ABEC 5 vs ABEC 7

Are you a skater or a skateboarder? If so, then you must have heard of the ABEC rating system. For those who don’t, ABEC stands for Annular Bearing Engineers Committee. They have formulated a way to rate or judge different bearings. These bearings are often ignored by most skaters when in fact they are probably the most essential aspect to be considered first in your skates. Observing the proper bearing rating system will give you leverage over the maximum use of your wheels.

It is said that the higher the ABEC rating the better is the bearing overall. Higher ABEC values imply that the bearing was manufactured under the strictest tolerance and was more precisely made. Ideally, this would pave way to a faster skating experience while maintaining the smooth cruising feel to the skates. Because of such, lower numbered bearings are cheaper than those with higher ABEC values as in the case of comparing ABEC 5 and ABEC 7 bearings. All in all, there are 5 ABEC ratings: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 being the highest. With the goal of cutting down costs, ABEC 1 and 3 bearings are probably the widely manufactured bearings because many companies believe that there is little or no difference at all when using higher ABEC values. However, this is clearly untrue.

In the case of ABEC 5 bearings, these are the ones used for upgrading most skateboards and skates that were manufactured more recently (newer models). It is most likely a good choice for skaters who want to experience better cruising on their skates with minimum friction. On the contrary, ABEC 7 bearings are considered to be for the racers. They are the ones used for the skaters who want the best experience from their skates. Because of its higher rating, manufacturing such will be a costlier job than making the lower rated bearings. Under one’s ordinary weight, ABEC 7 bearings would make it seem as if there’s no friction at all.

Nevertheless, aside from the ABEC rating system there are still other gauging practices observed as in the case of the ISO and the DIN rating systems. However, these gauges are just the same. For example, an ISO P0 rate is equal to the ABEC 1 and the ISO P2 is the same as the ABEC 9 rating. All in all ABEC 5 and ABEC 7 bearings are different because:

ABEC 5 bearings are cheaper than ABEC 7.
ABEC 5 bearings allow for lesser friction while ABEC 7 bearings almost give the skater a ‘frictionless’ cruise.
ABEC 7 bearings are manufactured with stricter tolerance and are more precise than ABEC 5 bearings.

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