I like Zealous too but I’m not sure the total width compared to for example bones with spacer is exactly the same. If I remember correctly there was a little bit of play when I tried them on my bergs. Like if I would press on the bearing on one side it would press the opposite out a wee bit. There is a slight possibility that I’m just stupid though. Does anybody know if the bearing-to-bearing width in wheels are universal?
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Just a wee word of caution about Zealous when used with aluminium cored wheels. Like the rubber 105mm pseudo AT.
Because of tight tolerances, and integrated spacers, Once both sides are in, it is significantly harder to remove bearings, as there is no cavity for anything to grip on. It takes some different kind of technique to pull them out.
When I say cavity, I mean, usually pushing the spacer off axis and exposing a bit of bearing inner that can then be banged out of place.
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I prefer Bones Reds and change them when they get stiff. Put some oil in them when you install them.
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Its not about the bearings so much, its about the lubricant.
But as long as we’re talking about bearings, here’s a few things:
Smaller factor, but for longevity you’ll want steel bearing cages, not nylon. They tend to hold up better, especially if they’re well made. The best steel cages are riveted, but I’m not sure if there’s even any of the 608 size that do that.
The big factor, You’ll want contact seals. Different companies have different abbreviations for their sheild/seals. But very often metal sheilds are non-contact, and rubber seals tend to be contact seals, but not always.
For Eskate, you don’t care about bearing friction. It won’t slow you down in the slightest. So get full on contact seals.
Ceramic, Don’t bother, especially with Hybrid ceramic.
As it turns out with hybrid ceramics having the ball so much harder than the races only causes the races to get worn by the balls faster, so the performance drops significantly quicker than with normal steel bearings. And full ceramics are just crazy expensive.
And the biggest problem of all is ceramics don’t tend to fail safe, they just asplode.
If you’re going to spend that much money, just get a full set of these:
https://www.amazon.com/NSK-608DDU-Single-Groove-Bearing/dp/B01HBY7OXI
But for the Lubricant, I’ve made a thread on that.
https://forum.esk8.news/t/id-like-to-sell-you-all-on-schaeffer-274-grease-for-eskate
Get this stuff in your bearings, and they’ll be set for a good while.
Zealous already comes with decent grease, so I wouldn’t just rush to get this in and replace it ASAP.
But zealous grease also tends to wash out pretty easily, I’d give them a clean and re-lube after two months, or after riding them in the wet.
But any skate bearings that come with oil I’d just straight upgrade to 274 straight away.
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Blind hole bearing extractor. The sharp flared lip will expand into even the tiniest of crack between the 2 bearings. And the slide hammer will yank just about anything out.
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Another Zealous user here! over 4000km on mine, not cleaned once. Went through rain, dirt, snow, everything the nature can throw at you and they still run perfect.
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Best ESK8 bearing is what ever closed seal bearing you can get.
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My advice: go for “rather cheap” but not “super crazy cheap” and don’t go for “expensive”. Bones Reds price range. And definitely don’t get ceramic. I’ve tried all of those. Went back to Bones Reds (with additional lubrication) after trying everything else under the sun.
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“bUt mY fRiEnD sAiD hIs eVoLvE gOeS 3mPh fAsTeR wItH cErAmIc bEaRiNgS.”
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Also this is a DIY forum. You don’t need builtin spacers. All that does is constrict the amount of DIY you can do.
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But moooom I hate lining up my spacers
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Build in spacers and speed rings are great 
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SKF 608 bearings. No need no Fancy name or abec-250 rating.
SKF is good. And cheep
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Any recommendations for 10 mm axles? You’re pretty much left on the no-name highway. I went with these.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016W2DV6O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Zealous no doubt!
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Any euro versions?
I have the fast eddy ones, but im running out of bearings (yes… Why need so many wheels… Don’t ask)
Edit: the fast eddy site took me to a european site! All good
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still ships from the US
Is it… Not sure… Just ordered 3 sets, shipping was like 10euro
Edit: second invoice says 10euro international shipping…