10 Cast Net: Abec Bearings

Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Abec Bearings

What does ABEC mean? Skateboard bearings often have an ABEC rating, and skaters are often confused about what that means. What are ABEC bearings? Is the ABEC bearing rating important?

Answer: ABEC stands for Annular Bearing Engineers' Committee, and is the American method for rating the accuracy and tolerance rating of bearings. ABEC standards are set by the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA). So what does that mean? Well, bearings are used for all kinds of things, not just skateboard wheels. The higher an ABEC rating, the more accurate and precise the bearing is. When companies make bearings, sometimes they cheaply slap them together, and sometimes they are very carefully designed and assembled so that there is as little space as possible between the parts. When bearings are used in expensive and important machines, companies will spend hundreds of dollars on just one bearing - it has to be perfect! But for skateboarding, we use much less precise bearings. This is because they are cheaper, and because with all the slamming and sudden starts and stops, a really expensive, delicate bearing would get ruined.