Bearings make the world go around, or at least the skating world.
If the boot were the brain of the skate, and the wheels the limbs,
then the bearings would be the nerve center that gives them life.
These marvels of fine tuned engineering are the heart of the
functioning skate. You can roll on bad wheels and poor fitting boots,
but if your bearings don't turn, you aren't going anywhere!
There are many different types of bearings. Some are low end quality
and dirt cheap. Watch out for these. Obvious warning signs are things
like flashy packaging and even flashier words like "super" and "laser
made."
Other bearings can cost so much that they might as well be made of
gold. These type of bearings, while very good, can be a waste of
money if you do not need the high end performance type bearings. Most
skaters will never need to spend $150 for Swiss made ABEC-5 bearings.
Excellent bearings like these are best saved for the serious speed
skaters like Chad Hedrick and Derek Parra.
When skates are first bought, they will usually have one of three
different rated bearings, depending on the cost of the skates.
"Precision" (or some other flashy descriptive word other than ABEC)
bearings, are most commonly found in low-end skates. ABEC-1 bearings
can be found in skates of any class, and ABEC-3 bearings are usually
found in the higher priced skate models.
Bearings come from all over the world. Just because a bearing company
is based in the United States doesn't mean that their bearings are
made within the country. Most commonly used bearings come from
Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. Bearings can also come from places
such as Russia, China, and even here in the good ol' USA. But no
matter where the bearings come from or what they are rated it is
important to find out their quality. The best way to find out which
bearings are best for your in-line skating sport is to ask around.
Talk to experienced skaters and try to benefit from their experience.
Research the bearings that are on the market by asking retailers and
manufacturers for literature. If you frequent a local skate shop that
has trustworthy employees, ask them also.
ABEC (which stands for Annular Bearing Engineers Committee) is the
most commonly used system for rating skate bearings. The higher the
rating, the better (faster) the bearings are suppose to be. The
ratings are only measured in odd numbers and are usually 1 through 5.
There are some companies out there that are working on an ABEC-7
bearing.
But buyer beware, an ABEC rating does not insure the quality of the
bearing, only its spin. It is possible to buy great ABEC-5 bearings
as well as lousy ABEC-5 bearings.
Some of the things to watch for are plastic parts, inconsistent
appearances such as metal color and different markings on bearings
from the same package. If possible, buy serviceable bearings, these
will open on one side and make it easy to check out the internal
workings of the bearings. Serviceable bearings have a decided
advantage over the sealed variety, in that they are indeed
serviceable. The removable shield makes cleaning bearings 10 times
easier. Whereas with the sealed bearings, the manufacturer hopes you
will throw them away and just buy new ones.
Most first time skate buyers tend to buy low end skates for fear of
becoming bored or disenchanted with the sport. Therefore, chances are
that the first time skater has purchased a pair of skates that have
"precision" or ABEC-1 bearings. If the skater becomes more serious
about the sport, they will most likely want to upgrade their bearings
instead of maintaining their current ones.
Bearings can cost anywhere from $20.00 for a full set to hundreds of
dollars for high-end racing bearings. For good serviceable bearings,
a skater can expect to pay between $40 to $50. Bearings within this
range are normally of good quality and performance and will be more
than adequate for most skaters.
Reprinted from In-Line Skater, Volume 1, No. 4, Fall 1995