Yeah that's pretty much what I meant. But you can roll them over and they feel really rough and after "rebuilding" them (removing dust covers clean re-grease) they are like new. It's easiest to tell when cleaning- if they don't spin forever with a slight spin- they're history.
I can't argue with the price. IDW- but the one I got from BMI wasn't high speed and @$1.80... You guys can shop for me from now on.
For that price, you most likely aren't looking at anything made in the US or Western Europe. That's why I said they were basically throw aways. And the prices I saw came from several different main line industrial suppliers here in the States.
I can also tell you that the name brand prices for those sizes are between 3 to 10 times higher (i.e. $1.85 turns into $18.50). The question is, since seals on these little snots are delicate to say the least, if you know they are on borrowed time, how much are you willing to spend for a bearing that most likely won't see 500 RPM more that a handful of times in it's short life?
The thing is, bearings with seals that are designed to survive in the environment that many karts call home seem to start in the size range for medium size construction equipment....

Pat