Considerations of Choosing Bearing
In your skateboard, you can find 3 main components: wheel, truck and deck. However, if you look into details of wheels then you will see 2 set of ball bearings. The function of bearings will eliminate friction when the wheel spins around. Since the axle is fixed, so the bearings will keep moving when the wheels are grinding up.
Although bearings are small parts, but they have great function to make your skateboard sport is running smoothly. There are several considerations for choosing right bearings online: material, sizes and ABEC ratings. From the material, you can find several types of material like steel and ceramic. If you choose bearing from steel, so it will be durable and economical. The shape usually is flat and has 7 or 8 lubricated balls. It is designed to overcome load of weight from axle and wheels. Most skateboarders are choosing steel bearings. However you need to clean steel bearings regularly since they will be ineffective if they are dry and not lubricated. In order to keep them last longer, you need to lubricate the surface routinely. For ceramic bearings are suitable for more discerning riders. Since ceramic bearings are made from silicon nitride, so no need to lubricate too much. Ceramic bearings are cheaper than steel bearings. From size considerations, you have to choose ‘608’ standard. Almost all bearing have this standard with sign of a 22 mm outer diameter, an 8 mm core and a 7 mm width. However there are also non-standard bearings which will need additional part to make them compatible. Although this is not common, these bearings are available in the market too.
Last but not least, you have to consider ABEC rating for bearings. ABEC is an abbreviation from Annular Bearing Engineering Committee. It is an association which gives a rating system to ensure the level of precision in each bearing. With rule number 1 to 9 (odd number only), these number represents the amount of tolerance in each bearing. Higher numbers show more precise tolerances. Surely higher number has higher price too. If you have longboards bearings, you have to ensure the rating is 9. Riders should know about this since many of them only judge the skateboards based on the design of the deck only. All in all, you have to check where to buy the bearings. Don’t buy fake bearings which will be broken easily and so costly in the future.
