Roller skate buying guide
Skate Bearings: What Top Skaters Say Actually Matters
Of the 20 skaters, coaches and shop specialists in our compilation who talk about or list their bearings, the five who give a beginner advice all say the same thing: the bearings that come with your skates are enough, and what matters is keeping them clean, not the number on the box. The pros themselves ride anything from ABEC 5 to ABEC 9, and the only exotic bearings (ceramic, titanium) belong to downhill racers sponsored by the brands that make them. Spend on the boot and the wheels first; spend on bearings, if ever, once you can hear that yours are worn.
Gear on this page: six products are named further down — Bones REDS Skateboard Bearings (8 pack), SONIC Turbo Wash Skate Bearing Cleaning Kit, GHOST BOARDS All-In-One Skate Tool, Bladerunner by Rollerblade Advantage Pro XT Women's, Moxi Beach Bunny Roller Skates, and a set of 78A 65×35 mm quad wheels sold with ABEC-9 bearings. They are optional, the page works without them, and the links to them are Amazon affiliate links.
Amazon prices are given with the date they were read, for the size and colour Amazon shows by default. Where we have not read a price, we say so. Price and availability are set by Amazon and can change.
What top skaters recommend
Features first, brands only where a skater is sponsored by or sells the brand they ride. Bearings are the part skaters talk about least: most of what we found is what they ride, not what they advise.
For a beginner: keep the stock bearings
- Viktor Hald Thorup, a two-time Olympic speed skater on ice and Rollerblade World Team member who coaches on YouTube (he also owns a skate shop, topskate.dk), tells beginners that ABEC 7 or 9 bearings are enough, and to clean them after skating in the rain (Viktor Thorup, 25 Jul 2023). In his own setup video he rides ABEC 9 and says good bearings will not make you win, but bad ones are a pain (Viktor Thorup, 21 Apr 2021).
- Casper, presenter of Powerslide’s official channel (Powerslide staff; he says he worked four years in a skate shop), says to keep the bearings the skate comes with, and to choose the skate for its boot rather than its wheels (Powerslide, 11 Mar 2024).
- The Thisissoul skate shop channel (Amsterdam; a seller, presenter not named) says the stock wheels and bearings are enough at the start (Thisissoul, 20 Sep 2020).
- Asha, coach at the London skate school Skatefresh, does not single out bearings, but warns against expecting gear to do the work: in her words, “technique is the most important thing” (SkatefreshAsha, 21 Dec 2022).
- On quads, Kelly, an instructor at Skate Base London (local reputation), lists ABEC 7 bearings in her adult beginner setup (Skate Base London, 9 Sep 2024).
What the pros actually ride: ABEC 5 to 9
- ABEC 5 at the top of aggressive skating. Chris Haffey, X Games gold medallist (2009, 2011), had ABEC 5 bearings on his Remz pro model (sponsor Remz) (Be-Mag, 23 Aug 2011). Si Coburn, a UK blading figure since the 1990s who runs the Rush Skatepark academies (Rollerblade, Ground Control), rides ABEC 5 and tells skaters to check their screws regularly (Be-Mag, 29 Oct 2019).
- ABEC 7. Antony Pottier, Winterclash pro winner 2018, rides his sponsor Seba’s ABEC 7 bearings (Be-Mag, 19 Jun 2016).
- ABEC 9 or the brand’s own “9” scale. Nick Lomax (IMYTA champion 2006), Léandre Fabri and marathon skater Sheila Juan Franco (3rd at the 24h Rollertour) all list Wicked ABEC 9, from their sponsor Powerslide (Lomax, Fabri, Juan Franco, Powerslide team pages, undated, read 7 Oct 2026). Slalom world champions Lorenzo Guslandi and Lorenzo Demuru, and Alexandre dos Santos, ride Twincam ILQ 9 (Guslandi, Demuru, dos Santos, Powerslide team pages, undated); Kim Sung Jin, world no. 3 in 2010, had the same on his Seba signature skate (Rollerenligne, 11 Jan 2011).
- Speed: Swiss bearings, from sponsors. Bart Swings, world champion and five-time Berlin marathon winner (Powerslide/Matter), rode Wicked Swiss bearings in 2017 (Big Wheel Blading, 9 Oct 2017); Felix Rijhnen, world champion 2017, rides the Wicked series that carries his name (Big Wheel Blading, 26 Oct 2017). Neither gives a reason in terms of features.
- Ceramic and titanium: downhill, sponsored. French downhill skater Etienne Herreros rides ceramic bearings from his sponsor EOskate (Big Wheel Blading, 2017); Spanish downhill skater Noel Jarillo rides titanium bearings from his sponsor CSP (Big Wheel Blading, undated). Neither recommends them to beginners.
Maintenance: never let them run dry
- Alexandre Lebrun, president of the International Inline Downhill Association, says bearings should never run dry (Rollerenligne, 15 Feb 2013, updated 3 Nov 2020). Thorup: clean after rain (above).
Where the skaters differ, and what nobody says
- A number or no number. Thorup and Kelly still give a rating (ABEC 7 or 9; ABEC 7). The skater behind this site says the rating tells you nothing about speed (below). They agree on the practical point: a beginner does not need to buy bearings.
- Gaps. No top skater in our compilation gives a cleaning method or a cleaning interval. The quad park and derby skaters list bearing brands but give no bearing advice. Nobody compares ceramic with steel for an ordinary skater.
