LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

EdP · Joined: 05 Aug 2009 Posts: 481

http://bontskates.myshopify.com/collections/bearings/products/809

Shona ordered one of these in when she was ordering some replacement buckles.

I'm big on cleaning bearings and normally spend hours with an old toothbrush, a bowl of hot soapy water and a bottle of white spirit to get the job done.

With this cleaner you simply place a bearing on the end of the device, immerse the bearing in white spirit and depress the end button. This rapidly spins and vibrates the bearing at a serious rate of knots and cleans them off in about 10 seconds.

It cleans vastly better than doing the same job by hand, and does it in a tenth of the time - especially if you leave one side of your bearings open like me.

My winter set of rather knackered bearings just became an ultra smooth set that I'd happily use at Le Mans.

Drying times are also reduced as the cleaner spins out all of the excess fluid.

Despite the $50 price I'd definitely recommend this. I'm sure that by the time a year is up it will have paid for itself by extending the life of my bearings and in time saved.

ed!

Mikey-two-Names · Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 4107

After years of cleaning bearings, the only conclusion I've come to is not to clean them. OK, the exception is my set of nice Bont ceramic bearings, but the rest, no chance. I use twincam ILQ9s, and with the gel in them they last for years. When they finally get too bad to use just toss them. For 20 or 30 quid for a set, it's just not worth the money and effort of cleaning them.

Howard · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 333 Location: W2 now init.

^ truth.

I reckon bearings are like bike chains - deep cleaning them actually knackers them faster than not cleaning them at all. You can never do as good a job as the factory in getting the lube back in them where it's supposed to be.

What's always worked for me, if they get wet, is popping the seals off then sticking them on the radiator to dry. But I doubt the de-installation / re-installation process does them any good, too.

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5914

I tend to wait until they are fairly buggered before I do any remedial work but then I'm not short of spares at the moment. When I maintain a set once, they seem to demand it more often and I can't be asked to faff around with all that stuff. I only buy single sided these days to reduce that workload too.

Mikey-two-Names · Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 4107

I do actually have this Bont bearing cleaner, and I'd say it's pretty good at getting through a set of bearings and cleaning them up nicely.

Howard · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 333 Location: W2 now init.

EdP · Joined: 05 Aug 2009 Posts: 481

Mikey-two-Names · Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 4107

They're both good, the Bont one is more satisfying to use and is perhaps more thorough. At least for those of us with small minds that like to play.

Barrie · Joined: 21 May 2006 Posts: 1380 Location: Putney

EdP · Joined: 05 Aug 2009 Posts: 481