A little tip about bearings

Next time you hear some incredible claims about how some proprietary bearings are so good, particularly backed by claims about how long they spin for, remember:

– 608 bearings were designed for low radial load, zero axial load, high speed operations. In skates they are expected to do the opposite, so tolerances measured on the ABEC rating are pretty meaningless

– most of the bearings you will see for sale come from one of a very small number of Chinese factories. They will mostly be identical products to their competitors with different branding and packaging. 

– there are many factors which affect your speed far more than the bearings you use. For example, the wheels you use (size, profile, hardness, rebound) the frames they are in, the types of spacers used and obviously your own fitness. Bearings don’t even figure as long as they aren’t wrecked

– which brings us to maintenance. Simply cleaning and lubricating your bearings occasionally will extend their life immeasurably. Longer than the wheels, frames or even your skates. Don’t neglect them to the point they no longer turn then fork out for the latest ABEC 11’s.

– and finally, don’t believe people who demonstrate how great their bearings are using the “spin test”. For reference see below

In short, don’t fall for the hype. Don’t get screwed.

Fruit Boot Shootout 2016

On the back of a few popular events came the first Fruit Boot Shootout and it was another great day out. Held at The Asylum Skatepark in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire there were visitors from all over the UK and beyond. What I was glad to see was the skaters that turned up just to enjoy the day and the competition was the excuse to come down, not the reason. So many skaters old and new just skating to have fun at an amazing park with so many lines.

Well, as usual I had the camera out so took some shots. I also grabbed a handful of clips and if I put together a few of them into a mini edit I’ll add that below too.

UKSkate video archive

So, I was buzzing the old Time Machine through the vaults of Internet history and I come across some gems of old media. There’s more to come but I couldn’t help but grab as many of the edits as I could from the old UKSkate website, back in early 2003 when it was truly the hub of UK blading. The forums, the edit competitions, the hate; it was all there and now unfortunately lost to the march of time. Well, mostly.

So, if you want to reminisce over 240p footage of unity cess slides and XXXXL joggers at 10 fps, then have a gander, there’s some gems on YouTube now.

Go to the archive

Big Session #2 – Rampworx

Second in the informal series of events organised by David Wing and Stephen Swain. After the success of the first session at Adrenaline Alley, the next venue was chosen to be one of my local parks, Rampworx. Another great attendance from all over the UK as rollerblades outnumbered everyone at the park, even the scooters. Well, I took a few shots and even grabbed a couple of clips from the chilled skating that was in evidence all over the park…

Photos:
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