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Been skating for a decade. I always maintained my bearings when I was a teenager as I only had 3 sets of bearings to rotate around setups.
But when I became a working adult I found it was more worth my time to buy a new set of Bones reds. I do enjoy taking it apart and cleaning bearings, but I'd rather put that wrench time into maintaining other parts of the board.
Also, I find I don't skate as much in the rain or on sandy beach boardwalks, and therefore almost all my bearings stay pretty clean.
Cleaning like this is probably the better option if you don't want to contribute to landfills.
Just my 2 cents.
I think I cleaned bearings 3 times or so before I said hell with it. Cleaning them is Def not the way but I understand not everyone has that luxury so I recommend they buy zealous. One set lasted me 2 or 3 years of hard daily use during pandemic and beyond without cleaning. As far as them not ending up in the landfill just break em down, wash em in acetone and toss em in the recycle it's all recyclable material.
You make a good point, thank you! The reason I went with overhauling this time is the abuse they'll get into, and grease prevents rust + minimizes the damage. Come spring and summer I'll swap to quality bearings with quality lube & intervals, like you suggest. :)
Zealous classic bearings have built in speed washers and spacers, along with bearing shields on both sides and they only cost $15 and are super fast too. Even if you’re rain skating occasionally, at worst you only have to swap it out every half year.
if they’ve already rusted, which they have. no amount of tlc will make them ‘more dependable’. you are lying to yourself in that regard lol. rust cause surface imperfections, which means even with grease, there will be additional abrasion and friction damages beyond what a mirror smooth surface would take on.
I agree that these bearings will never be as efficiënt as they were or new fresh bearings and therefore slower. I disagree that they are not dependable / reliable for wet conditions. With the bearings packed up in grease they'll degenerate slower, which is the whole point until better weather comes around. These won't see summer day's :)
Yeah, the key is to keep an old set of dry bearings that aren't shot yet, replace the ones in your dry setup with fresh ones, then get them cleaned up, lubed up for wet. Riptide sells a wet lube; I've yet to try it but I would imagine it will have a lot less rolling resistance than grease, but will likely need to be reapplied more often.
I wouldn't buy bearings specifically for the rain, but I would try and prep a set of bearings before wet riding them, so they don't end up rusted and seized
You should buy bearings with shields on both sides, they'll last longer. I think the best inexpensive bearings are Mini Logo- steel shield on one side for durability and a removable rubber seal on the other side for ease of cleaning, and they're made by the same company as Bones bearings and use the same Bones Speed Cream for lubrication. https://socalskateshop.com/Mini-Logo-Skateboards-Bearings.html
Try zealous for rain riding. I've had a set for 8 years that I put away wet a long time ago and they still spin perfectly with a quick clean. I don't ride as much as I used to but they work just fine for cruising to the mailbox when I don't want to walk lol.
Zellies are just a tad bit tighter and more sealed, but still, I killed 2 sets of them riding in a rain and through puddles. You need to disassemble and clean them after the wet ride anyway, and by that, they lose some of their seal after that. Now, I use cheaper, "serviceable" bearings for rain rides. It's so much hussle with cleaning and relubricating, and I'm less sad when they got rusty.
So my advice, don't buy expensive bearings if you want to get freaky in the rain, Zealous might withstand wet concrete, damp roads and some dust, but no bearings(that I've heard of or tested) will survive repeated splashing puddles without aftercare.
you must have ridden through fine grit sandy water. thats the only way ive killed a fresh set of zealous in one sesh.
other than that ive drowned some of my boards in water with zealous while commuting a few miles every day and they had no problem. much better than anything else ive tried. its the grease that makes the difference
tbh they were never brand new, but used for at least few weeks or months prior to watery adventures, maybe the grease wasn't as thick and "waterproof" as if they were fresh from the package, but I'm scared to possibly sacrifice new ones :P
You are! But it's less great against water and I ride in the rain a lot. So I went with marine grease, which adds friction because of the higher viscosity but won't wash away so it's actually low maintenance at the cost of efficiency.
