You can't ride your skateboard without bearings.Well, maybe you can, but it usually ends bad. Bearings are the small metal rings you need to put inside your wheels. They allow your wheels to turn freely. Most work using a ball system. This means there are small metal balls inside the metal housing. 
The balls rotate against the metal with a very small amount of friction. This allows your wheels to go around and around without loosing a lot of momentum. Of course some are better than others. I won’t pretend to know everything there is to know about bearings, but I can give you a few good ideas of what to look for. Don’t get the cheap ones unless you’re strapped for cash. Sometimes I will get the cheap ones for the obvious reason. They are cheap. They usually end up breaking open on me. The cases always fall off. They end up getting slow or jammed. If you have the money just save yourself the time and get a Bones swiss set. I’ve never made this purchase (too much money for my blood), but sometimes I wish I had. I have a friend who owns them and he’s had them for too long. (A few years now!) It’s almost unfair how good they are. They still run great too. However, if you’re an average joe, like me, go ahead and get some “middle-class” ones. Black Panthers and Bones Red seem to be two of the best I’ve used. I often buy the Speed Demons version due to price, but I still think they could be made better. Another aspect to bearings is the abec rating. I don’t know exactly how we determine an abec rating. It has something to do with the size of the pieces in them. The higher the rating, however, the higher the tolerance of the pieces used. Stay away from abec 1. These are junky. They end up getting so slow I can not skate properly with them. Abec 3 is ok if you’re just beginning and want to get something cost effective. I usually stick with abec 5 and abec 7. Of course, one little number can’t tell you exactly how well they will perform. Abec numbers are a good guide, but you simply cannot determine quality all off of one number. It will take you a few purchases to find some you really like. Or as I said above, just skip this all and buy the swiss ones. Another type of bearings I’ve seen around are the ceramic ones. I have yet to use these and don’t know much about them. If you have some good information about them, please contact me and maybe I will post your information and of course you would receive credit for the information on the page. I will always recommend that you use some lubrication on your bearings. This can be bought at a fair price at many skate shops. If you cannot find any, just go to your tool chest and use some wd-40. Try to keep them clean and oiled up. You will be surprised how even the cheapest set can stay good for quite some time with proper maintenance. If you’re like a lot of people though, and don’t like maintenance, get some higher abec ones. There you have it. The scoop on why you need bearings and why some are better than others. To see how to put bearings in be sure to check out my page on building your own skateboard. Back to Skateboard Parts Return to Home Page
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