Which is better ABEC-9 bearings or bones swiss bearings?

im trying to buy speed skates not roller blades any suggestions i don't want any skates over $150

Which is better ABEC-9 bearings or bones swiss bearings?
You are NOT going to find "speed" skates for under $150.


In the $150 and under range, you will find RECREATIONAL skates. If you are really lucky, you might find a fantastic deal on a closeout FITNESS skate. Expect to spend over $500 for racing (aka speed) skates.





Rollerblade is a brand, not a style of skate. You can buy Rollerblade racing skates but that would be the lower end of the racing skates. The bigger brands in the speed world would be Bont and Simmons.





The bearing is way down (almost at the bottom) on the list of things that will affect your speed. The wheels are way more important.





Swiss and ABEC are not actually related to speed. ABEC is just a tolerance spec for high speed industrial bearings.


It became important early on for inline skates because the early ones tended to have what the bearing industry calls "precision" bearings, which are anything but precise.


Any bearing that could meet any ABEC standard was significantly better. Then the makers found that they could advertise ABEC numbers as a hype method.


Swiss is just a marketing term that has no meaning except as part of a specific bearing name.





You will find that the top of the line bearings like the Bones Swiss, TwinCam ILQ-9 (www.ilq9.com/), Zero Drag Demon and Pro (www.rollerbob.com/cat-8.html) do not have an ABEC rating. They can shape the races differently to have more clearance and move faster but hold to similar runout by violating the particular tolerances required by ABEC.





The fast people (those racing in pro classes) will try out different bearings and find the ones they like.





I am not a racer but have friends who are (by the time they get their custom boots set up with wheels and frames, they are well over $1000)





My skates are at the fitness level. They were (no longer made) around $350 but I got a great deal on them.


I typicaly (except when I win some good bearings) use the Zero Drag Demons and 84.5mm 84A (medium hardness) Zero Drag Racing wheels (www.rollerbob.com/A08.html)
Reply:Try going to www.lowpriceskates.com for some really decent deals. Report It

Reply:abec is not a real rating for skate bearings its a rating for industrial bearings and has nothing to do with speed in the first place. abec 9's could be worse than abec 3's you just never really know. Swiss on the other hand is a real rating and is way better than any abec bearing, you can never go wrong with a swiss rated bearing. Swiss bearings are smoother and longer lasting even if it's not bones brand it's still a good bearing. People will tell you anything in order to sell you something don't let skate places fool you into buying these "faster" abec rated bearings. No such thing.
Reply:listen to this livewire guy.


cuz that is so true.


abec does not mean isht.


you can buy abec 9's and not take care of them and all of a sudden they are abec 1's.


also, where the hell did you find abec nine's.......it only goes up to abec 7 and there is no 2, 4, or 5.


listen to livewire.



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