The best bearings for aggressive inline skates depends upon several factors, including your overall skill level, type of wheels and your budget. Speed isn't as important for aggressive-style inline skaters as it would be for inline hockey players or speed skaters. This is one reason why aggressive skates feature much smaller wheels.
Sizes
There are two primary bearing sizes when it comes to aggressive skates: standard 608 and micro 688. Each inline skate model uses one or the other depending on the manufacturer's wheel setup. The most common type of bearing is the standard 608 bearing. You can tell which kind of bearings are in your wheels by measuring the diameter of the bearing. The 608 bearings will have a total diameter of 22 mm while the 688 bearings are a bit smaller at 16 mm. There really isn't a better choice between the two as far as performance goes.
ABEC
The Annular Bearing Engineering Committee, or ABEC, is a scale used to measure how precise a bearing was manufactured. This grading scale ranges between ABEC 1 and ABEC 9. It was developed by the American Bearing Manufacturers Association. ABEC 9 bearings are manufactured with the tightest possible tolerances, and so they are the best choice if you're looking for a high-quality bearing. They will typically roll better and last longer than bearings that were manufactured by lower standards.
Swiss Bearings
The best bearings, according to Kathie Fry of SkateLog.com, are manufactured in Switzerland and referred to as Swiss bearings. The reason they have the best reputation when it comes to the manufacturing of bearings is that their standards have traditionally been higher than most other countries. Some bearings may be labeled as Swiss bearings when in fact they were manufactured somewhere else using a similar manufacturing process as the Swiss.
Ceramic vs. Steel
Bearings are available as traditional steel ball bearings or ceramic bearings. Ceramic bearings are a newer technology, which offers increased speed and roll. However, steel ball bearings are tougher, making them a good choice for aggressive inline skaters. Additionally, ceramic bearings are far more expensive than most steel bearings. Bill Begg of InlinePlanet.com says that while ceramic bearings offer excellent performance, the cost of them may be out of most people's budget.
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