Top 3 bearings

[Thor]

I am well aware that Boca Bearings is not a manufacturer but no where on your link of a past discussion did anyone admit to asking the question and directing it at the source, Boca Bearing. I am sure others have put one and one together and come up with the same speculation and it is just that, until Boca Bearings either answers the question or declines. Given the known propensity of that country to design nothing and copy everything, it is just as likely that a manufacturer somewhere other than China has been just the latest victim of this sort of predatory business practice.

Again, they are cheaper but to assume that their products meet any standard, except for the required price point, is interesting to talk about but certainly not proven. If I had your belief and experience with the performance of their bearings, things might be different for me. As long as I continue to see significant differences that are attributable to nothing other than typical mass production, I will do things my way. Again, the only person who really cares is me.

[Cagey]

Thor, I think alibaba has ended the speculation:

http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/boca-bearing-china.html

Please click on the link and scroll through the titles or headings shown...

I think it is very clear where Boca sources their bearings- and the Chinese manufacturers are trying to use this association to their advantage in their sales techniques as shown on alibaba website.

[tywithay]

So if a bearing has an orange seal on it, it's the same bearing? What's to say it isn't a knock off? China is known for building clones of a lot of products.

[tywithay]

If you look at what Hedgehog is doing making their reputation from selling smaller bearings with the principle that smaller, lighter in weight ball bearings are easier to move and turn which may be true, but I have to wonder how significant the difference really is they are using for a sales gimmick especially when one considers that in order for them to use a smaller bearing they have to create a metal case to put it in so it will fit the reel. It seems to me that whatever weight they lose by going to a smaller ball is more than made up for with their fabricated metal case they put the bearing in.

Therefore, the science of hedgehog is just BS. Sure they have smaller cheaper bearings that might move easier, but then fabricate a solid metal case that probably weighs more than the loss gained therefore nullifying the advantage sold as hype only for a buck. But hey, don't think about the extra weight they just added with their all-metal casing! Even the solid steel metal retainer they use to keep their bearings in the fabricated case add back the weight in steel they are trying to shave off. Hedgehog sales gimmick is junk science and pure hype.

You do realize that the total weight of the bearing has no bearing on the performance. The science behind the bearing is that the BALLS are lighter and move easier. The weight of the surrounding cage has zero effect on performance, it's just a filler. The balls and races are smaller, therefore they take less inertia to get them moving, meaning you can cast lighter baits.

You do understand how bearings work, right? You know the whole thing doesn't spin?

[Thor]

Forgive me if I have a problem believing something just because THAT website says it's true. You say you've been doing this for awhile and you have a problem with marketing hype but you, obviously, have sucked this down. If you can't see that this is the same, nothing anyone will say is going to help. Do what you think is best, along with your aluminum boat venture but don't come back here whining about how it didn't work out. I am done.

[phatbass]

all that matters is the performance,and if they are good its a steal. I bought 2 sets to try out.

[DammitKhoa]

If you look at what Hedgehog is doing making their reputation from selling smaller bearings with the principle that smaller, lighter in weight ball bearings are easier to move and turn which may be true, but I have to wonder how significant the difference really is they are using for a sales gimmick especially when one considers that in order for them to use a smaller bearing they have to create a metal case to put it in so it will fit the reel. It seems to me that whatever weight they lose by going to a smaller ball is more than made up for with their fabricated metal case they put the bearing in.

Therefore, the science of hedgehog is just BS. Sure they have smaller cheaper bearings that might move easier, but then fabricate a solid metal case that probably weighs more than the loss gained therefore nullifying the advantage sold as hype only for a buck. But hey, don't think about the extra weight they just added with their all-metal casing! Even the solid steel metal retainer they use to keep their bearings in the fabricated case add back the weight in steel they are trying to shave off. Hedgehog sales gimmick is junk science and pure hype.

You do realize that the total weight of the bearing has no bearing on the performance. The science behind the bearing is that the BALLS are lighter and move easier. The weight of the surrounding cage has zero effect on performance, it's just a filler. The balls and races are smaller, therefore they take less inertia to get them moving, meaning you can cast lighter baits.

You do understand how bearings work, right? You know the whole thing doesn't spin?

Okay to be fair, I want to say that the casing does matter. Either the outside casing moves, the inside casing moves or both. You can have a stationary inner casing with a lock which allows the outside to move like demonstrated here:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transp ... aring1.htm

[Cagey]

He is right. I made a mistake in how I wrote it. I was thinking about the overall weight they were adding back and mistakenly projected that into a performance factor by mistake and got nailed for it. I went back and re-read it and saw the mistake. It happens. No one is perfect, certainly not I.

[John Puckett]

This is a super interesting thread to me, I hope it doesn't go down the wrong path and get locked! I have only been "tuning" my reels for maybe 2 years now so my knowledge and experience on the subject are very limited. I've only tried non OEM bearings from two companies, Boca and Smooth Drag.

In my experience the Boca product is far superior to the one offered by Smooth Drag. Again I'm not knocking Smooth Drag as I love their drags I've just found Boca's performance to be a step above. I've played around with both companies hybrid ceramic's in both ABEC 5 & 7 with the clear winner to me being OS 7's.

Now I've not had a ton of fishing time with these as of yet but Shimano's ABEC 5 SS bearings are, again IMHO, just as good if not slightly better than Boca's OS 7. They're at least on par and far less noisy.

As I said this is a very interesting discussion to me so I very much hope it continues.

[goldrod]

Elementary question:

Other than keeping the dirt out do the shields help with alignment or vibration?

[John Puckett]

Elementary question:

Other than keeping the dirt out do the shields help with alignment or vibration?

No

[angry john]

I keep one side on to help keep the oil in place and keep dirt out. I dont see dirt in my reels ever as the water i fish in is like tap and you can see a long way down. I do this with the steel sides so those with the rubberized sides can speed up when removed ala the boca 7 orange seals.

[Hogsticker2]

I've been very pleased with HEDGEHOG air and Zr bearings. Don't care where they're made. It's a bearing.

[BARRAMANIAC]

Being a fitter I have contacts with sales reps from major power transmission companies here in Australia, for a number of years now most of the name bearing companies in heavy industry are having there bearings manufactured in china as well as chain and various other products. All these companies have reps that travel to there chinese manufacturing facilities and contracts are based on quality control, so not only do they have products manufactured cheaper but also get the same quality, I have known this to be the case for over 6 years from when I first found out.

[the hooligan]

ive used boca orange seals, hedgehog air, hedgehog bfs air, and the hawgtechs. The hedgehogs are my favorites, orange seals were great for 3/8oz and heavier. I really want to try the zpi's...