pavedwave longboarding

LD skater since 1971

I needed some new wheels so I picked up some Abec11 Grippins in 78a because Paved wave missed his so much they are center set.
Grippins are Tight slalom and GS wheels they work awesome but what I think made the package better is the Biltin Bearings from Muir skate.

Since I was at UCSD campus and it sunday the student have not arrived
back from summer break I did some down hill carving through the Campus wide walks ways and roads. It was hoot to be able to carve so
Freely with out worrying about cars.It felt like the 1970's again to me
taking full road wide turns dragging my hands like I was doing a bottom turn on a wave. The Abec 11 Grippins lived up to their name and just blew through it like it was nothing.

I also stopped on the way home and did a speed run pump up and back on the 1.4 mile Solana beach rail trail. It part smooth cement and has ornamental textured cement. I am noticing more and more smooth cement is hard to pump on. But the Grippins Biltin package was quite a bit faster than my zigzag 66mm and abec 9 bearings set up. When I did the run this morning on my 13 mile run from home.

Biltin Bearings:
I was reading why Chris Chaput designed them for a better ride and so they could take the back and forth torque of slalom and downhill speeds.
Plus Scott at Muir skates said all the down hill slide guys swear by them instead of the rockin rons bearings.
I noticed right from the first pump you get more positive forward energy because the bearing are spinning freely and not under stress because of their on a solid combo spacer speed ring system.
So Today I covered with the UCSD skateboarding about 18 to 19 miles today, It was good day.

_________________
Terry

camel · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:56 am Post subject:

Agreed, Biltins might not be the fastest spinning bearing out there, but they sure as heck are the best all around bearing you can get for skateboarding.

LD skater since 1971 · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:02 pm Post subject:

The builtin are getting faster everyday with for me. With a little Powell speed lube added.
_________________
Terry

aschmidt · Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 56 Location: Bakersfield CA

I use Biltins too and am also very pleased with them.

I cleaned mine for the first time a couple days ago with denatured alcohol and then lubed (two drops per bearing as per instructions) with Bones Speed Cream and now they sound and feel rough. I added more lube and that has helped.

What do you guys use to clean and lube them?

-Alan

camel · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:08 am Post subject:

mineral spirits bath - agitate
alcohol bath - agitate
hair dryer - low heat
Tri-Flow - 3 drops per bearing

Mine are slightly noisy but they roll quickly smoothly and quietly when i am standing on the deck.

And that is what counts!

C

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

I like Biltins, they're just problem free. No speed rings, spacers, on the road that really pays off just popping in some new ones. Or switching up wheels fast in slalom.

Every month or so depending how much rain riding, I put them in a hard plastic coffee mug with a lid and a shot of Simple Green soap, shake it up for several minutes to get them saturated and cleaned, then lay them out on an old towel to rinse off as much of the soap as possible. Spin each one like crazy, then apply a couple drops of Speed Cream to each.

The only issue I've had with them is when they get stuck on precision axles...which is one reason I'm starting to use the splitfire trucks less (for LDP anyway.)

Kinda off topic, but just spotted this on the ncdsa forum posted by Rene Carrasco, had to share!!!

"When Chris Chaput was acknowledged for getting 3RD Place -
-he was walking up going: "Oh my back - my aching back."
And I said: "Wait a minute- wasn't it your shoulder surgery
that you were healing up from?"
Then Chris said: "Oh yeah - my aching shoulder!"
Ya know what -it doesn't matter -this BIONIC guy
with all his injuries - STILL RIPS!"