What are ILQ bearings?

ILQ is the brand name of a non standard type of inline skating ball bearing manufactured by Twincam.
ILQ bearings feature a 6 rather than 7 ball construction, the 6 balls are slightly larger those found in standard 7 ball inline ball bearings. Twincam claim that the 6 ball construction can handle greater loading rates and run with less friction due to the larger size of the balls.

Twincam successfully attempted to parallel their new line of bearings with the ABEC standard by branding their low end bearings as "ILQ-7" (comparable to ABEC-7) and their high end bearings as "ILQ-9" (comparable to ABEC-9) .

I must stress the point that ABEC is a standard while ILQ is a brand name. a Twincam ILQ -7 bearing is not necessarily better or worse than a bearing from a different manufacturer that conforms to the ABEC-7 standard. For more information see: Busting the ILQ myth.
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First Official Israeli Inline Downhill Championship

The First Official Israeli Inline Downhill Championship took place in Givat Zeev this Firday.

The event included Pro and Amateur Downhill competitions, a Speed Slalom competition and a grueling uphill competition.

It was an exciting competition, especially since it was the first event of its kind. Unfortunately it was overshadowed by a serious injury in the Amateur downhill competition - a female skater fell and broke her jaw (see amatuer downhill competition below).

Speed Slalom

The Speed Slalom competition started off the event. Pros and amateurs of all ages mingled in a head to head elimination contest. Zeev, also know as "Unicoder" was in the lead from the start with perfect runs, scoring better times than any other contestant. I surprised the contestants as well as myself, by taking second place since I do not usually practice slalom.
Medalists were:

1. Zeev "Unicoder"


2. Boaz Arad.


3. G'enia

Pro Downhill

The Pro-Downhill competition was the main event. The course decended 140m over 1.4km and skaters reached speeds of nearly 90kph.

Natan Lakoshnik, the reigning champion and Israeli downhill Guru, was the favorite. Most, if not all, of the participants in the competition had learned downhill skating with Natan.

Each contestant downed the course twice by himself in a “best time” competition. As it turned out, the students surpassed the teacher- With Leon Taobes(age 19), the youngest contestant, taking the Gold medal. Nir Cohen pushed the Former Champion Natan to the third place.

Pro downhill participants were required to wear full protective gear including full-face helmets and crash pads. Even so, a skater nicknamed "Dudi" fell during one of his runs and broke his arm.

1. Leonid Taobes (19) 2. Nir Cohen (23) 3. Natan Lakoshnik (30)

The female downhill section also gave a good show. Medalists were:

1. Hila Amichay


2. Miryam


3. Tal "Sleep"

Uphill Racing

After everyone was done skating downhill, it was time to get back up again. Seven skaters set out to climb the hill that only minutes earlier had propelled skaters to nearly 90kph by the force of gravity alone. The outcome of the competition seemed predetermined. Three of Israels top speed skaters (Eyal FInk, Adam Shalit-Ilan and Myslef) were expected to compete mostly among themselves. Adam, having recently completed a running Marathon in Rome, was a good candidate for first place, but after starting fast he fell behind, making way for Ofer Filiba.

I conquered the 140m hill in 7:43 minutes.
Medalists were:

1. Boaz Arad - GPS Data


2. Eyal Fink


3. Ofer Filiba

Amateur Downhill

The last event was the amateur downhill competition. Competitors were requiered to wear full padding and a helmet. A short section of the hill was skated by less experienced skaters in groups of three. Inbal, a female skater, fell and broke her jaw while taking a turnpast the finish line . She was taken to a nearby hospital in an ambulance and will require surgery. Fortunately, the helmet she was wearing prevented a worse injury. A full face helmet might have mitigated the Injury. The Israeli Inline Community wish Inbal a speedy recovery.

Hopefully, the injuries we saw in this competition will be the last, and this competition will be the first of many. Personally, I hope that within the year, the first Israeli Inline Marathon will take place.

Additional Pictures available in the Photo Gallery.
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Busting the ILQ bearing myth

Twincam have been manufacturing "ILQ" rollerblade bearings for the past few years, they claim them to be superior to ABEC rated bearings. Here I will explain the true meaning of ILQ, and how they relate to ABEC rated bearings.

What is ABEC?

ABEC is a bearing standard set forth by the Annular Bearing Engineering Committee. The ABEC standard mostly measures accuracy in production. It does not measure bearing durability, or how well the bearing functions under a load - two aspects that are very important for assessing the quality of a rollerblade bearing.

What is ILQ?

ILQ is simply a brand name, as opposed to ABEC which is a standard. Twincame has successfully created the illusion that ILQ is a "standard" by rating their quality on a scale similar to the ABEC scale (ILQ-7 bearings compared to ABEC-7 bearings and so on). Other than the fact that an ILQ bearing has 6 balls, as opposed to the 7 in a regular ABEC rated bearing - Twincam has published no standard for ILQ bearings. We are forced to take their word that ILQ-9 bearings are better than ILQ-7 bearings.

A Grain of Truth.

Twincam rightfully claim, that a bearing could have a very high ABEC rating - but be terribely unsuitable for skating. A cheap ABEC-9 bearing from an unknown company is probably much worse than an ABEC-3 bearing from a trusted manufacturer.

Also, most professional rollerblade race bearing manufacturers never even apply for an ABEC rating for their high-end bearings.

The Bottom Line

ILQ in not a standard, it is just a brand name. An "ILQ-7" Bearing could be better than one companies ABEC-9 rated bearing and it could be worse than a differant companies ABEC-5 rated bearing.
I, for one, do not appreciate Twincams attempt to sell their impression of a "better standard" to inexperience skaters.
On the other hand - Twincam is an experienced and respectable bearing manufacturer. Having skated on them myself, I can testify that ILQ-9 bearing are pretty good bearings. On the other hand I'd say that my Kryptonics ABEC-7 bearings are just as good.

So don't rule out ILQ bearings - just treat them as you would treat any other unrated bearing from a professional inline bearing manufacturer.
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The true meaning of ABEC in rollerblade bearings

What does the ABEC rating mean?
does a higher ABEC rating nesicarriliy mean a faster bearing?

Meny people are familiar with the ABEC rating, and realy on it while purchasing rollerblade bearings. Only a small precentage of these people actually know the true meaning of the ABEC standard, and how it affects your ride.
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