Any feedback on Seba Storm bearings

[kazanaki]

Seba has a new bearing set.

http://www.sebanews.com/news/new-things ... -bearings/

They claim that they have a special lubricant that is more resistant to rain and dust.
Has anybody actually tried these bearings? Notice any difference?

[chris6996]

I always thought they were just a re-branded twincam IQL-9 bearing, I may be wrong though.

[azumi]

They are overpriced. Otherwise I can't see any advantage to other rain-proof bearings.

[Naomi]

I always thought they were just a re-branded twincam IQL-9 bearing, I may be wrong though.

No, the 'Seba ILQ9 Slalom-Pro' (or some combination of those words) are Twincams, and as far as I know, all the rest of the Seba bearings (ILQ5, ILQ7, Titalium Freeride, Storm) are Twincams too.

I've not tried them yet, and would be interested in any feedback too, since I need to give an honest idea of the product, preferably before I've even received them (September).

Azumi, have you tried them? or are you guessing by looking at them.

[azumi]

Bearings are brearings. If you pay for it the Chinese will label them with whatever you like.

[kazanaki]

Naomi, are you a Seba distributor? If yes, do they send you products for testing/evaluation?

Azumi, what other rain-proof bearings exist? Have you tested any other bearings that claim to be rain/dust resistant?

[azumi]

Here you go,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-X-ABEC-9-wa ... 7925752349

[Bebai]

Here you go,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-X-ABEC-9-wa ... 7925752349

Are those any good Azumi? Are they actually waterproof? I personally use bones red and mini logo. Easy to maintain...

[azumi]

Bebai, they are as good as any other waterproof bearings. Although who likes skating in the rain?

[Shaw]

Bearings are brearings. If you pay for it the Chinese will label them with whatever you like.

They're really not. If you're skating for speed or distance, then the quality of your bearings will have a huge impact on your skating.

[azumi]

Shaw, neat thesis but where is your proof? And what is quality in terms of bearings? Do you know where most bearings are manufactured and labelled? Do you think you can feel a difference when given Seba bearings and those I suggested?

[Shaw]

I generally skate with cheap Chinese bearings (~10USD for a set of 16), and they're pretty awful compared with the Twincams that came with my skates (~$20USD/set), which are in turn worse than the semi-ceramic Chinese bearings I bought(~$30USD/set). Anecdotal evidence, yes, but a quick spin test shows that the semi-ceramics will easily spin for half a minute despite being unlubed, whereas the cheap bearings can't even manage 5 seconds (I take really bad care of my bearings, plus they're all overtightened).

Why does everybody recommend Bones Reds if the ones you linked are just as good? They're half as expensive, and waterproof to boot, but I'd be very surprised if those spin even half as long as a set of Bones Reds will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQu0FtLowWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6sn3JNP8cA

I don't have any personal experience with the Seba bearings so I can't really comment on their quality, but well, neither do you.

[atlsk8r]

Bearings are brearings. If you pay for it the Chinese will label them with whatever you like.

I'm not sure about the ones you linked, but I've definitely ridden a couple brands of cheap bearings that were unable to withstand the lateral stress of slalom.

The failure would be large dents in the outer metal shield which would cause the bearing to completely seize. And this after only one session.

Also, if you're a bearing cleaner, certain brands also seem to hold up to the washing and de-/re-assembly process better than others. I will sometimes clean my rusted, dirty bearings if I'm feeling too cheap to buy new ones. I particularly like the ILQ-9 Pro series due to the ease of removing the shield and bearing spacer for a quick but thorough rinsing.

Though I assume "wash-ability" is hardly the point with these Storm bearings in question.

[Naomi]

Naomi, are you a Seba distributor? If yes, do they send you products for testing/evaluation?

Yes I am and no they don't. I don't even know which skaters do the testing of the bearings - I'm on the Twincam skate team still, and we don't get sent prototypes, so I'm sure they have local skaters that do it for them.

I wanted to say in response to being able to tell the difference between cheap & expensive bearings, that for me it is not how they feel, but how they last. i.e., how they feel after a lot of riding.

[azumi]

Why does everybody recommend Bones Reds if the ones you linked are just as good? They're half as expensive, and waterproof to boot, but I'd be very surprised if those spin even half as long as a set of Bones Reds will.

Why does everybody recommend Seba? Maybe there are a lot of Seba associates or too much fanboyism? Bones Reds are basically inexpensive, and yes I did use this term on purpose 'cause cheap sounds like low quality, Chinese bearings.

Sometimes cheap and expensive don't represent quality.
atlsk8r, certainly there are some low quality bearings on the market, but that doesn't mean every inexpensive bearing must be low quality. So the question remains, who did manufacture and label them? A certain label increases the price exorbitantly without saying anything about the actual quality.

[Sparky]

I wanted to say in response to being able to tell the difference between cheap & expensive bearings, that for me it is not how they feel, but how they last. i.e., how they feel after a lot of riding.

Agreed

In preparation for Le Mans last night I cleaned some BSB Swiss that I've been using on and off for the last three or four years in order to put in my StormSurge wheels incase of rain. They ran really really smoothly and it totally confirmed to me that there is such a difference in the quality of bearings, cheap bearings or even Bones Reds that everybody loves so much would never be anywhere near as smooth after what I've put these through and I'm talking about rain, gritted roads etc etc.

Always buy the best bearing you can afford.

[Shaw]

Why does everybody recommend Bones Reds if the ones you linked are just as good? They're half as expensive, and waterproof to boot, but I'd be very surprised if those spin even half as long as a set of Bones Reds will.

Why does everybody recommend Seba? Maybe there are a lot of Seba associates or too much fanboyism? Bones Reds are basically inexpensive, and yes I did use this term on purpose 'cause cheap sounds like low quality, Chinese bearings.

Sometimes cheap and expensive don't represent quality.
atlsk8r, certainly there are some low quality bearings on the market, but that doesn't mean every inexpensive bearing must be low quality. So the question remains, who did manufacture and label them? A certain label increases the price exorbitantly without saying anything about the actual quality.

What are you even saying? Fact of the matter is, you're saying that certain bearings are overpriced without having any experience with them, which is awful, and you justify that by saying that all bearings are basically the same, which is wrong.

[azumi]

Shaw, that sounds like you confuse quality with labelling.

[Shaw]

Yes, because that somehow changes the fact that you're commenting on a product that you're clueless about.

[Ozzy]

The important qualities of bearings depends on the intended use:

• If you do speed/distance-skating, free spinning is very important (because the wheels should maintain their angular momentum while not on the ground).
• For slalom, free spinning is insignificant, but the bearing have to endure high forces from "unusual directions" and must not jam in situations with high lateral-forces.
• For freeriding/aggressive, shock resistance matters most.

So the perfect bearing for one use case may be quite bad for others. This should always considered in discussions about bearings.