Skate Faster! Save your Bearings!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Who needs bearing spacers for their wheels? You do! Check out this video for all the reasons why as well as testimony from our awesome viewers!
If you need some spacers, here are some great options:
Bones Reds Race Bearings - amzn.to/3C3YGm9
Switch Supply Company - www.switch-sup...
Superfly Speedball - superflyspeedb...
If you dig Nate's vintage T-shirt, check out 45rpm - they have this and may other great old school skateboard shirts - www.45rpmvinta...
This video was created with the following items:
Shure MV88 iOS microphone - amzn.to/3C22XGH
Joby JB01507 GorillaPod 3K Kit - amzn.to/3nqCyhM
Ulanzi ST-02S Aluminum Phone Tripod Mount w Cold Shoe Mount - amzn.to/2Xeh1hu
Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links and I may earn a commission fee if purchased. Thank you for your continued support of this channel.
-------------------------------------------------------
Old School Skater Interviews:
• Old School Skateboarde...
Geezer Shop: geezerskate.co...
Geezer Site: geezerskate.co
Instagram: / geezerskateco
Facebook: / geezerskateco
Twitter: / geezerskateco
Subscribe: www.youtube.co...
Been using spacers since 84 and will forever more. Melvin and Skip at Skatetime always preached spacers.
Sounds like you had great mentors at Skatetime! Where was that shop? Are they still open?
who ? lol did you ever wonder why your skateboard is silent or do you not skate and just look at it on your wall?
Great vid Nate, and thanks for providing the links! Always helpful..I've never used spacers but listening to the viewer pro's , It makes perfect sense...
Thanks for watching! Glad we could shed some light on the little spacer!
I would appreciate if the WHEEL manufacturers included spacers of the proper length, unless every wheel out there has a 10mm bearing spacing.
Now there’s an idea! We should lobby for that!
Bearing spacing has been standardized since the 70's..... You can see the rib of urethane or the stop point in a cored wheel.... That is the standard width of a bearing spacer..... Bearing spacers started to disappear in the early 90s because kids could not understand principal, skateboarding was being slowed down drastically, gimmick wheels that had just failed 15 years prior were becoming the norm.... And skateboarding was being made safe so non- skater's would join..... It was all about selling product and keeping skateboarding relevant.... The industry was throwing the baby out with the bathwater..... The smooth area on a truck axle, where the bearings ride, has been a standardized size since the mid 70s...608z bearings width x2 + width of bearing spacers = the same total width of the molded area in the core of the wheels and the amount of smooth axle area protruding from the truck hanger..... It has been standardized since the invention of the precision skateboard wheel...... There are no different widths..... Any deviation from this is just low quality or a gimmick..... I'm surprised that this video did not reveal that or even hit on the subject which are the facts of the matter.....
The wheel manufacturer has a standardized width for their spacing of the wheels in the bearings there is no multi size or deviation..... I cannot believe that this video did not hit on the actual facts of the subject seeing that it was decided in the mid-70s and is standardized till this day....
@@ron8935right. Working as a machinist, it’s perfect practice for the inner race to pinch into thrust pressure along the axle. Spacers should be the width of the wheel webbing plus a few thousandths of an inch; .01”-.015” should be plenty. I make my own for my skates.
@@ron8935 thats a bunch of crap the pros now are the best and they just keep getting better. lol what are you putting in your arm
Duuuuuude they do make a big difference I totally agree with this video!
Awesome! Glad you see it too! Spacers rock!
@@GeezerSkateCo Yeah bro Rock on and let the good times roll!
If Hank Hill grew up skateboarding
Haha, well, funny thing is I grew up not too far from Garland, TX, which is the town that Arlen is based on, so yeah, it’s probably safe to say that I’m a version of Hank Hill (my wife says I talk too slow)
Lol
I had bearings with built in spacers back in 1989 so it is not a new thing.
Always use bearing spacers so they function correctly.
Skate wheels generally all have 10mm width spacers regardless of the wheel size. This can vary up to 1.2mm depending on manufacturing accuracy. Speed rings can be used in conjunction with spacers inside the wheel to increase spacer width if they are short & pinch the bearings making rotation stiff when fully tight.
skateboards do not need spacers you being an anal old man. ask grant taylor or chris russel if they use spacers . you are wrong sorry if your engineering degree ego is hurt
Wow, I didn’t realize that bearings had spacers built in back in the 80s. Thank you for sharing - appreciate your insight!
