- Grade 5 steel balls rated at ABEC-5 precision
- Retainers are nylon with graphite
- Snap ring seals

ABEC-5 bearing features deep-groove design races, with Grade 10 balls, dual-lip, full-contact LLU seals facing outwards to withstand daily abuse of use and the elements, and to contain 90% fill with Mobil XHP 22 high-pressure water-proof grease.

ABEC (Annular Bearing Engineer’s Committee) Ratings are manufacturing and testing standards that each bearing must pass. These include noise testing at high RPM, precisely defined tolerances for inside and outside bearing diameters, roundness of ball, trueness of races, and the surface finish for all of the above. ABEC ratings are numbered 1 thru 9, odd numbers only, with 9 being the best possible rating. A bearing with a 7 or 9 rating is very difficult and expensive to manufacture, might be perfect for a 40,000 rpm dental handpiece, but is overkill for the slow rotational speeds of bicycle cranks and wheels.

Some aspects of ABEC ratings are important for bicycle bearings, but not all. In fact, a high ABEC rating does not mean the bearing spins with less drag, nor does it necessarily equate to high performance, long lasting bearings.  ABEC standards do not account for critical bicycle performance influencers such as load handling capabilities, ball grade and precision, Rockwell hardness, bearing seal quality or lubrication specification. This can lead to confusion in the bicycle marketplace.

For instance, a high-ABEC rated bearing that includes a very shallow race groove will run very quietly, but will also be more susceptible to the axial loads typical to cycling and as a result may be subject to premature wear and potential failure. Conversely, Enduro’s ABEC 3 and ABEC 5 bearings – designed specifically for bicycle application – offer the deepest grooves and largest balls possible in every size to increase bearing strength and durability. Due to this increased ball size and groove depth, our bearings require tighter manufacturing tolerances combined with exacting finish and assembly protocols to meet ABEC standards, resulting in greater precision overall.