Bones Bearings: ABEC versus Skate Rated

Part 1: Swiss, the beginning
Part 2: ABEC vs Skate Rated

For the uninitiated, the ABEC rating of bearings appears to tell us the good, the bad, and the ugly of bearings. After all, with most bearings in the market the ABEC rating rises together with the price - suggesting that the higher the ABEC, the better the bearing?

George Powell, the founder of Bones Bearings, is always asked "What ABEC rating are your bearings?". But Bones are not ABEC rated, they are Skate Rated.

During the past 24 years, Bones Swiss have become legendary because of their superior speed quality, and longevity. Even though Bones Swiss are the highest performing bearing in skating, we don’t give them an ABEC rating.

The ABEC rating system has been around for the last 35 years. The purpose of the ABEC committee (Annular Bearing Engineers Committee) is not to test every manufacturer’s bearings and proclaim them good or bad, but to establish dimensions, tolerances, geometry, and noise standards for bearings in an attempt to aid industrial bearing manufacturers and users in the production, comparison and selection of bearings for general applications. However, since not all bearings are used in the same manner and environment, bearings should be redesigned for special uses (like skating). The ABEC rating system was never intended to be the only criteria used for selecting bearings for use in specialized applications.

Turning your bearings at 2,650 RPM

The ABEC rating system includes grades 1,3,5,7, and 9. The higher the ABEC rating, the tighter the tolerances are, making the bearing a more precision part. High precision and small tolerances are required for bearings to function at very high RPM, in products like power tools that must spin at 20-30,000 RPM. In an application like this, an ABEC - 7 or 9 bearing rating may be appropriate.



A speed skater using 100mm wheels and travelling at 50km/h is turning their bearings at 2,650 RPM (less if they use 110mm wheels) – that’s just 1/10th of the kind of RPM that ABEC 9 bearings are specified for. Such high precision is not required at skating speeds.

The dimensions and tolerances controlled by the ABEC standards include the diameters and widths of the raceways, their shapes to some extent and the smoothness of the running surfaces.

The ABEC rating system ignores side loading, impact resistance, materials selection and grade, appropriateness of lubrication, ball retainer type, grade of ball, the clearance between the balls and the races, installation requirements, and the need for maintenance and cleaning.

A huge difference in performance

All these bearing design requirements are very important to the performance of a skate bearing, even though the ABEC rating does not address them. From Bones’ own testing and 24 years of experience designing bearings for skating, there can be a HUGE difference between the performance of two bearings that both have the same ABEC rating. In many cases, bearings with high ABEC ratings don’t perform as well as others with lower ABEC ratings in a skate wheel. So, the reliance on ABEC ratings alone can mislead skaters and dealers. That is why Bones don’t use the ABEC rating system at all.



Bones Bearings achieve such high performance levels in skating because Bones went to the trouble to skate rate Bones Swiss™ and Bones REDS™, not just select an ABEC rated industrial bearing and put a customized plastic shield on it. Bones bearings have been completely redesigned for skating from the ground up and are built to Bones specifications that include Skate Rated components, lubricants, tolerances and clearances.

Made just for skaters, Not for electric motors

Bones’ component parts are engineered and tested to withstand the high impacts of starting, the high side loads of pushing, edging and turning, and (to the best extent possible) the dirt of skating environments. As a result, Bones roll faster and last longer than other bearings.

Since there is no appropriate ABEC rating that will reflect the superior quality of Bones Bearings, we have given them their own rating, a Skate Rating, to let you know that Bones are special and made just for skaters, not for electric motors.

...condensed from 'ABEC vs Skate Rated' by George Powell. Bones are finally distributed in Europe by CadoMotus, so check back to Pure Skating News to learn more about Bones Bearings and what they can do for your speed skating

Part 1: Swiss, the beginning
Part 2: ABEC vs Skate Rated