Believe it or not I have my original bearings in my board since 2003 haha yes speed rings , spacers after every sesh I pull the board about and clean them alone with new lube. Still have the factory shields on them too can't say the same for the trucks ,wheels of board but I haven't bought bearings in years hahah only time I have is is I want more then 1 set up but ya. I even made a set of hybrid bearings back in high school I took apart a set of cheap bearings and used the school shop to mirror polish the race ways and installed Swiss ceramic balls into them with a copper retainer and those bearings wer stupid fast but didn't last long as the polishing actually widened the race way in the bearing and popped after 5 or 6 months. But spacers and speed rings for the win
This is incredible! I'd say that's a testament to both build quality of your bearings and the added spacers/rings. Thank you for sharing real-world insight into how far these can take you!
I have a set of Bones Swiss that are 23 years old and still rolling.
@vorpal blade the bearings i mentioned above from 2003 are SKFs still have them haha still skatethem. Bones has been around for ever wanna say they came out in 83 or 84 but they can last forever if ya take care of them
With my Bronson g2 bearings in conical spitfire wheels the spacer absolutely killed my speed I tried riding and breaking them in! So I decided to take the spacer out and bam I was riding so fast
Good to know - thank you for sharing your experience. What wheels are you rolling with?
@@GeezerSkateCo 53mm 99du formula four conicals. The blue ones! I still use the speed rings
Spacers, washers and crank that nut on tight! I feel for all the blokes who dont understand how this works, i shake my head when i see loose wheel nuts.
For real! Knowing is half the battle!
I skated in 70s early 80s like 81 82. I don’t remember spacer were around. I never used them. I set up a board few years back the bearing bearings I bought came with spacers so I put em in.
It's weird they weren't really around in the era of larger wheels. I'm honestly not sure when they came into the scene, but now I can't imagine not using them, especially on old school style setups.
I use the bones race reds. Feels more solid than standard bones reds plus spacers 👍
Awesome! Just got a set of these that I’m putting into my next setup! What wheels are you rolling with?
That's one of the reasons that I use Zealous Bearings. The bearings already have built-in spacers and speed rings.
Awesome! I’m not familiar with Zealous bearings, but will check them out for my next setup!
@@GeezerSkateCo cool! I'm admittedly lazy, and love that I don't need to keep track of speed rings, spacers, plus the special oil replaced any imperfections on the balls, should they occur.
Always lubricate your ceramic bearings, get the Bronson ceramic, with 80mm 80a wheels, then You’ll be cooking
That sounds like a recipe for speed!
Spacers used to be something I thought about and somewhere along the line I stopped, you might have convinced me to give em another try. Where'd you get that shirt, it's not original right? A problem we all might run into is we're looking at pros to determine what's necessary for our set up but they're getting a new box of stuff every few weeks. I still don't know why rails fell out of fashion when they're so useful, might be the same with spacers?
Wax bad, rails good 👍
Appreciate your comments and insight! You can find my shirt and many other awesome old school items here - www.45rpmvintage.com/shop - you are correct, it’s not original, just a recreation by a guy who is a big fan of old school skateboarding. It is crazy that spacers and rails fell out of fashion as I always hated wrecking my graphics and stickers with board slides. Glad to see rails coming back - there’s even a set of Geezer rails you can get! Send me an email to see what they look like - geezerskateco@gmail.com
@@GeezerSkateCo I went and checked out the Switch Supply website, do you buy products from them somewhere local? How about that Stiletto grip cutter, have you used or at least seen one of those?
@@GeezerSkateCo Only ever saw spacers on cheap Variflex and DSC completes, nobody used them and ive skated since the mid-eighties and being a punk rock skater didnt care about rails or my graphic i was ripping not attending an art show.
How does using a spacer 'keep the lube in'? They have nothing to do with that at all. Their only function is to allow the wheel nut to be tightened without putting unwanted pressure on the bearing center. With the spacer the force is sent through the axle leaving the bearing to run true. Without spacers there are unwanted forces pushing the center ring away from the outer ring (held by the wheel shoulder) and introducing misalignment / lateral friction (bearing will not run freely) and wear (ball race is pushing on the side of the bearing casing.. Sounds like some people are confusing the spacer with the guard???
