I changed the factory bearings on my Nils Janssons m12 charcoal aggressives to Bones Super Reds Bearings, HUGE difference, got faster wheels on a second!
Greeting from New Zealand mate. Im new to al this and I have spent the whole day reading and watching videos about bearings and their replacements, had never heard of any of it until today when I need to replace it! great, excellent video I watched it to the very last minute. Thanks again.
generic sealed bearings have grease in them that slows them down (still rolls fine but not for too long, it's for other applications), you can remove one of the shields (never both of course) and use a solvent like kerosene or acetone and let it sit overnight to remove the factory grease, next day you dry them, apply a bit of machine oil and it'll spin as long as a bones reds (they come dry from factory, that's why they spin so much more freely) the abec specification is for a different type of load, us skaters/skateboarders don't need to pay attention to that cleaning the grease of a sealed bearing seems like a lot of work since bones are cheap in the US, but i'm from a poorer country and a set of 8 bones costs like 1/6 of the minimum monthly wage (which is actually the average national salary, go figure) i do own a penny board on bones bearings and a skateboard on independent bearings, but my long board and my skates have standard but modded abec 7s (shield only on one side facing out, zero grease, machine oil maintenance from time to time)
In my scant almost-year I’d blading I’ve made a number of discoveries, both for my own good and for sharing knowledge for those who have different tastes than I. One big one, like you say here is bearings but I first always address the spacers a person has. Usually I find it’s the spacer that is the main culprit of slowing things down (I confess I carry my tools and other goods in my skate bag) and so thus, I help out and fix or identify it to the person in question. When it comes to bearings, I feel that’s more of a “preference” question. I’ve tried many bearings to more or less success. The only time when I’ve really noticed a difference was when I went from ABEC5 to Swiss. As a personal observation, I find (for aggressive) that a happy middle ground is the best. Currently I am rolling on THEM ABEC7 and I can’t complain given the price, performance and durability. I find pricy bearings tend to lean to extending the overall lifespan, thus they are regularly the serviceable variety. If you ask my opinion, provided that you don’t have a wall of boots’ bearings to clean, a low-to-mid priced and serviceable bearing will do the trick. Every month or so, give those bearings a clean and they will live nearly through anything you can put them through. My THEM7 lasted a whole suburb-Toronto winter with me trudging through salt covered streets of my little town. But I like to tinker with my skates so, I confess, to servicing my bearings maybe once every other week.
Agreed! Those bearings look great. I think it’s worth taking the time to maintain them, of course, but having the time and commitment is another issue.
It seems like so many people are put off from skating because of the complexity of cleaning bearings. I think I’ll start with your way of doing it and maybe get into servicing them eventually
I usually stick to what Bones say, the ABEC system is obsolete in terms of skating. You want bearings that are skate rated. Going from ABEC 5 to Bones reds and then Wicked ILQ9 ceramic bearings, I could tell the difference in the roll/ride. But there is a noticeable difference in price too, so I'd say to get something you're comfortable with. I just wish all spacers were better designed. Bauer and Mission have some brilliant designs on theirs where the spacer sits inside the bearings and the axle runs through the middle
I’m really curious about the wheel spacer designs, it’s such an overlooked piece of the puzzle. Agreed with your take on bearings, spend what you can but don’t expect miracles.
@@BacktoBlading I really like the design of Bauer and Mission spacers but sadly those are for smaller axles so wouldn't fit on an aggressive or freestyle frame. There's gotta be a better design out there for inline wheels, the 2 current styles I have at the moment aren't great as most of the time they move inside the 2 bearings before I get the axle in
@@Psytrome you mean the ceramic bones? I've heard mixed reviews from ppl with personal experience with them, hence why I avoided and tried wicked ceramic
Bones are just your average Chinese bearing with rubber and nylon shielding any rubber or metal shielded bearing will do great and for agressive, you should stay away from ceramics, Ceramic bearings were designed for high heat no load scenarios like in turbochargers - they chip easily.
Not inline but I did used to skateboard a parking garage with friends a lot. One day when I just had too much money in my wallet, I bought some swiss bones ceramic bearings. It was a 6 story parking garage. I instantly became by far the fastest skater there. I had them over a year and people with brand new red bones bearings still couldn't touch me. When doing downhill, gravity is doing the pushing and it is constant.
Thanks for the video! I feel like my abec 7 wheels slow me down a lot:( especially when I screw them in really tight, but I also don’t want them to be loose...) any ideas?