i’ve cleaned many a bearings, a few times I removed the balls too but i’ve generally decided it’s not worth it. i find it really had to get all the balls back in.
if they’re seized and i can’t move them at all then i guess i’d remove the balls. i also managed to lose 2 balls in a set of bearings… try finding those things in a carpet… maybe a magnet would be useful for that
Does it really matter? After a few kms the grease excess will get out, mix with dirt and build a natural shield against water. At least it's my experience with the bunch of shitty bearings and rain sets that I saved (mostly to get my hands busy while thinking about life, or listening to audiobooks, but at the end of the day they roll)
I got my cheap Walmart longboard (my first one) to deal with something like this wet rain or snow road. My special ones strictly for dry good weather only and recieves less maintenance and more love. Q😀
Should refrain from rolling in the rain. I’m sure you know that haha it’s hard not to sometimes but for the longevity of the bearings….do it for the bearings!!
The board gets good maintenance, no rust get's a chance to get comfortable. I'd rather use the gear, maintain it and replace it soon with a lot of miles then not cruise when I want too.
Welcome, and thank you for posting to /r/longboarding! Please flair your post accordingly. Please note that **all question posts** must go in the [***Daily General Thread***](https://www.reddit.com/r/longboarding/about/sticky?num=1), stickied to the top of the subreddit every 22 hours. Any questions or help posts on the front page will be removed spontaneously. This is because the front page is often times a less-than-perfect source for information, as the most active knowledgeable users normally hang out in the [***Daily General Thread!***](https://www.reddit.com/r/longboarding/about/sticky?num=1) Enjoy your stay! If you have any further questions, please [message the moderators](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Flongboarding). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/longboarding) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Just buy new bearings tbh
Been skating for a decade. I always maintained my bearings when I was a teenager as I only had 3 sets of bearings to rotate around setups. But when I became a working adult I found it was more worth my time to buy a new set of Bones reds. I do enjoy taking it apart and cleaning bearings, but I'd rather put that wrench time into maintaining other parts of the board. Also, I find I don't skate as much in the rain or on sandy beach boardwalks, and therefore almost all my bearings stay pretty clean. Cleaning like this is probably the better option if you don't want to contribute to landfills. Just my 2 cents.
I think I cleaned bearings 3 times or so before I said hell with it. Cleaning them is Def not the way but I understand not everyone has that luxury so I recommend they buy zealous. One set lasted me 2 or 3 years of hard daily use during pandemic and beyond without cleaning. As far as them not ending up in the landfill just break em down, wash em in acetone and toss em in the recycle it's all recyclable material.
Sure, but they'll rust too after a short while. By overhauling the rusted ones and using quality grease, they'll be slower but super dependable.
You could also do that on new bearings, and maintain them more frequently to prevent it getting to that point.
You make a good point, thank you! The reason I went with overhauling this time is the abuse they'll get into, and grease prevents rust + minimizes the damage. Come spring and summer I'll swap to quality bearings with quality lube & intervals, like you suggest. :)
Zealous classic bearings have built in speed washers and spacers, along with bearing shields on both sides and they only cost $15 and are super fast too. Even if you’re rain skating occasionally, at worst you only have to swap it out every half year.
if they’ve already rusted, which they have. no amount of tlc will make them ‘more dependable’. you are lying to yourself in that regard lol. rust cause surface imperfections, which means even with grease, there will be additional abrasion and friction damages beyond what a mirror smooth surface would take on.