Thank you for the clarification and extrapolating on how a bearing spacer works and the difference between that and a shield. I was incorrect about keeping lube in place and appreciate the correction
my roller skates from 1982 had bearings with built in spacers, which i harvested once i started skateboarding and my feet got too big for the roller skates.
That’s amazing! Do you still have them?
@@GeezerSkateCo I have 2 younger brothers who also skated so my best bet would be those were in the trash before windows 95 came out.
I stop using them for..really no real good reason. Going off my buddy's opinion. He said they made the set up heavier. Just following the leader I guess. He was a much better skater than us younger dudes. But yes.. Definitely gonna get me a set. Put'm on my Frankie Hill.
Haha, awesome! Let us know if you see any improvement or if it weighs you down!
I do use them , my bearings last way longer
Awesome! Glad to hear they work for you too!
@GeezerSkateCo I have however come across when the wheel is misshapen and I can't fully tighten the nut because it will cease the bearing, in this situation I tighten it until right before it won't spin. Use it for a couple of sessions and then re tighten, the wheel eventually settles and then it all works properly
last comment is the main reason, acts as a shield against dirt getting to the inner bearing, also can help protect the axel i guess. they weigh nothing so might aswel.
All good points! Thank you for sharing. Do you have a favorite bearing/spacer combo?
Keeps the lube in? I think someone is mistaking shields for spacers.
Good point, I misspoke there, I was thinking of the shields
80%of all sk8rs in the early 90s had no clue what these are or used them.... even most of the skate shops didn't provide them also..... This is directly related to The Little wheel gimmick and the chumping down horribly of skateboarding in the early 90s.... Hell back then they skated slower than I walk 😂....😮
So if the bearing soacwr is SLOGHTKY bigger than the wheel, is it better or worse ?
I don't have personal experience with a bearing spacer that's longer than the inside of the wheel, but I'd imagine that it would cause some issues, so I'd say if that's the only size you have, skip the spacers until you can find ones that fit your wheels. Thanks for watching!
Bearing slop robs you of speed. I always use spacers.
Us now too! What bearings do you use?
Yeah right, I'm ging to take advice from someone who rode 34mm wheels
Good point, I was caught up in the small wheels/big pants trend! Now I still wear big pants, but skate much bigger wheels!
Lol! Kids did that in the 90’s. I remember looking at those kids and laughing. I grew up in the 80’s so I rode at least 55s
first you say all of them are different sizes then you say you like the built in spacers. so which is it? i have been skating since 86 you dont need the spacers. the only thing they do is let you tighten axle nuts and the wheel still spin big woop. you were correct when you started off but those wide big wheels you have are asymmetrical.the bearings are the same distance as any other wheel or close to them where they sit is not the center of that model wheel they sit closer to the hanger and only go on one way. its almost like you are so uninformed about this that you must be joking right? i dont care what anybody you know thinks ,what do the pros do. dont you think they might be the ones to ask? no you dont need spacers, they are not needed there is a spacer in every skateboard wheel out there that doesnt change the sound and feel of a board built right in to it. didnt mean to offend anybody.
Appreciate the feedback - constructive criticism helps me learn and provide better info. Out of curiosity, are you a pro or former pro? What is your setup?
Spacers are stupid. The concept is sound. But not all wheels are the same. Which means the concept doesn’t actually work.
Every single wheel and every single spacer would need to be the same in order for them to function properly, and they aren’t. Every set of spacers I’ve ever had has caused problems tightening the nut. If the nut isn’t cranked, your spacer does nothing, and half the time you crank the nut it clamps the wheel, which means the spacer is non functional.
Lmao you have an auto delete for comments that dont supoort you!
Actually, not quite. We do block comments that have links as those usually come from the porn bots; but otherwise we do not block user comments. What comment didn’t come through?
@@GeezerSkateCo bullshit !
I'd argue that you don't even need bearings, you might not even need wheels as long as you have the spacers...
I believe Daewon Song proved that years ago 😉
@@GeezerSkateCo hes magic on a skateboard