@@BacktoBlading Thanks for your reply! I checked and there are spacers... I’m getting frustrated as I’m running out of options to figure out why my wheels spin so slowly. Could it be the frame? I feel like it might not be aligned perfectly so that the screws don’t fit perfectly causing the wheels to slow down as they maybe touch? Any ideas? Greetings Jan
@@janbee7132 If you pick up your skates and the wheels rotate for a minute at least when you spin them then all is OK. If they stop within 20 seconds then their is a serious problem. It will have NOTHING to do with the quality of the bearings, something else will be causing the problem. Look closely.
Hi, I make simular expirience, I bought expensive bearings and now have bought indutrial bearings with grease witch are verry cheap if u are buying more than 200 peaces... I cant feel any different in speed and they are verry leakproof. I used them in rain a few times, but there are no damages.
I really wish there was a channel for marathon / distance / fitness skating. While differences might be minimal between bearings when skating street, I suspect it's different when skating for 60 minutes + in a straight line. I can definitely tell the difference in coasting with bad bearings, or dirty bearings vs good and clean bearings.
For terrible roads, daily commute and endurance training what speed Wheels would be best value for the wear? 110mm Wheels bont Elemental $8.50 atom Matrix $10. matter image $12. bont highrollers $14??? These are all the bang for the buck Wheels on the market right now that might have good wear for their dollar. Any comments anyone?
Any recommendations for my 10 yo daughters skate's I got her some blade's and she's complaining about them going so slow that she can't turn and she's really good at it so I wanna make them fast but not 2 fast
Best thing to do it find some new wheels and bearings. The ones that came with her skates are probably not great. I made a video you might appreciate explaining basic wheel info: th-cam.com/video/Hh9MgdqHXmM/w-d-xo.html
@@BacktoBlading Forget the bearings, you could give her larger wheels or a lighter boot. It all depends on the strength of her ankle muscles though. I suspect though that she is only complaining because she can't skate! Tell her to stop complaining an learn to skate. That is your best solution, and it costs nothing to implement.
Great video, I am struggling with speed and a lack of it, I skate concrete parks only and have the roces red fifth elements, I upgraded from Abec 5 to 7 and they still feel slow, I need more speed asap, any suggestions on what bearings and wheels I should buy? The wheels are 60mm 93A HQ compound wheels, they feel a little hard.
To me the 6 ball designs seem to last a lot longer before needing to be replaced or cleaned. In theory grit should effect a larger ball less than a smaller ball. Of course it could be all sorts of other variables.
This is only correct if you are skating on ultra smooth surfaces. As with bicycles there is this kind of compromise. Do you loose energy in the deformation of your wheels when you go over a rough surface with soft wheels or do you loose energy in the deformation of your body when you go over a rough surface with hard wheels. It is an interesting trade off.
@@SK-ow4vw that's what I mean, the hardness is everything. Adjusted to what ever terrain of coarse but having it right is so much more important I've found than berrings
Just bought new ground control mega frames with I think 61mm wheels and new beringings I took the skates for a ride for the first time and I would push off to glide for a few seconds and pretty much come to a dead stop lol I’ve never had that happen before and the skate shop said that’s normal for new bearings lol I question that ha
Depends on the bearings but they shouldn’t be that slow. They’ll break in after a few minutes of skating. If not, something is wrong. Do you have bearing spacers in there?
Back to Blading yeah I have the spacers that came with the kit that they supplied I’m going to get new bearings and go from there I’m glad I’m glad someone else thinks there’s something wrong btw keep up the good work man
Stride harder and get used to supporting your body on one leg if you want to go faster. Acceleration has nothing to do with wheel size... zero. Acceleration is all about your ability to sprint. The only thing slowing you down would be wheel slip when pushing off. Bearings will have no noticeable difference. Bigger wheels with less rolling resistance will also help. Mostly technique. When I used to ice skate years ago, there once was this guy on hockey skates just like the ones I was using. He could pass me like I was standing still. He was lighting fast. All technique. It’s like putting a better quality saxophone in a player’s hands and thinking he’s going to play way better. Not a chance.
If you have an ultra-smooth surface and 125 mm wheels that are hard then the ONLY thing that will prevent you going fast is WIND RESISTANCE. Forget the bearings and wear the proper suit. If you are going at speeds where bearings make a difference then you cannot skate fast enough and you should improve your physical condition.
o.o' why the hell wouldn't you use sealed bearings for freeskate??? that's when your gonna be experiencing the most amount of dirt and grime buildup... high quality bearings are much better for the park.... its usually cleaner and you benefit the most from even the smallest speed boost when your trying to pull a 1080 over a launch box
Great video! I was just putting my RB New Jack Pros and Oysi frames together w/ 72/60mm and realized...I forgot bearings for my 72's! Looked all around town and no sporting goods stores or bike/skate shops had anything. Had to order online...waiting game...You'd think rollerblades don't even exist anymore. Not one place even had any for sale except some junky rec skates. Such a shame.
i just started skating a couple months back and i love everything about your channel.
