Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have over a decade in skating (roller skating, skateboarding, some inline skating) and that is my purpose in ordering these bearings. Here are some things to know: these are 608 sized, seven ball bearings, the kind used in skate equipment. The -2RS (or just RS) stands for removeable seal, which is the black plastic side seals you see pictured, two on each bearing. These can be removed by inserting a knife edge and carefully prying up one side to reveal the ball bearings, which run on races and will not spill out all over the place. When a bearing is listed as 608ZZ, the ZZ stands for non-removable shields (not called seals when they are not removable), which are also great bearings and slightly less expensive than the RS ones. The ZZ bearings work as well, and frankly, you can clean bearings without removing seals or shields by simply soaking and lubing the small “cracks”, the thin imperfect lines, along the seals and shields. I rarely remove the seals and shields for cleaning and lubing. The same way water and small debris gets into the bearing, through the thin openings, is the same way the junk gets out when cleaned by soaking. These are greased bearings, meaning they have thicker grease in them. Out of the package, they rotate maybe only one full rotation with a strong spin. Not impressive...BUT, it’s the grease, not the bearing. Grease is important for equipment uses, like fans and motors, where it will be spinning (hot) for hundreds of hours at high RPM. For skating, where it’s low RPM for an hour or two at a time with plenty of stops, a light lube is fine to use instead of grease. That said, some manufacturers make and use grease even on dedicated skate bearings, such as Bones brand that sells Bones Bearing Grease, an expensive and not better than Vasoline (which is petroleum jelly) substitute for low RPM skate use, and Bones Bearing Grease will still slow a bearing. How to deal with grease? Either with or without the black seals pried off and removed (your choice), soak these bearings overnight in gasoline. In the morning, almost all of the grease will be dissolved (chemists know: like dissolves like). Then, lube with the lubricant of your choice. Best options are WD-40 (which is a great lubricant, says so even on the website, and displaces water), Hoppe’s Number 9 Oil (which lasts longer than WD-40 but picks up more dust and dirt), or Boeshield T-9 (which goes on wet and becomes dry), or any number of other light lubricants. You can even pay five times as much for thin skate dedicated lubes by bearing makers if breaking open your piggy bank is your thing...but then again, if that was your thing, you’re likely not reading this review on these bearings. LOL. They spin great in wheels on the ground after this small initial set-up process. Note: they do not spin like ceramic bearings, which spin better when not weight bearing and might be better than these if you only need a couple bearings for a fidget spinner. Long time skaters know, the ambility to spin in hand does not translate to better slow RPM, weighted spinning on a skate wheel. A bearing that spins for one minute in hand versus ten seconds in hand will barely be perceptible when loaded in a skate, and after a few minutes of skating and grit gets in both, the difference will be nil. Note also: if you want best spin, remove the seals altogether and skate open bearing. Sure, road crud will get in there, but it will anyhow around the seal. Seals are not as protective as meets the eye, and the bearings will definitely (all bearings) spin faster and better without the friction from the outer seal. So, with that removed, blasting out each wheel with a generous puff of WD-40 after each skate session takes about 60 seconds, removes water and dirt, and lubes for the next session, and many skaters know this is better than sealed bearings trapping in grit and, in particular, water which will rust a steel bearing. your choice though. I’m impressed with these bearings so far. ABEC - 1 is fine for skates (its the outer tolerances, not the inner races and balls, that are represented by ABEC rating), and they are plenty fast and seem good quality. I will update this review after skating a few hundred miles on them by this summer. Thanks. I received no free bearings, do not work for the company, and did not give a pinky promise for a discounted price to review these bearings on Amazon. I ordered them full price, about twenty clams for one hundred bearings, just like you’re thinking about. Good luck.🍀