As the title says really. Getting new bearings for my new ride. SS bearings are 3 times the price of non stainless. Are they worth the extra cash? Do they last significantly longer?

yes generally about twice as longer both in marine conditions, with regular repacks twice again.

with regular steel dry for lifetime! or quickly to disposable by wet conditions .

No, I don't think so. They will look prettier over time by avoiding the rust on the outer faces, but that's not what kills a kiter's bearings. It's usually sand or other grit that gets in and grinds the bearings (you can hear it), and the SS will not defend against that.

Most of us buy the cheapest asain made bearings that we can find. The rotational velocity of the average buggy or land-board wheel is far below what even the cheaper bearings are designed for in your average industrial application. Sand, salt, water and dust will kill them long before your reap the benefits of something more exotic.

Back in my in-line skating days, I would pay for higher grade stainless or even ceramic. At 30 mph on 70 mm wheels, the rotational velocities and lateral stresses were high enough to notice the benefit of a higher grade bearing.

Angus on rollerblades?
He is right, as long as the bearings are sealed they are the best you can get. The less money spent the better the deal.
I know that Blokart has dust covers for the bearings but at that point the game changes dramatically. They are some very serious racers and figuring out a way to squeeze out 1/1000 of a second advantage is going to cost hundreds of dollars. I'm happy to just be able to drive home after a bit of time in the buggy

I used to buy SS bearings but they would start to hum after two or three sessions. SS bearings are not cheap, so to get my monies worth I continued to run the bearings until they completely disintegrated.

Then one day I bought a tub of marine grease and new stainless bearings. I carefully prised open the seal and packed them to bursting. After replacing the seal I heavily smeared the outside. Three years later they still spin like new, no noise, no grit, no expense.

You might try the marine grease with the ordinary steel bearings.

http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/

on stuff that has high hassle factor to change out---> go with sealed SS , if quick change out is at hand --->go regular sealed.

marine repack definitely will add life to either, SS just gives you more to work with.

This is one of those topics that could get very interesting....
I buy the cheapest steal bearings and run them untill they stop screaming and just before they fall apart, then install a new set.
Now on the opposite side of this, in my Blokart I removed the seal and cleaned all the grease out of the bearing and replaced the seal on one side with a piece of felt. A good shot of machine oil and that's it. I get home and spray the bearing out with wd-40 and a bit of machine oil and good to go.
My buggy wheels will not spin for much more than about a half minute while my Blokart wheel will spin for a good 4 to 6 minutes. I know this is apples and oranges but it's one of those glass is half full or half empty things.
I did the repack with grease thing, did the SS thing, did the ceramic bearing thing, and also the high speed-quality bearing thing. I have spent $1.35 up to $64.00 for the set of bearings on my buggy to see if I could tell the difference. Each wheel was a different bearing set up and time will tell.
The ceramic died first, SS second, steal last.
The ceramic was the most expensive with the steal being the cheapest. So for me it's eBay for at least 2 dozen at a time, run the cheap steal bearings till they die, throw them away and replace with a new set for 3 bucks a wheel.
I went as far as replacing the SS bearings in my Sysmic wheels with steal, $67.00 or $1.35 a bearing, hmmmm not much to think about.

These are my findings and my opinion, if you don't agree cool. I want to play not clean and repack bearings. It's bad enough I have to wash or clean my kites from time to time. On another topic- SS parts rust also so it's.........:evil:

Cheap n cheerful is doing it for me. And just bin em when they're done!

Gonna get some of that grease though, thanks RedSky!

Ramonal White Grease...Yeah? 12 quid a tub...that the stuff?

Quote: Originally posted by robinsonpr

Ramonal White Grease...Yeah? 12 quid a tub...that the stuff?

That's what She said! :P

Nice one Blade. You put the "ass" in class. :roll:

Sullying up a perfectly fine thread...

@ Bigkid - outstanding thread post. Really appreciate the scientific nature of your comparison. I will most certainly go the cheaper steel bearing route when the time comes.

I know I am one of a few that has time and money to spend on this and that, compare this to that, try this and that. I have owned just about every type and make of buggies, boards and kites. Spent months comparing different line sets, tires, wheels, and much more. I have forgotten most of the stuff until someone brings up the subject.
Not to down play what others have found or discovered, as all the info is worth looking into. I do agree that repacking your bearings is a great way to prolong the bearings life, and marine grease is the best stuff to use with the ocean and coast issues at hand.
A dry lake bed is another issue completely. The fine talc like dust is one thing that loves any type of grease. Any greased item will develop a rock with the mixing of dirt and grease. Which will effect the wheel bearings and the head stock of any buggy, which is why WD-40 is a popular solution to fix the problem, which in itself creates a different problem.

At the end of the day, its all about being one with your sport, right? I spend every free moment of my life thinking about how to fix this, how to make this better, how to make it............. I dont have the time or the desire to mess with some things while others will be the topic of my dreams. Bearings are cheep to replace and if at anytime I decide to break the 150mph barrier in a buggy you better believe bearings will not be on the top of my to do list. But will be on the list.:D
do you guys use gloves when you repack your bearings? that sounds kinda ........ lol

Timely Post.


Sealed Bearings are simply damn cheap these days, like a pair for $3-4-5 even with free shipping.

Just bought these off ebay. We'll see how long these last which should be a long long time..........I'm not into playing Submarine Captain.


Bought all 6 bearings for my PL Folding buggy for under $14.

my source.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131075163451?_trksid=p2057872.m2749....

David (Windy Heap) - you are truly making that Folding Buggy all it can be. This is great for Michael Gaylan and I to see as loving former owners. I believe Michael told me at one point of one (maybe even two) folks here on PKF that owned it before us.

Own her for a while, ride her hard and put her away wet. Wait a tick, don't put her away wet after all (I know you won't). Michael worked on making her better while she was his, adding slime to the wheels to combat troubling pressure loss (which from my reckoning solved the air leak issue as the tires never lost a speck of pressure on my watch) as well as replacing one of the Y joint bolts. I added nylock nuts and washers all over the place so the nuts would never rattle free again. You now have spiffed her up with shiny stuff and new bearings, and the saga continues.