I love comments like yours. =)
i realize it's kind of off topic but does anybody know a good site to watch new tv shows online?
@Reginald Adonis try FlixZone. Just google for it =)
@Koda Otis Definitely, I have been watching on FlixZone for months myself :D
@Koda Otis Thanks, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there =) I really appreciate it!
Really interesting and useful tips! Thanks from a 34yo beginner from Spain! Thanks and keep it up!
Thank you for this! You were very thorough and I can tell you’re very passionate about the gear. Keep killing it!
I changed the factory bearings on my Nils Janssons m12 charcoal aggressives to Bones
Super Reds Bearings, HUGE difference, got faster wheels on a second!
Paul Reyner, google it, mate ;)
Greeting from New Zealand mate. Im new to al this and I have spent the whole day reading and watching videos about bearings and their replacements, had never heard of any of it until today when I need to replace it! great, excellent video I watched it to the very last minute. Thanks again.
welcome!
Very nice video. Great explanations and helpful guide to wheels, bearings and frames.
generic sealed bearings have grease in them that slows them down (still rolls fine but not for too long, it's for other applications), you can remove one of the shields (never both of course) and use a solvent like kerosene or acetone and let it sit overnight to remove the factory grease, next day you dry them, apply a bit of machine oil and it'll spin as long as a bones reds (they come dry from factory, that's why they spin so much more freely)
the abec specification is for a different type of load, us skaters/skateboarders don't need to pay attention to that
cleaning the grease of a sealed bearing seems like a lot of work since bones are cheap in the US, but i'm from a poorer country and a set of 8 bones costs like 1/6 of the minimum monthly wage (which is actually the average national salary, go figure) i do own a penny board on bones bearings and a skateboard on independent bearings, but my long board and my skates have standard but modded abec 7s (shield only on one side facing out, zero grease, machine oil maintenance from time to time)
In my scant almost-year I’d blading I’ve made a number of discoveries, both for my own good and for sharing knowledge for those who have different tastes than I. One big one, like you say here is bearings but I first always address the spacers a person has. Usually I find it’s the spacer that is the main culprit of slowing things down (I confess I carry my tools and other goods in my skate bag) and so thus, I help out and fix or identify it to the person in question. When it comes to bearings, I feel that’s more of a “preference” question. I’ve tried many bearings to more or less success. The only time when I’ve really noticed a difference was when I went from ABEC5 to Swiss. As a personal observation, I find (for aggressive) that a happy middle ground is the best. Currently I am rolling on THEM ABEC7 and I can’t complain given the price, performance and durability. I find pricy bearings tend to lean to extending the overall lifespan, thus they are regularly the serviceable variety.
If you ask my opinion, provided that you don’t have a wall of boots’ bearings to clean, a low-to-mid priced and serviceable bearing will do the trick. Every month or so, give those bearings a clean and they will live nearly through anything you can put them through. My THEM7 lasted a whole suburb-Toronto winter with me trudging through salt covered streets of my little town. But I like to tinker with my skates so, I confess, to servicing my bearings maybe once every other week.
Agreed! Those bearings look great. I think it’s worth taking the time to maintain them, of course, but having the time and commitment is another issue.
Oh thank you, I needed this
It seems like so many people are put off from skating because of the complexity of cleaning bearings. I think I’ll start with your way of doing it and maybe get into servicing them eventually
I clean my bearings once a year. I skate 3000 km per year. There is NO complexity at all.
wonderful and honest explanation, thanks a lot
I usually stick to what Bones say, the ABEC system is obsolete in terms of skating.
You want bearings that are skate rated.
Going from ABEC 5 to Bones reds and then Wicked ILQ9 ceramic bearings, I could tell the difference in the roll/ride.
But there is a noticeable difference in price too, so I'd say to get something you're comfortable with.
I just wish all spacers were better designed.
Bauer and Mission have some brilliant designs on theirs where the spacer sits inside the bearings and the axle runs through the middle
I’m really curious about the wheel spacer designs, it’s such an overlooked piece of the puzzle. Agreed with your take on bearings, spend what you can but don’t expect miracles.
