Most dependable, durable bearings for wet, gitty NYC commuting? Help please . . .

[adam230]

Hey,

Living in NYC. Started at my new job about a month ago, and after walking there a few days I realized I could be commuting on a skateboard instead.

The rest is history. It had been ten years since I last set foot on a skateboard, but relearning over the last month has been transcendent. There's nothing like the feeling of freedom you get riding a skateboard from A to B, the thrill at speed, the satisfaction as your balance improves and you start to feel really connected to your board. It's sad that more people don't get to experience it . . .

Anyway, this post is about bearings. I need the most durable, dependable bearings on the market. They don't need to be super fast, I'd rather they be able to take a beating and survive a ride in the rain. I deal with grit and grim everywhere on every ride in NYC . . .

My current setup is an Arbor Pocket Rocket mini (Great board, IMO. Small, but I'm not a big guy so I fit fine, and small means portable. Beautiful board with the natural wood grain top and the classy graphics. Arbor's whole line is great) with Arbor 65mm 78A wheels, standard Abec 5 grease balls (pretty much done in after two rides in wet conditions), Gullwing Mission 9 trucks.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[landyevorider]

powell bones reds. i have ridden mine through small puddles deeper than my board. and they still work fine, many months later. they arent fast, but they have good shields. and are super cheap

[BloodBros.Skates]

Mile High Skates

Rush All Weather Bearings. Worth it.

[BloodBros.Skates]

double post, oops. You could really get any bearing. Just make sure they are sealed and clean them when they get dirty. You could pick up the Mile High Skates sealed bearings for $8.95. They are comparable to Reds. The MHS bearings will hold up for a bit longer and rattle less after broken in.

[adam230]

Thanks guys. The bearings on there now aren't sealed at all, I don't think. Why would someone even use an unsealed bearing?

These just say "Abec 5 Grease Balls" on the side, and no seal is visible. They squeak like a very small cat is being murdered after only a couple weeks of riding in the rain we've been having on the east coast.

Tried to clean them with 90% alcohol and then Silicone lube. Did not help. To be fair, 6/8 seem to be okay, not great, but okay. Two are done for.

[Mile_High_Mark]

The bearings you have are shielded. Shields let more crap in than seals. Get some good, but inexpensive sealed bearings.

[Bookworm]

grab mile high's all weather bearings, or you could just go the MHS brand bearings and replace 'em as they wear down.

From the time I've spent in the city it's gotta be hell on bearings.

[Blix]

Buy a bunch of cheap but good bearings. MHS bearings have a great rep.
I also is pretty satisfied with the cheap VXB bearings you can get 100 of, for like $50...

[adam230]

I like the idea of just replacing cheap bearings as they wear out. They aren't that expensive. To be honest, the cost of cleaner (alcohol 90 or something like it) and lube adds up too . . . But the bearings I have now are beyond cleaning - they're shot. I'll do that for a while and see how much money I start spending. The ride quality is pretty good, though, with MHS?

Bookworm, you're right. There is this gritty gray dirt on every street that gets everywhere when you ride in the wet, even after very light rain.

[Mile_High_Mark]

I like the idea of just replacing cheap bearings as they wear out. They aren't that expensive. To be honest, the cost of cleaner (alcohol 90 or something like it) and lube adds up too . . . But the bearings I have now are beyond cleaning - they're shot. I'll do that for a while and see how much money I start spending. The ride quality is pretty good, though, with MHS?

Bookworm, you're right. There is this gritty gray dirt on every street that gets everywhere when you ride in the wet, even after very light rain.

My bearings "ride" as well as bearings selling for 150%-250% more.

[MJKam11]

Never tried em but i'm confident that Mile High bearings are as good as Mark says they are. I use mini-logo's, swiss and super swiss six and i'd just go and buy mini-logo's if I were you. Very good and cheap bearing. (PS, I do plenty of city-riding).

Oh and if you want a better ride, get better wheels, i've tried a pocket rocket and those wheels are terrible. If you do want new wheels, go for Earthwing Road Rage's (66mm). Much faster and absorb a lot more crap than the arbor wheels.

[R]

Pleasure Tools Ceramic Sealed Bearings. Expensive, yes but rather cheap for ceramics. I use them with very little dry lube and hardly anything is attracted to the insides. Very low maintenance.

