Rollerblade SG bearings vs. ABEC

[Astriaal]

I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the difference between SG & ABEC bearings? Is Rollerblades hype really true?

I'm planning on making a general supplies order ( wheels, bearings, spacers, etc ) just so I have some replacement parts should I need them, and i'm thinking about just getting the RB 90mm wheels/bearings pack w/ SG9 bearings. What i'm wondering is if i would be better off getting different wheels & some ABEC bearings, or if I should just stick with the all in one pack.

[mike_curtis]

I'm currently using SG-9 bearings in my Rollerblades (they came with them) and from what I can tell they are very comparable to the Swiss and higher end ABECs that I've used in the past. As far as buying the 8 packs that are all over the internet goes, mine just came in for my start of spring tune up and the bearings seem to be a good deal tighter than my well worn ones, but they more than likely just need to be broken in. I'm very interested to know what kind of life to expect out of my old ones, as I'm debating punching them out of the old wheels and doing a cleanup on them. My biggest concern is that I don't want to bother if they are throw-aways, and most of the reviews out there seem to be Rollerblade propaganda, and the 8 packs are really cheap price wise for what you get. I hope this helped :)

[chaosdsm]

It's mostly hype, ever since TwinCam introduced ILQ (InLine Qualified) bearings, other manufacturers have been trying to come up with their own "non-ABEC" bearings.

I will be the first to say that ABEC is sadly out-dated in that it only covers the tolerances that the bearings are made to. Therefore, if you make bearings completely out of ABS plastic & make them to fit within the ABEC 9 tolerance spec they can legally be called ABEC-9 bearings, even though they will fall apart in just a few miles of skating, if not sooner;) This is why one companies ABEC-3 bearings can perform better & last longer than another companies ABEC-9 bearings. The ABEC (Annular Bearing Engineering Committee) specs are decades old & were designed with machinery & mechanical devices in mind, not skate bearings.

SWISS, like ABEC is decades old but were originally designed with skates in mind, quads & skateboards that is, not inline skates. Inline skates place different stresses upon bearings that are not presented in quad skates or skateboards. Still in general Swiss bearings are a better choice than ABEC bearings for competition, racing, best performance.

TwinCam looked to improve upon both situations with their ILQ designation, which specificly looks at various aspects of bearing manufacture that directly affect inline skating performance, including the materials that are used in making bearings as well as the tolerances to which the bearings are manufactured. Since K2 has adopted TwinCam's ILQ bearings, Rollerblade will not do so... that would be kind of like Ford adopting HEMI... instead they came up with "SG" as a competitor.

Unfortunately, the more designations that come about, the more muddled & confusing the whole issue will become.

[wsharrow]

It all depends on what you use you blades for if you just skate around for fun then sg in the lower numbers are great. if you want long lasting and speed and great control i would tell you to get HTO bearings that is what i use and will never change.

[gem]

It's mostly hype, ever since TwinCam introduced ILQ (InLine Qualified) bearings, other manufacturers have been trying to come up with their own "non-ABEC" bearings.

I will be the first to say that ABEC is sadly out-dated in that it only covers the tolerances that the bearings are made to. Therefore, if you make bearings completely out of ABS plastic & make them to fit within the ABEC 9 tolerance spec they can legally be called ABEC-9 bearings, even though they will fall apart in just a few miles of skating, if not sooner;) This is why one companies ABEC-3 bearings can perform better & last longer than another companies ABEC-9 bearings. The ABEC (Annular Bearing Engineering Committee) specs are decades old & were designed with machinery & mechanical devices in mind, not skate bearings.

SWISS, like ABEC is decades old but were originally designed with skates in mind, quads & skateboards that is, not inline skates. Inline skates place different stresses upon bearings that are not presented in quad skates or skateboards. Still in general Swiss bearings are a better choice than ABEC bearings for competition, racing, best performance.

TwinCam looked to improve upon both situations with their ILQ designation, which specificly looks at various aspects of bearing manufacture that directly affect inline skating performance, including the materials that are used in making bearings as well as the tolerances to which the bearings are manufactured. Since K2 has adopted TwinCam's ILQ bearings, Rollerblade will not do so... that would be kind of like Ford adopting HEMI... instead they came up with "SG" as a competitor.

Unfortunately, the more designations that come about, the more muddled & confusing the whole issue will become.

============================
While the "ILQ" and the "Swiss 6"", only use 6 bearings that are a lil bigger 4.5 mm, since they spin less and are in a frame they have much better spin and have less resistance. IMHO, well worth the price, Now if u wanna spend som $$$ u can get cermanics bearings I got SG7 on my rollerblades and after a yr and a lil cleaning from time to time they still spin fine.
Most people use Bone swiss or other name brands of bearings they know well as the outdated system of Abec has nothing to do with quality of metal or cermaics just tolerance.

[intuill09]

I have the BEVO Abec 9 bearings and Im trying to clean them but they dont have a c-clip. There is a red cover on them and I have no idea how to remove it. Can anyone help me out? Thanks alot.

[IW Staff]

Did you get this figured out? If not, I'll go grab one and figure it out for you. I don't believe these are sealed bearing so they should be serviceable.

Let me know. Thanks!

[intuill09]

Can anyone recommend the bearing.
BSB 608 Swiss Lite Bearings is faster than Abec 9 bearings.

Pls advise me.

thank you
Nikki Howie

[IW Staff]

I would say yes in my opinion.

Remember, one brands ABEC9 is not going to perform like all other ABEC9. Bones, BSB, Oust, Twincam are all respected brands and have quality bearings.

Thanks for the post !

[srogers]

I'm looking at replacement wheels, and I've found some with HTO bearings and some with SG9 for fairly comparable prices - but which one is supposed to be better?

Thanks

[IW Staff]

The HTO inline skate bearings are Rollerblades highest end bearings. So those are said to be the "better" bearings.

Thanks!

[mastermind]

i,m tryin to shop online for rollerblades but theres all these different bearing featured in these rollerblades like abec 3,5,9 and sg5,7,9 i have no idea what to do someone help and give some advise

[IW Staff]

Check out our learning center info on bearings. Then give me a call if you need some more help.

BSB, OUST and Bones are respected brands. A BSB ABEC7 is a great quality bearing that won't break the bank and plenty good for most all types/levels of skaters.

Thanks!

http://inlinewarehouse.com/fitlearningcenter.html

[GlitterGurl]

I'm currently using SG-9 bearings in my Rollerblades (they came with them) and from what I can tell they are very comparable to the Swiss and higher end ABECs that I've used in the past.

I agree with Mike. I got the SG-9s with a set of rollerblades I bought last year, and I thought they were quite good compared to the more expensive stuff. I wouldn't waste my money unless I was really worried about life expectancy. Even then, you need to consider what you're playing for some blades that will just last longer.

[kimboy]

Did you get this figured out? If not, I'll go grab one and figure it out for you. I don't believe these are sealed bearing so they should be serviceable.

Let me know. Thanks!

[IW Staff]

Both of these bearings are very similar in comparison. The HTO's might have a little more speed to them.

[IW Staff]

Both of those bearings are very similar. The HTO bearings might have a little more speed but the differences are very small.