@@BacktoBlading I really like the design of Bauer and Mission spacers but sadly those are for smaller axles so wouldn't fit on an aggressive or freestyle frame.
There's gotta be a better design out there for inline wheels, the 2 current styles I have at the moment aren't great as most of the time they move inside the 2 bearings before I get the axle in
I'll work on it!
@@Psytrome you mean the ceramic bones?
I've heard mixed reviews from ppl with personal experience with them, hence why I avoided and tried wicked ceramic
Bones are just your average Chinese bearing with rubber and nylon shielding any rubber or metal shielded bearing will do great and for agressive, you should stay away from ceramics, Ceramic bearings were designed for high heat no load scenarios like in turbochargers - they chip easily.
Not inline but I did used to skateboard a parking garage with friends a lot. One day when I just had too much money in my wallet, I bought some swiss bones ceramic bearings. It was a 6 story parking garage. I instantly became by far the fastest skater there. I had them over a year and people with brand new red bones bearings still couldn't touch me. When doing downhill, gravity is doing the pushing and it is constant.
I'm basically a beginner. Went from ABEC 5 & 7 to ILQ-9. So much difference, I'll never go back.
Totally! It’s a great way to upgrade
What is the name of your skate company? I will be needing some new bearings and wheels soon. Thanks for the hardware info. Very interesting.
Here’s all the stuff I make/distribute. Thanks for the support! www.balancedist.com
Thanks for the video! I feel like my abec 7 wheels slow me down a lot:( especially when I screw them in really tight, but I also don’t want them to be loose...) any ideas?
May sound silly, but do you have bearing spacers in your wheels? That could cause the slowdown when they’re tight
@@BacktoBlading
Thanks for your reply!
I checked and there are spacers...
I’m getting frustrated as I’m running out of options to figure out why my wheels spin so slowly. Could it be the frame? I feel like it might not be aligned perfectly so that the screws don’t fit perfectly causing the wheels to slow down as they maybe touch?
Any ideas?
Greetings Jan
@@janbee7132 If you pick up your skates and the wheels rotate for a minute at least when you spin them then all is OK. If they stop within 20 seconds then their is a serious problem. It will have NOTHING to do with the quality of the bearings, something else will be causing the problem. Look closely.
Hi, I make simular expirience, I bought expensive bearings and now have bought indutrial bearings with grease witch are verry cheap if u are buying more than 200 peaces... I cant feel any different in speed and they are verry leakproof. I used them in rain a few times, but there are no damages.
I really wish there was a channel for marathon / distance / fitness skating. While differences might be minimal between bearings when skating street, I suspect it's different when skating for 60 minutes + in a straight line. I can definitely tell the difference in coasting with bad bearings, or dirty bearings vs good and clean bearings.
Agreed. Have you looked at Pascal’s channel? He’s amazing
Boots can make a difference - see: carbon shell
Chris Cads I have pair of the carbon shell awesome super light.
For terrible roads, daily commute and endurance training what speed Wheels would be best value for the wear? 110mm Wheels bont Elemental $8.50 atom Matrix $10. matter image $12. bont highrollers $14??? These are all the bang for the buck Wheels on the market right now that might have good wear for their dollar. Any comments anyone?
I’d start cheap and move up from there. You’re not looking for performance as much as durability.
What about softer wheels? For longer distances would a 80mm 80a be faster than a 72mm 85a?
Softer are usually slower in my experience but it depends on what you’re skating. For distance I bet they’d be great on smooth terrain
Would adding spacers help with vibration?
Skating on a smoother surface helps with vibration, unless it comes from your headphones.
Any recommendations for my 10 yo daughters skate's I got her some blade's and she's complaining about them going so slow that she can't turn and she's really good at it so I wanna make them fast but not 2 fast
Best thing to do it find some new wheels and bearings. The ones that came with her skates are probably not great. I made a video you might appreciate explaining basic wheel info: th-cam.com/video/Hh9MgdqHXmM/w-d-xo.html
@@BacktoBlading Forget the bearings, you could give her larger wheels or a lighter boot. It all depends on the strength of her ankle muscles though. I suspect though that she is only complaining because she can't skate! Tell her to stop complaining an learn to skate. That is your best solution, and it costs nothing to implement.
Hey bud!! If you wanna try 60mm bullet profile wheels try the undercover Werbeski. And let me know how it goes. I got the Enin ones and I love them!
I’ve heard! Need to grab a set. Thanks
Thanks for the info! I have Them boots and Kaltik frames that I’m trying to build off of and I want to maintain them as well as I can.
