Skates Bearings

What Are Skates Bearings

Skates bearings are the round shaped parts that are placed inside of the wheel in order to allow a wheel to spin on the axle that's been put through the frame of your skate. Bearings have a huge impact on the speed performance of your wheel.

Every skates bearing is built from the inner and outer race, a retainer, bearing balls (No of balls can vary depending on the model) and the shield. 

Skate bearings are universal so you can take out your bearings from the old set of wheels and put them into a new one if you like. Also most skate, longboard, scooter and skateboard bearings are the same size which gives you the option to use your bearings with all of those pieces of equipment as long as their in good condition.

What Bearings Should I Go For?

When looking for a new set of bearings, there is a couple of things to take into consideration such as the ABEC rating of the bearing also known as precision, material and the shields of the bearing.

The higher the ABEC rating of the bearing, the more precise the bearing is which will essentially make the bearing spin a little faster. You should choose the rating of your bearing based on your style of riding. If you prefer for your skates to roll a little slower and slow down faster in order to perform some technical stunts or tricks, go with ABEC-3-7 and if you like your bearings that little bit faster, go with ABEC-9 or ceramics which are the fastest bearings on the market that maintain speed for crazy long time.

Despite ABEC being the most common rating used by different brands of bearings, it is important to know that not all brands use it. Before buying a set of bearings from a brand using different rating, you should get familiar with the rating that's being used.

When Do I Change My Skates Bearings?

Changing your skates bearings can be a though decision and sometimes it is hard to know whether your bearings are on the way out or still good to go.

The way we look at it at B.Y.B, if you notice that your bearings are losing on performance you should try giving them a good clean. However, if you still experience some issues with the bearings after cleaning them, it would be a good idea to start looking for new bearings. 

It's never nice to blow a bearing or simply wear them out however, the good news are that bearing sets tend to be inexpensive so getting an extra set of bearings will be relatively easy on the budget.