There are substantial differences across the many skate wheels available on the market. Learning about the various categories will be helpful as your search will pop up various wheels on your radar screen.

2 KEY CONCEPTS

1) Wheel Size

The diameter of rol…

ABEC Ratings are a measure of tolerance. The governing body that sets forth bearing standards is called the Annular Bearing Engineering Committee, or ABEC (pronounced A-Bek). Tolerance is how precisely the components of the bearing fit together. A more p…

TYPES OF LUBRICANT

Bearings can come pre-lubricated with one of two types of lube: oil or grease. There are pros and cons of each.

Oil - This is the most common type of lubricant and will generally be the fastest of the two. It will be fairly long lasti…

Row, row, row your balls, gently down the inner race... I am going to pretend I didn't just say that.

The balls are the part of the bearing that do the rolling audible gasp!. Because of this, they are arguably the most important piece of the bearing. Fu…

Bearing closures are like walls that protect the bearing from outside debris and help keep lubricants inside the bearing. Typically quad bearings come with one closure, which is either a bunna rubber seal (aka rubber shield) or metal shield. In rare occu…