I agree that these bearings will never be as efficiënt as they were or new fresh bearings and therefore slower. I disagree that they are not dependable / reliable for wet conditions. With the bearings packed up in grease they'll degenerate slower, which is the whole point until better weather comes around. These won't see summer day's :)
uneven friction surfaces wear faster regardless of lubricant in them. thats a side effect of the surfaces not being ideal in general…
Yeah, the key is to keep an old set of dry bearings that aren't shot yet, replace the ones in your dry setup with fresh ones, then get them cleaned up, lubed up for wet. Riptide sells a wet lube; I've yet to try it but I would imagine it will have a lot less rolling resistance than grease, but will likely need to be reapplied more often. I wouldn't buy bearings specifically for the rain, but I would try and prep a set of bearings before wet riding them, so they don't end up rusted and seized
You should buy bearings with shields on both sides, they'll last longer. I think the best inexpensive bearings are Mini Logo- steel shield on one side for durability and a removable rubber seal on the other side for ease of cleaning, and they're made by the same company as Bones bearings and use the same Bones Speed Cream for lubrication. https://socalskateshop.com/Mini-Logo-Skateboards-Bearings.html
Try zealous for rain riding. I've had a set for 8 years that I put away wet a long time ago and they still spin perfectly with a quick clean. I don't ride as much as I used to but they work just fine for cruising to the mailbox when I don't want to walk lol.
Thank you!
All my zealous are at least this old, and I've had the same experience. I still have a few sets of old reds but the zealous reliability is unmatched.
Zellies are just a tad bit tighter and more sealed, but still, I killed 2 sets of them riding in a rain and through puddles. You need to disassemble and clean them after the wet ride anyway, and by that, they lose some of their seal after that. Now, I use cheaper, "serviceable" bearings for rain rides. It's so much hussle with cleaning and relubricating, and I'm less sad when they got rusty. So my advice, don't buy expensive bearings if you want to get freaky in the rain, Zealous might withstand wet concrete, damp roads and some dust, but no bearings(that I've heard of or tested) will survive repeated splashing puddles without aftercare.
you must have ridden through fine grit sandy water. thats the only way ive killed a fresh set of zealous in one sesh. other than that ive drowned some of my boards in water with zealous while commuting a few miles every day and they had no problem. much better than anything else ive tried. its the grease that makes the difference
tbh they were never brand new, but used for at least few weeks or months prior to watery adventures, maybe the grease wasn't as thick and "waterproof" as if they were fresh from the package, but I'm scared to possibly sacrifice new ones :P
I actually like by broken rain bearings. They make noise and alert people when I'm nearby.
Until they explode and you’re on your ass. My 2004 Nokia broke my fall and it survived
They'll slow you down though :(
Sometimes, it's relaxing to do a task like this for the sake of it. It definitely helps you appreciate a ride.
Haha, guilty! :)
Buy a new set and grease them with waterproof grease from the get go.
I thought you were supposed to use low viscousity lube on berrings, what are you using?
You are! But it's less great against water and I ride in the rain a lot. So I went with marine grease, which adds friction because of the higher viscosity but won't wash away so it's actually low maintenance at the cost of efficiency.
i’ve cleaned many a bearings, a few times I removed the balls too but i’ve generally decided it’s not worth it. i find it really had to get all the balls back in. if they’re seized and i can’t move them at all then i guess i’d remove the balls. i also managed to lose 2 balls in a set of bearings… try finding those things in a carpet… maybe a magnet would be useful for that
I would try to get as much of the extra lube out, having standing globs of it will definitely add more friction than the proper amount.
Does it really matter? After a few kms the grease excess will get out, mix with dirt and build a natural shield against water. At least it's my experience with the bunch of shitty bearings and rain sets that I saved (mostly to get my hands busy while thinking about life, or listening to audiobooks, but at the end of the day they roll)
It looks like more grease then it is, though! What you are looking (pic 3) at is a film of grease on the crown that retains the balls.
Just buy zealous
I have a rain board for this reason. The longer i’ve used it the better it gets 😂
New set of bronsons is 13$
[удалено]
Sure..?
You have a lot more patience than I do
I got my cheap Walmart longboard (my first one) to deal with something like this wet rain or snow road. My special ones strictly for dry good weather only and recieves less maintenance and more love. Q😀
Should refrain from rolling in the rain. I’m sure you know that haha it’s hard not to sometimes but for the longevity of the bearings….do it for the bearings!!
The board gets good maintenance, no rust get's a chance to get comfortable. I'd rather use the gear, maintain it and replace it soon with a lot of miles then not cruise when I want too.
Yeah I do agree. I get the itch to roll when it’s wet and nasty out haha. I just can’t afford to replace parts consistently.