Great video, I am struggling with speed and a lack of it, I skate concrete parks only and have the roces red fifth elements, I upgraded from Abec 5 to 7 and they still feel slow, I need more speed asap, any suggestions on what bearings and wheels I should buy? The wheels are 60mm 93A HQ compound wheels, they feel a little hard.
Those the stock wheels? I thought they were pretty bad so maybe some round 60/92 would be ok. Are you skating antirocker?
@@BacktoBlading Yes Stock wheels and anti rocker, I was looking at the Famus 60/88a as they have some good reviews, any thoughts on those?
@@CostaBlancaFrenchies soft wheels wont go as fast
you must have a 90mm wheels minimum for speed..bigger wheel bigger speed and comfort.. i wahe a 90mm and 85a...very nice
To me the 6 ball designs seem to last a lot longer before needing to be replaced or cleaned. In theory grit should effect a larger ball less than a smaller ball. Of course it could be all sorts of other variables.
one of the most important speed changers is wheel hardness.
This is only correct if you are skating on ultra smooth surfaces. As with bicycles there is this kind of compromise. Do you loose energy in the deformation of your wheels when you go over a rough surface with soft wheels or do you loose energy in the deformation of your body when you go over a rough surface with hard wheels. It is an interesting trade off.
@@SK-ow4vw that's what I mean, the hardness is everything. Adjusted to what ever terrain of coarse but having it right is so much more important I've found than berrings
The 6 is for the amount of balls in the bearing
Just bought new ground control mega frames with I think 61mm wheels and new beringings I took the skates for a ride for the first time and I would push off to glide for a few seconds and pretty much come to a dead stop lol I’ve never had that happen before and the skate shop said that’s normal for new bearings lol I question that ha
Depends on the bearings but they shouldn’t be that slow. They’ll break in after a few minutes of skating. If not, something is wrong.
Do you have bearing spacers in there?
Back to Blading yeah I have the spacers that came with the kit that they supplied I’m going to get new bearings and go from there I’m glad I’m glad someone else thinks there’s something wrong btw keep up the good work man
Stride harder and get used to supporting your body on one leg if you want to go faster. Acceleration has nothing to do with wheel size... zero. Acceleration is all about your ability to sprint. The only thing slowing you down would be wheel slip when pushing off. Bearings will have no noticeable difference. Bigger wheels with less rolling resistance will also help.
Mostly technique. When I used to ice skate years ago, there once was this guy on hockey skates just like the ones I was using. He could pass me like I was standing still. He was lighting fast. All technique.
It’s like putting a better quality saxophone in a player’s hands and thinking he’s going to play way better. Not a chance.
Yes I agree entirely. You really do know what you are talking about. Stability and after that precision is the absolute key to skating well.
@@SK-ow4vw
Thanks for the reply. Hope you’re doing well.
I really like your channel
UC has a nice set of bullet profile wheels for aggressive skates, but they are 59mm wheels not 60mm sorry :P
UC Werbeski wheels are the wheels im talking about, they are amazing if you want speed and handling
I’ll give them a shot!
sweet as looking forward to your thoughts on them
Imagine they have bigger bearings atleast the size of keychain ring size bearings...i t ll be REMARKABLE.
If you have an ultra-smooth surface and 125 mm wheels that are hard then the ONLY thing that will prevent you going fast is WIND RESISTANCE. Forget the bearings and wear the proper suit. If you are going at speeds where bearings make a difference then you cannot skate fast enough and you should improve your physical condition.
o.o' why the hell wouldn't you use sealed bearings for freeskate??? that's when your gonna be experiencing the most amount of dirt and grime buildup... high quality bearings are much better for the park.... its usually cleaner and you benefit the most from even the smallest speed boost when your trying to pull a 1080 over a launch box
Dude sell me those grey and black remz beside the yellow wheeled skates behind you please i have paypal
Great video! I was just putting my RB New Jack Pros and Oysi frames together w/ 72/60mm and realized...I forgot bearings for my 72's! Looked all around town and no sporting goods stores or bike/skate shops had anything. Had to order online...waiting game...You'd think rollerblades don't even exist anymore. Not one place even had any for sale except some junky rec skates. Such a shame.
Damn! Someday we’ll be back in the other shops. I have faith!
Aluminium
You really don't have a clue about bearings. Abec means nothing in the grand scheme of things. They won't be any faster. 🤡
That was a clown ass comment you left on here
Bla bla bla just get to the points
Get to the point
My God this was boring to watch.
Thanks for making it through.
lol
it was cool