Can I remove the shields on these bearings without damaging them?

[NegatedVoid]

Hey,
I've got some rather cheap ABEC-5 bearings that came with my rollerblades. They've got shields, but sometimes I manage to gunk them up anyways and I need to clean them. My first couple attempts so far have all dented up the shield pretty good - is there a trick to opening up bearings like these ones?

A picture of the bearing and how I got it open (http://murph.cc/skating/bearings/shield-pry.jpg)

Thanks!
--Murph

[IW Staff]

http://www.inlinewarehouse.com/tipsagg/

Here's a link to a section on our site called tips & tricks. Shields are a bit tricky, but once doing once, they are no big deal.

You have to remove a pin and they'll come right off. See link above.

Thanks,
Stan

[NegatedVoid]

Sweet, thanks. I'll post here again to avoid spamming the board too much with my questions.

On my better pair of skates, I have good wheels (Hyperperformance +G) and Pretty good bearings (BSB Swiss Lite) - they're only about a month old, maybe a little longer. Yesterday I finally got around to really cleaning them good (Used Sonic Turbo Wash, then a couple drops of BSB High Speed Bearing Oil. Cleaned the spacers/axles/wheels with regular stuff.) - However, the bearing still sound rather 'squeaky' when I skate (I can mostly notice this indoors, perhaps just because it's quieter). Is there anything I can do to eliminate this 'squeak'? :)

Thanks!

[IW Staff]

Lubricating the bearings should be able to remedy that fairly easy I would think.

Thanks,
IW