what are skateboard bearings

Skateboard Bearings

Skate bearings are the small circular devices that allow your wheels to roll, and will determine how fast and smoothly they rotate. Skate bearings consist of 5 major parts: the shield, the inner race, the balls, the retainer, and the outer race. A skateboard requires a set of 8 bearings, 2 for each wheel. Almost every skateboard bearing is the same size and will fit on any skateboard wheel and truck.

When choosing your bearings, it is important to think about your experience level and riding style. Bearings with higher quality parts will be faster and more durable. If you are a beginner, you may not need the fastest and toughest bearings on the market. If you are more experienced and know that you like to ride fast and hard, you could probably benefit from a higher end bearing. Bearings of higher quality will be more expensive than entry level bearings, so take that into consideration as well.

Skate bearings are donut shaped metal devices that allow a wheel to roll faster and smoother by reducing friction. Unlike the wheels in which they fit into, all bearings have the same dimensions- 8mm (inner diameter), 22mm (outer diameter), and 7mm (width). Each wheel requires two bearings that are usually separated within the wheel by a spacer. Bearings are measured by an ABEC rating system (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9).

Abec Rating

Bearings of all types come with what is called an ABEC rating. You can usually see this rating printed on the packaging a set of bearings comes in, or printed on the shield of a bearing itself. The ABEC system consists of 5 levels: ABEC 1, ABEC 2, ABEC 3, ABEC 5, ABEC 7, and ABEC 9. There is a common misconception that a higher ABEC rating means a faster or better skateboard bearing. The truth is that the ABEC system was created to rate the tolerances of bearings made specifically for industrial machinery and not for skateboarding.

The ABEC system rates a bearing’s ability to cope with changes in physical dimension, properties of a manufactured object, and temperature. The ABEC system does factor in the abuse a skateboard bearing will take, the speed at which skateboards travel, or any other criteria specific to skateboarding.

When choosing your bearings it’s best to completely ignore the listed ABEC rating. The quality of materials used in your bearings is what matters when it comes to performance.

MATERIALS (Steel VS Ceramic)

Skate bearings are typically steel or ceramic. Both have their advantages (cost vs. quality) because steel is cheaper than ceramic, but ceramic is known to be higher quality and less maintenance. Ceramic bearings will tend to allow for faster spinning and last longer than their steel counterparts, at the trade off of cost. Besides the ball bearings, ceramic bearings will be encased in steel. The steel used is usually higher quality in ceramic bearings. In summary, ceramic bearings cost more not only because the balls are ceramic, but the overall quality is better. Ceramic bearings are also unaffected by rust, which I helps them to last longer overall.

SPACERS

Bearing spacers are designed to reduce the weight distribution to each bearing by providing extra support between the two bearings. This leads to smoother, more stable turns and a longer life for the bearings. A spacer is just a metal cylinder between your bearings, 8-10mm diameter, which makes it a cheap, but positive investment.