good again
haha madd bump/doublepost/quotingsamequote
soz tehe
my bearings werent spinning today when i was going out for a ride so i jacked the bearings from my little sisters scooter haha