You may have read about the Seismic Fullspin bearings online - and there is a whole lot there to digest. We'll help with that.
Lets check out the claims and lay out which features are making a difference under your board and which are the product of overzealous use of ChatGPT.
Short version
If you can't be bothered, let's get it out the way. If you want ceramic longboard bearings, these are the daddy. Vandem certified. And we're nerds about this stuff.
Get some if you want to be sure you've got the right stuff for a bearing that'll roll as fast as possible, for as long as possible into the future.
Long version
...And it is long. Oh Dan. Here's what Seismic have to say:
"We spent over two years nerding out with a crack team of American engineers from one of the biggest and best bearing factories in the world, to raise the bar on bearing tech yet again! Roll tighter, truer, faster, and smarter on Fullspin: the absolute best skate bearings in the entire history of skate bearings!"
Best skate bearings... as mentioned above: we agree.
One of the biggest and best bearing factories in the world? That'll be the one in China that everyone else is using too then... they make about a million bearings per day and very few bearings come out of anywhere else - Bones Swiss being an obvious exception.
Moving on, the full feature list is as follows:
- 6-Ball system
- Premium Steel balls
- Exceptionally tight, consistent assembly and raceway tolerances
- Extra-tough steel and thicker outer rings
- Next-level patented Built-In spacing / alignment system
- High-end lubricant
- Labyrinth-style outer seals
- Next-level anti-contaminant ball retainers
The full feature list that actually might make a difference in your skateboard over a standard bearing are:
-
6-Ball system
- Next-level patented Built-In spacing / alignment system
- Labyrinth-style outer seals
6 Ball System:
As seen in Bones Big Balls and Bones Super Swiss 6 balls, having 6 (instead of the standard 7) balls per bearing means each ball needs to be bigger - 17% bigger in diameter.
Bigger balls are stronger - better able to resist the heavy loads that skateboarding puts on a bearing.
In longboards, cruisers and surfskates especially there is so much side-load on bearings through pumping, carving and cornering at speed, and having a stronger bearing better able to withstand these pressures means it'll last longer, spinning fast and free.
Bones and Seismic also claim that 6-ball bearings have a faster acceleration. Whilst this may be something measurable in a factory setting, we can't say we've noticed the difference in a skateboard so don't get your hopes too high.
Regardless, 6-ball bearings are a great idea - anything that makes a product do a good job for a longer time is fantastic by us.
Extra wide flanged built-in spacers:
Where the two built-in spacers meet, you'll notice these spacers are thicker than a regular built in bearing.
Why? Well, more contact patch (twice as much) between the two spacers means better alignment. Absolutely unparalleled alignment precision and stability, according to Seismic.
And sure, why not. It's a sensible idea. Will it make your bearings last longer? Arguably, maybe. But its a cool selling point and they even patented this feature. But only in the USA. So you can quite easily get bearings out the same factory in China with the same feature... but unless you want thousands of them, better to grab these right here!
Labyrinth style outer seals:
As seen in the Sabre Labyrinth built-in bearings, Labyrinth shields are way better at keeping moisture and dust out of your bearings. The shield sits in a groove in the inner and outer race, meaning dirt has to make its way all the way round these miniscule gaps to get inside the bearing.
A cleaner bearing rolls faster and lasts longer, so Labyrinth shields are a winner.
All that other stuff:
Thats bearings!
And this Seismic Fullspin is a really good one.
