Some products are so obvious when you work in a skate shop that you would almost overlook them. Take Bones Reds. We have been selling these bearings in our shop since day one, but rarely put them in the spotlight. Not really, because there is a pretty cool story behind these "Made in China" bearings. The story of the Reds starts in the early 80's, when George Powell (known from Powell Peralta skateboards) gets the idea to make affordable bearings that are optimised for skateboarding. In his search for a suitable bearing manufacturer, George ends up in Switzerland. Together with a Swiss manufacturer, George creates the fastest, most wanted and most successful bearing in the history of skateboarding. Even better: Bones Swiss (as the Swiss bearings are called) are still the fastest bearings on the market.
Bones Swiss have only one disadvantage, and that is the price. At the time when these skateboard bearings were introduced to the market, they cost only a fraction more than the German bearings that were popular at the time. A few years later, however, it costs a lot more to manufacture the bearings in Switzerland, and those costs are passed on to the customer. George Powell realises that this makes Bones Swiss unattainable for a large group of skaters, and starts looking for a cheaper alternative. He quickly thought of China, because he had visited the country several times to promote skateboarding there. On his trips, he saw that parts of China are well developed and have modern factories that are able to deliver high quality for a low price. So George started looking for a Chinese manufacturer who could, with his help, make skateboard bearings that came close to the Swiss original. Two years and many tests later, a Chinese bearing manufacturer succeeded in producing bearings according to Bones' specifications that were astonishingly close to the performance of Swiss Bones, but only half the price. Bones calls the skateboard bearings Bones Reds.
Unlike many cheap bearings, Reds are not completely sealed, but you can easily remove the plastic cover to clean and maintain the bearing inside. During skating sessions, dust and other debris get into your bearing, and the lubricant in the bearing eventually dries out. This eventually damages the balls in the bearing, which has the same effect as riding with flatspots on your wheels: it makes noise and gets hot. A simple physics lesson tells us that the more energy that is wasted on noise and heat, the less energy is left as kinetic energy to keep you moving. Bones Reds bearings are pre-treated with Bones Speed Cream, a lubricant specifically developed for skateboarding, and also available separately. Speed Cream is a bit more expensive than a regular lubricant, but it makes your bearings run harder for longer.
Bones Reds are the best selling skateboard bearings in the world and are also one of the favourite bearings of the Revert crew. Reds' combination of high quality and low price you simply won't find anywhere else!
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