From the skater behind this site
- ABEC is a machining tolerance, written for industrial spindles turning at speeds no skater reaches. It says how precisely the bearing was made, not how fast you will roll, and the box does not claim otherwise. ABEC 9 on a cheap bearing is a sales argument. More in bearings: the number on the box means nothing.
- What changes your roll is keeping grit out and re-oiling: a clean ABEC 5 outrolls a dirty ABEC 9. Wipe your wheels after an outdoor session, and open the bearings when they start to sound dry, not when they stop turning. Step by step: one drop of oil, not two, with the four-object tool kit.
- Wet skates: he says he does not know whether today’s bearings are stainless, so he dries his skates before they go in a bag, just in case. See never bag wet skates and can you skate in the rain.
- Spend on the wheels before the bearings: 78A-85A outside, 95A and up on a rink floor. See outdoor wheels: what to buy and the wheel hardness tool.
The comparison
| Product | Price seen (date, where) | Who it is for | What it does for the bearings | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your stock bearings | Free, already in the skate | Every beginner | What Casper, Thisissoul and Thorup tell you to keep | Cheap skates may carry a high ABEC number on poor steel; you will hear it when they wear |
| SONIC Turbo Wash cleaning kit | Amazon.com $20.50, read 7 Oct 2026 | Anyone skating outside | Keeps grit out, the thing the skater behind this site says actually changes the roll | Uses a citrus cleaner, not the isopropyl alcohol our cleaning page describes |
| GHOST BOARDS All-In-One Skate Tool | Amazon.com $6.99, seen 23 Sep 2026 | Anyone who will take a wheel off | Gets the wheel and bearing out for cleaning | Axle sizes vary; check it fits your skates. It has at times shown no cart button from France |
| Bones REDS bearings, 8 pack | Amazon.com $24.95, read 7 Oct 2026 | A skater whose bearings are worn after cleaning | One full set for four wheels (two per wheel); no ABEC rating on the box | Not needed for a first skate (Casper, Thisissoul, Thorup) |
| Bladerunner Advantage Pro XT (women's) | Amazon.com $89.23, read 7 Oct 2026 | Inline beginners on a budget | Comes with ABEC 7, inside Thorup’s “7 or 9 is enough” | Composite frame; wheel hardness not stated on the listing |
| Moxi Beach Bunny | Amazon.com $119.20, read 7 Oct 2026 | Quad beginners who will skate outside | Comes with ABEC-5, the rating Haffey and Coburn rode | 58 mm wheels, under Kelly’s 62-65 mm |
| 78A 65×35 mm quad wheels with ABEC-9 bearings, 8 pack | Amazon.com $36.90, read 7 Oct 2026 | Quad skaters moving outdoors | Soft 78A wheels (the useful part); bearings included | The ABEC-9 label is the kind of number the skater behind this site calls a sales argument |
Our pick
Keep the bearings your skates came with, and buy the means to clean them: a skate tool and a cleaning kit cost less than a new set of bearings and act on the thing every voice here agrees on. Replace the bearings only when a careful clean no longer brings back a long, quiet spin.
Beginner FAQ
Do I need better bearings on my first skates?
No. Casper (Powerslide), the Thisissoul shop channel and Olympic speed skater Viktor Thorup all say the bearings that come with a decent skate are enough to start, and nobody in our compilation tells a beginner to upgrade bearings first.
Does a higher ABEC number make skates faster?
Not by itself. ABEC is a machining-tolerance rating; it does not say how fast you will roll, according to the skater behind this site. Thorup says ABEC 7 or 9 is plenty and that good bearings will not win you anything, while bad ones are a pain to live with. Pros in our compilation ride anything from ABEC 5 to ABEC 9.
What ABEC rating should a beginner look for?
If a number is printed at all, ABEC 7 or 9 is what Thorup calls enough for a beginner, and Kelly, an instructor at Skate Base London, suggests ABEC 7 on a beginner quad. Two aggressive pros in our compilation, Si Coburn and Chris Haffey, rode ABEC 5 in their published setups.
How often should I clean my bearings?
When they start to sound dry, not when they stop turning, says the skater behind this site (method on cleaning your bearings); wipe your wheels after every outdoor session. Thorup says clean them after skating in the rain, and Alexandre Lebrun of the International Inline Downhill Association says never let them run dry.
Are ceramic or titanium bearings worth it for a beginner?
Nobody in our compilation recommends them to a beginner. The only skaters riding them are downhill racers sponsored by the brands that sell them: Etienne Herreros (EOskate ceramic) and Noel Jarillo (CSP titanium).
Can I skate in the rain without ruining my bearings?
Thorup says clean them after rain. The skater behind this site says he does not know whether today's bearings rust, so he dries his skates before bagging them, just in case.
How this page was compiled: 20 skaters, coaches and shop specialists who give bearing advice or list their bearings (inline aggressive, slalom, urban, fitness, speed and downhill; quad rink), drawn from our skater compilation of 7 October 2026. Each claim links to its source. Full compilation and method: the skater gear compilation. Next read: best roller skates for adult beginners.
What this page does not cover: bearing sizes for specific skates, and bearings for kids’ skates; no skater in our compilation addresses either.
Keep going: this is one of the buying guides that sit next to the full Roller Skating for Beginners guide — sizing, gear, stopping, and where to skate, in one page. Free, no sign-up, nothing to buy.