What skate bearings are better? ABEC 9 ABEC 7, ABEC 5, OR ABEC 3? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS
ABEC is almost meaningless for skates or boards. It is an industrial standard for VIBRATION (not speed) in bearings on high speed machines that run at speeds that would be over 200 mph on a board. It became important because the previous ones that were used (20 years ago) were a grade called precision which are really sloppy. You can actually see them move them if you twist the center to the side. ABEC bearings were a huge move up and came without the heavy grease the was needed to make the precision bearings not rattle like maracas. However, now that a number was involved, the marketing people get into the idea that they can advertise higher numbers because people assume that higher is better. Almost all the difference in how fast a bearing rolls is in what lubricant is used.
the higher the abec rating are the faster they spin if they are free of dirt. yet, the higher the rating the tighter the ball bearing are packed and the quicker they become clogged with dirt. REDS are cheap about 15 bucks and out shine most bearings. they are made from powell and they are the red are 15buck and they got 6 ball swiss that can go for over 100 bucks
