I’ve been seeing ABEC 11 rated bearings, at first I thought it was from the ABEC 11 company but it doesn’t seem so.
According to the English Wikipedia and some other websites related to the Annular Bearing Engineering Committee the scale only goes up to ABEC 9.
ABEC 1: 0.0075 mm (0.000295")
ABEC 3: 0.0050 mm (0.000197")
ABEC 5: 0.0035 mm (0.000138")
ABEC 7: 0.0025 mm (0.000098")
ABEC 9: 0.0012 mm (0.000047")
However the German and some other Wiki articles have the scale go up to ABEC 11
ABEC 1 = 0,008 mm
ABEC 3 = 0,007 mm
ABEC 5 = 0,005 mm
ABEC 7 = 0,004 mm
ABEC 9 = 0,003 mm
ABEC 11 = 0,002 mm
However as you can tell the tolerance levels in the English articles are already higher at level 9 than even the level 11 in the German ones…
I was thinking that maybe the German ones are trying to be matched to the ISO 492 and DIN 620 standards but I can’t find much (At least free) information on them.
It’s all about tight tolerance. While i like quality bearings, i’ve yet to see 9 vs 7 vs 3 actually perform better significantly.
Now if you clean out the crap grease they pack them with, and maintain them a bit - i’ve had great luck with cheap to expensive bearings. The most critical part IMO is somewhat frequent cleaning and re-lube.
If i’m going to spend the $ on nice bearings - i get either biltins or Tektons. Ceramics in my current setups mostly.
I understand what ABEC is, I am talking strictly about ABEC 11 and how it doesn’t seem to exist on the official scale. There is no ABEC 11 standard. However some manufacturers are selling ABEC 11 bearings.
Some people have suggested that it may be a scam, and the manufacturers are just making it up to make it seem like their bearing are better… Don’t know.
Was Looking into buying “BONES® SUPER SWISS 6 BEARINGS” then i thought i would look elsewhere than skate shops and found these (608 6 ball) bearings just like the Bones ones.
I just look for good deals or bulk buy deals on bearings that are abec 5 and up. The higher numbers don’t matter much after you hit your first driveway or crack in the road…Take the average and get a deal cost-wise.
The DarkWolf Bearings can be had for $8-$15 a set. They claim Abec 11, (doubt it) but they roll nice.
I don’t think that ABEC ratings mean much at all when it comes to skateboarding. ABEC is about machining tolerances and a big part of it is about internal and external diameter which don’t mean anything to skateboards because the outer is in soft thane, and the inner… well that matters but I’m pretty sure most truck axles aren’t press fit. (maybe some precision trucks are?) the ABEC scale doesn’t take into account any lateral loads or impact resistance. (which are very important to skateboarding) so you can get cheap ABEC 9 bearings that are absolute rubbish. and you can get good ABEC 7 bearings that would be awesome.
ABEC 11 is a brand name and its not actually a real rating the ABEC scale stops at 9
anyone claiming an ABEC 11 bearing is either talking about the brand name “ABEC 11” or its fake.
I once used some Chinese “red bearings” (not to be confused with the genuine bones made in china reds) and they were nowhere near as good as the genuine china reds despite being ABEC9 and all that…
I used to ride Bones Reds, tried out some ceramics, rode a ton of other brands with all different ABEC ratings, but some ABEC 7’s rode better than some ABEC 9’s and vice versa. My ceramics didn’t last so long and burned out. I rode my friends Bones Ceramics and they were faster the first day or so, but after a week or so of riding, they didn’t perform much better than other quality bearings. I’ve also tried cheaper non-skate bulk bearings before. ABEC 5’s and 7’s. They didn’t perform very well.
Now I ride Bustin bearings. For $10, an ABEC 7 set does the job just fine. If I have a little extra cash in my pocket, I spring for the ABEC 9’s and they go a little faster. They’re as good or better than any other bearings I’ve ever rode (especially after a few weeks of riding), so why spend more?
In the end, I found the best bearings to be new bearings.
I will never ever buy bearing in a skateshop or something similar… sepcialised hardware is way overpriced… a serious problem in the mordern world: people dont know what they need. They go to a specialist and pay him for the knowledge. Not bad at all but sometime the price is way to much.
My best example are bearing
in a skate shop you pay at least 20 euros and dont even get ZZ bearings… just 2RS…
If you know what you need dont go to a skate shop. Just search for 608ZZ bearing.
I just did that and found many. E.g. here
You pay for 10 pieces only 5€ instead of 20 or more. These bearings are even better as the most skateshop bearings.
PS: I dont think you need better ones than ABEC 6. they are good enough and the difference is not worth the money.
I have been using oust for a couple of years and they are the best bearings I’ve tried by far. They are far cheaper than bones Swiss and they last much longer if you take care of them
One of the only bearings specifically engineered for our purposes
That’s what I noticed as well. The seals work really good at keeping smutz out. The concept of “Machined Optimum Clearance” is the big seller. It takes the 608 and makes it more tuned to the handle loads generated during SK8ing.
The Met Ol lubricant that Oust makes, works really good with all bearings too. It keeps em’ rolling smooth and rust free.
MADE IN THE USA!