[adam230]

Thanks for all the feedback. It's very much appreciated.

So I'm disappointed to hear about the wheels, but I had my suspicions myself. They aren't the best for the cracks here. I'll upgrade one of these days.

I was at Paragon sports today and a bunch of guys looked at my board and gave me some pointers.

First of all, the trucks are Mission 1, which I was told are sub-par (I could already tell that). My main goal is to get max carve (for avoiding pedestrians) with low ride-height (really makes a big difference for me as a beginner; today I rode without my 1/4" risers and really liked the feel-aside from the obvious loss of responsiveness in the carve), while avoiding wheel-bite. I was told to look at Sidewinders. Apparently I wouldn't need risers and would get great carve. Also told that I wouldn't need to worry about wheel-bite up to 70mm.

As for bearings, they suggested ceramics . . . I know this would prevent rust entirely, but I'm sure they would attract a lot of grit, even if they are sealed, which would mean a lot of cleaning. I don't mind cleaning, but I'm wondering if the grit would eventually damage the bearings internally . . . I'm still thinking regularly replacing very cheap bearings is the way to go.

[longboards]

get MHS bearings and save up for independent trucks and 66mm 80a lime retro zig zags

[Cann0n]

Any bearing with stainless steel retainers, one completely sealed metal shield, lubed with White Lithium Grease will be a great bearing. Here is some resources on the topic.

White Lithium Grease

how to clean abec 5 greaseballs

[SergioRamon]

Buy a bunch of cheap but good bearings. MHS bearings have a great rep.
I also is pretty satisfied with the cheap VXB bearings you can get 100 of, for like $50...

Dug up some links.

$34.95 for 100 unrated bearings with steel cages:
100 608-2RS Skateboard/Inline Skate/Rollerblade/Hockey Bearings:Ball Bearings:VXB

$59.95 for 100 ABEC-7 bearings with nylon cages:
100 ABEC-7 skateboard/inline Skate Bearings:Nylon:Sealed:Ball Bearings:VXB

[Dewey]

Mile High Skates

Rush All Weather Bearings. Worth it.

those really work? i had a lot of people say they rust just as fast...

[McPoops]

[url=http://edsbearings.com/]I use them with very little dry lube and hardly anything is attracted to the insides. Very low maintenance.

An OG skater once mentioned using crushed graphite for lube...
What do you use?

[JBH]

Anyway, this post is about bearings. I need the most durable, dependable bearings on the market. They don't need to be super fast, I'd rather they be able to take a beating and survive a ride in the rain. I deal with grit and grim everywhere on every ride in NYC . . .

For your purposes, you need two things: a bearing with a somewhat decent seal, and grease (NOT oil) for lube. Your bearings' main enemies are water and grit getting into the races and balls; so a good seal and an adequate amount of grease are your the best defense. Whatever you do, DON'T use light oil, Speed Cream, Tri-flow, etc. All of those will spin out relatively quickly and leave the metal races and balls unprotected. Use grease instead. Think of your car's wheel bearings; there's a reason they're packed with grease, and it's basically the same reason you describe. So get thee to an auto parts store and get a tube or a tub of wheel-bearing grease. I use Mobil 1 full synthetic, although regular petroleum-based grease is probably perfectly fine too, or white lithium grease, as others have recommended.

Specific bearing-wise: I'd say start cheap, with MHM or Pleasure Tool (red or green seals). I don't know if Mark's are oil-lubed or grease-lubed. I do know the PT's are grease-lubed, are dirt cheap, and get shipped FAST. The races or balls could eventually rust (as any regular steel bearing component could), but if you grease 'em up well, that shouldn't happen for quite a while, even if you ride 'em hard and put 'em away wet. DON'T get regular Bones Swiss, which actually have a visible gap between the rubber shield and the inner race (like leaving your window down in the rain).

If the inexpensive steel bearings don't hold up, then maybe it'll be time to try the stainless or titanium/ceramic Rush bearings. I can't personally vouch for them, but they might be the ideal ultimate solution because of their stainless or titanium case and/or ceramic balls, all of which should be essentially non-rusting.

Whatever you do end up choosing, post back here and let us know what worked best (or worst) for you. And welcome back to skating!

[Mile_High_Mark]

My bearings are oil-lubed.