Yeah but you’d buy loads of sets of them in the time in takes to get through one set of Swiss!
Wish I knew that 15 years ago when I was popping bearings all the time 
I always find, though, that nothing last me longer than about 2 years, and that’s only skating about 3 times a week. I just think £20 for a set of bearings, ride them till they start sounding or feeling rough, then get a new set about 18 months later, Maybe more expensive ones might last me longer but if I’m honest I quite like it when I’ve got brand new gear.
Have you ever had Bones Swiss?
A long time ago. Maybe early 2000s
I don’t think I’ve ever retired a set off Swiss.
Apart from the ones that got seawater in.
Shields off straight away , zero maintenance
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I’ve been looking up the benefits of removing shields: apparently it’s the ease of maintainance, and the sound, but at the cost of needing more frequent maintenance:
Some skate bearings now come without shields at all! Supposedly they are faster and noisier, and there is a trend for taking shields off of your bearings for a little extra speed. You can event buy shieldless bearings - check out the Bronson Raw Bearing!
If you’ve got this far, you’ll know that we think the good shielding is way more important than bearing speed.
In our opinion, taking your shields off is pretty pointless - all that will happen is you will ruin your bearings faster. Yes, they will make a cool noise… but there is no speed increase over a “608ZZ”, “608RS”, “6082RS” bearing, and you WILL need to lube them ALL THE TIME.
On the plus side, cleaning couldn’t be easier - no need to even take your wheels off, just dump some bearing lube in there every session and you’re good to go.
We don’t recommend shieldless bearings to most skaters, due to the amount of babying they need.
There’s a reason that Bones Bearings, the world’s best selling bearing company, don’t make a shieldless bearing - they’re not a good idea.
I also found this about the seals on Bronson G3:
Labyrinth shields
Found on “608RU” or “6082RU” bearings. These are the same as the “RS” standard, but they have a bigger shield which contact the inner race as well as the outer race. For this reason they are also known as “Full Contact” bearing shields.
The shield sits in a “V” or “U” shaped channel machined into the inner bearing race. So the shield is way better at keeping out not just dirt, but moisture too. The result? “Labyrinth” shielded bearings need a lot less looking after than “RS” or “ZZ” bearings.We recommend Labyrinth shields to skaters who want their bearings to last, at the expense of a tiny bit in speed (which is unnoticable in our experience!). Bronson G3 Bearings are an example of bearing with a Labyrinth shield.
Ya’ll going too far!
I don’t particularly like the wheels but Bones Bearings are great in my experience. The Bronson G2 in Bones wheels on my daughters set up have been fine so far. The wheels too.
Skated Antihero or Krooked for 10+ years and then decided to get a sour deck because it was discounted. Feels like I am skating chip board compared to the AH and Krookeds.
Was it the discount or is the wood just worse? Not really keen to try another after this one goes.
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Afaik Sour decks are pressed by HLC which is Jart. That might go some way to explaining the difference you’re feeling from your usual DLX boards.
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I’m on an HLC now (Cafe) and normally skate BBS (Polar) - think I mentioned it above, or more likely to a friend, that it lacks the snap of the BBS and is muted in comparison, it has had a few small chips which I’ve not had on a deck for years and we noticed on Friday that it is really flexible when trying to work out why it was creaking (creak was the truck bolts).
It just feels a lot softer. Shape and dimensions are fine.
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Had two Cafe decks in the past and same here; they felt very spongy and were not nice to skate although shape was fine.
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Yeah exactly this. I don’t know if DLX use more glue or something like that but this thing has chipped up like crazy. Super soft and sounds like an old log. Like you said, with the DLX never had any sorts of chips or bits pulling off.
Shame though because the shape and dims are decent
ah Mike you’re the perfect equipment-obsessive partner to me. I normally skate BBS (Magenta) and am absolutely loving this Girl deck
will be interested to see what you think of yours having come from similar BBS wood
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Yeah, I liked having a specific set up which didnt change but after I think 4 or 5 years I’d like to change a little.
I have another Polar which I gripped Saturday morning after the shit skate Friday night, and will probably grip this Girl board today. Just need some wheels, probably go 52/99 Classics this time.
Also put flat spot on the edge of one of my F4’s last night. Probably not difficult as it is on the edge of the running surface where it curves to the outside so a non-issue. One of my fronts is coning too. Feel like I’m battering the shit out of my skate stuff at the moment but I am skating a lot and things wear out.
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Do it, I’ve had multiple sets and am more than happy with them.
Just need to get you on some Ventures and we’ll be riding identical set ups.
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Scrape or paint remover?
Always wondered if paint remover would knacker the urethane 
My wheels are a dirty yellow mess.
I use griptape scraps.
I think @PiledriverWaltz does it with a Stanley knife.
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Nail polish remover. Michael Daley used to swear by it.
Get yourself some soft sliders if you don’t want the wax/crud build up!
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