Who cleans their bearings?

[joeymc]

Not once in my 15 years of skating have I cleaned my bearings. I just buy new ones. I've tried many different brands and they are all pretty much the same. ILQ-9's seem to be the best of the bunch. I just ordered a couple sets of ILQ-9 PRO's and they are not made for the type of skating we do... They seem to be a bit fragile and noisy because their isn't a shield on one side. Shouldn't have got them. Any recommendations for bearings that are fast, take a beating and don't really need to be serviced?

If you add up all the money i've spent on bearings i'm sure it's disgusting.

For anyone who DOES clean their bearings... What's the cheapest and laziest way I can do it? I would love a method that doesn't require popping off the shields and such.

Anyone buy those bulk bearings off of E-bay?

[justinthursday]

i clean mine
but i rarely need to cause i wipe them after most sessions where i may have skated through water or dirt

[jakeordie]

I bought a set of Bones Swiss in 2002, still going strong. They never need real cleaning, but someone whose skates grass/dirt landings or planters might disagree. My secret is Singer sewing machine oil, two drops in each bearing whenever I have 'em out of the wheels. If you wanna clean the bearings, use more drops and spin 'em with the shield facing up.....the oil will wash the dirt out.

You can use this shit on any non-double-shielded bearings and it's like $2 for a lifetime supply.

[zacharias]

Damn Jake, I actually used some of that on my old sewing machine, runs like lighting. I can't imagine how awesome bearings would roll with that.

I've always used WD40 or just found bearings I had piled around that worked.

[USD_Dave]

Damn Jake, I actually used some of that on my old sewing machine, runs like lighting. I can't imagine how awesome bearings would roll with that.

I've always used WD40 or just found bearings I had piled around that worked.

WD40 isn't good for your bearings.

Also i'm the same Joey, my bearings last ages but whenever they start to get wrecked i just buy new ones, i'm too lazy to sit and clean out my bearings when a new set isn't expensive at all.

[Timothy James Kelly]

I just purchased Bone Swiss ceramics so I'm going to have to start taking care of them so that the 90 dollar price tag will be worth it.

[al dolega]

WD40 cleans by attacking the metal, do not use it on good-condition bearings! It will degrade the finish on the balls and races, which means more friction. It's great for crappy old bearings that you just want to get moving again, though.

I cleaned my bearings a month or so ago for the first time in about a year. When I had Octona I'd clean my bearings about once a month, when I put new wheels in usually. I had all the stuff ready to go so it took me maybe 15 minutes max, so why not?

I remove the shields and use a Sonic bearing-cleaning tub/jar thingie I've had for about ten years, with some mineral spirits/paint thinner in it. That breaks down the oil and flushes out most of the dirt. Next I use some soapy water for a second rinse, and then spin the bearing under running water for a really good final rinse. Then I blow most of the water out and finish the drying with a heat gun.

Then two drops of some lube a friend of mine makes (ex-co-owner of Stay In-Line, the shop that Octona replaced), put the shields back on (after wiping them clean), and voila. Having a shield on the inside of the bearing is useless, btw. It just makes cleaning harder.

I too had a set of Bones Swiss that I skated forever, about 3-4 years as I remember. They're pretty much the gold standard for skate bearings. They seemed to actually get faster with age. I was pretty careful with them though, cleaned them regularly and avoided grass/mud/puddles/etc.

Right now I'm riding some Crap Ceramic prototypes that Isaac hooked me up with. After my Swiss finally died in 2003 or so, I rode whatever cheap ABEC-whatevers we had at the shop, and in the last couple years I've ridden normal Craps. I immediately and still notice a difference with the ceramics, even after a year of not being kind to them as I tell myself I'll just swap the balls into new races when I need to. It's a shame that a ceramic bearing wouldn't do well in our market. The Bones Ceramics are amazing too though.

The ILQ-9's that came in the Nemesis-gen K2's were great too, when the Schrijns went on sale at K2 we snatched up a bunch of pairs, swapped out the bearings for ABEC-5's, and sold the ILQ's to speed/fitness skaters for about what we paid for the skates

[zacharias]

Yea, I only use the WD40 on old bearings that need to be brought back to life.

I do't know the last time I bought a new set of bearings...i think when crap first came out and they where sold in packs of 16 instead of 8.

[Alex Coe]

I've cleaned my bearings a few times and every time I do the bearings seem to be worse than before cleaning. I think I was doing it wrong.

I got some nice bearings I still haven't used though. I'm afraid to! I'll probably let them sit until I have a pro competition to go to and then I'll bust them out for the edge on my opponents.

