Wheel Bearings Guide for Surfskating 

Zealous are good bearings for my Carvers.

Agreed. Once they are broken in, they just keep rolling.

I've used tons of brands that may feel faster, but after Zealous, they never rust or lose their oomph, after break in they are indestructible. Even salt water won't get to them!

@@boardbuslife - even the Zealous steel ones? I live by the ocean and want to make sure they don’t rust

I’ve noticed that too. Cheers.

have you tried the same bearings skateboarders use? powell swiss or bronson ceramics? i have to wonder .

the ceramic balls are rounder and resistant to flat spots and rust. they crush any dirt that gets in and spits it out instead of dirt bending and messing up steel balls. you clean these bearings it comes with a kit. you dont just throw them away . i have been on the same set for over a year skating parks in Philadelphia. he is wrong ceramics bronson take the shield off and face the balls in. dirt spits right out

How where the ceramics

Well this isn't a roller skate, channel, haha. ;-)

@@SurfskateLove I knooow haha I also surfskate! But it is a bearings review so... 😛

Thanks, Steve! I only sell wheels, bushings, and pivot cups in my shop: surfskate.love/shop/

Honestly, it's not a huge difference. The Waterborne bearings are legit. One of the big reasons why I like GBombs is because you can cinch down your axle nut and they still spin freely. Forgot to mention that in the review.

Not sure where you've seen me tighten wheel nuts all the way, because I always teach to back it off a little to make sure your bearings are spinning freely. Sounds like you're just tightening too much and you need to back it off a bit.

Thank you

Speed rings and spacers preceeded built in bearing by years if not decades. They were an astronomical upgrade compared nothing. Ten years ago or so when I was truly active riding longboards the built ins tended to have a little bit more slop but then zealous showed up and changed the whole game. This spawned lots of cheap copycats that still had heaps of slop that which made riding noisy and power slides real sketch. Even the cheapest regular bearings I've bought have all worked absolutely fine because the manufacturing process was perfected way before skateboards were invented. You do need to make sure to have high quality spacers but that is a one time purchase that you can then bring with you for life instead of paying the built in premium every time you buy new spacers. That is not huge amount of money and most bearings (definitely on this list) will last you years so it might be well worth it for ease of use. Thank you for your time

Yep! Got one on the way. :)

@@SurfskateLove Awesome, keep it up :)👍🏻

Great for stock bearings! Only Carver and SpiceSkate come with built-in bearings.

In my experience they feel pretty slow. Even compared to loaded jehu.

@@lowtechleon9874 Yes, relative to aftermarket upgraded bearings. I'm just saying they're great for stock bearings, relative to other stock bearings. Especially since they're built-in.

I haven't really felt any break-in period at all. They roll amazing immediately without needing to be broken in.

@@SurfskateLove Thanks Steve, very good news, i'm gonna test them this week on your 70mm wheels (81a rear, 84a front). It'll be interesting to compare with my Zealous habits.

Yes, I tried them. I don't use them because they're not built-in.

I have Oust Tech 5 on my longboard pusher. It’s one of my best bearings. I put it same class as Bones Big Balls. Note that I also have Swiss and Reds. I like Oust better than these. Oust needs to be lubed regularly though and cost more. My best ever are my BSB (Boss Speed Bearings) Swiss which I used for in-line racing. Same size as skateboard bearings.

Oh, my longboard pusher has Revenge Alpha II trucks so it’s almost a surf skate. The Oust is also more efficient than Bear Spaceballs steel.

They're good, but I find them to be slow compared to others.

@@SurfskateLove interesting, all ive tried is bones reds, big balls (6 ball) and carvers. out of those 3, the carvers are way faster and less draggy feeling, i think the 6 ball reds are the worst.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Your comment is very odd to me, given that I was riding all these bearings for a year. Not sure what else you'd like me to do to "do something and learn stuff." What else have you tried other than all the ones I list in this review? What's your frame of reference? And your comment is also arrogant because you're foisting your personal preference onto everyone else. I'm happy for you that you like the Swiss Ceramics, I personally think they're a complete waste of money. And I tried them very thoroughly. Our personal preferences and opinions don't make us smarter than each other.