[gatsby]

i ride the craps

they good

[Alex Coe]

i ride the craps

they good

That's hilarious because I ride them goods and they're crap.

[Monday]

I never bought bearings for my skates... Whenever I got new skates I went with the new ones.
I’ve cleaned the ones that came with my original M12 maybe one time and still use the bears that came with my first pair of skates in my current antirocker set-up...

[gatsby]

i ride the craps

they good

That's hilarious because I ride them goods and they're crap.

the irony

it good

[Chwarg]

I clean my bearings when the become slow...
I remove the shields and put them in a jar with cleaning gasoline for a night.
The next day I gently shake the jar, get the bearings out and clean them with a dry cloth.
After that I put some grease in them and reattache the shields and they are ready to rock!

I usually don't buy special bearings - just got some abec 9 bearings which I bought at ebay.
They are fine fore me and the were fuckin' cheap (I paid about 30$ for 32 bearings)...

[Davengo]

How strong exactly are ceramics?

I'm not talking about durability but overall strength from gaps.

I'm 5'6ish and about 150 pounds and I still wreck all of my skates.

I was always interested in ceramics and if I bought them I'd even take good care of them... but since it seems almost a luxury I don't really want them cause all the expensive things I get I break.

So, an answer?

[HOSS]

i ride the craps

they good

That's hilarious because I ride them goods and they're crap.

hah


I never clean my shit, maybe if i rotate my wheels i will drop some chemical on them. I have so many old wheels/skates that buying bearings never came into my mind once in my skating career. Usually i just buy skates complete or buy the frame plus wheels and bearings deal that amall(and rw and prob others) has.

[Dagobert]

get a bones bearing cleaning unit, some speed cream, hit up the hardware store for a can of compressed air, acetone, and rubber gloves. then youtube bones bearing cleaning. I've had some bearings for 13 years, still fast as all heck

[*ROYALwithCHEESE*]

WD40 cleans by attacking the metal, do not use it on good-condition bearings! It will degrade the finish on the balls and races, which means more friction. It's great for crappy old bearings that you just want to get moving again, though.

I cleaned my bearings a month or so ago for the first time in about a year. When I had Octona I'd clean my bearings about once a month, when I put new wheels in usually. I had all the stuff ready to go so it took me maybe 15 minutes max, so why not?

I remove the shields and use a Sonic bearing-cleaning tub/jar thingie I've had for about ten years, with some mineral spirits/paint thinner in it. That breaks down the oil and flushes out most of the dirt. Next I use some soapy water for a second rinse, and then spin the bearing under running water for a really good final rinse. Then I blow most of the water out and finish the drying with a heat gun.

Then two drops of some lube a friend of mine makes (ex-co-owner of Stay In-Line, the shop that Octona replaced), put the shields back on (after wiping them clean), and voila. Having a shield on the inside of the bearing is useless, btw. It just makes cleaning harder.

I too had a set of Bones Swiss that I skated forever, about 3-4 years as I remember. They're pretty much the gold standard for skate bearings. They seemed to actually get faster with age. I was pretty careful with them though, cleaned them regularly and avoided grass/mud/puddles/etc.

Right now I'm riding some Crap Ceramic prototypes that Isaac hooked me up with. After my Swiss finally died in 2003 or so, I rode whatever cheap ABEC-whatevers we had at the shop, and in the last couple years I've ridden normal Craps. I immediately and still notice a difference with the ceramics, even after a year of not being kind to them as I tell myself I'll just swap the balls into new races when I need to. It's a shame that a ceramic bearing wouldn't do well in our market. The Bones Ceramics are amazing too though.

The ILQ-9's that came in the Nemesis-gen K2's were great too, when the Schrijns went on sale at K2 we snatched up a bunch of pairs, swapped out the bearings for ABEC-5's, and sold the ILQ's to speed/fitness skaters for about what we paid for the skates

I take the rubber/plastic side of the bearings out (I used to take out the metal side too but if youve ever had the ball bearings and inner ring fall out, then try and put it back together yull stop doing it that way)

I then sit all the bearings in a jar of orange citrus based cleaner (metho aint that great) , after a fe shakes I empty the dirt and liquid out and refill for a second wash.

I take the bearings out and sit them on paper towel and dry them with a hair dryer

Then re oil with either BSB oul or powerslide grease.

[Makio]

crap ceramic prototypes....*drool*

I skate crap bearings and I clean my bearings. It's easy, so why not when I have like 20 minutes or so.

**and fyi, bearings will spin slower after you clean then and before you skate them, but after rolling around a bit they become good as new.

[Dagobert]

check out the new super REDS and Super REDS ceramics...