which is better, bearing shielded or unshielded?
I leave my bearings un-shielded after the first de-shielding because it makes them way easier to clean later and the shields don’t do that great of a job to keep out dirt anyways
Better? I don’t know. But for me, I like to leave therm in because it’s not hard to take them out, and I like to think that they keep a little bit of dirt out
I always keep my bearings shielded personally.
Keeps things out of the way for the most part, and I actually have no issues cleaning or lubing shearing while its still shielded. Also, and this is just a personal pet peeve of mine so nothing big, but I HATE the way bearings look unshielded > <
But up to ones personal preference 
I think for the most part, the only thing thats going to change unshielded or shielded is the frequency at which you might need to clean the bearing.
Assuming you have a clean bearing seat and don’t open up the yoyo all that much, I don’t see how it would get any dirt in there.
I’m the opposite I hate how bearings look shielded whenever I see a shielded bearib=ng a feel a strong urge to de-shield it
All my bearings are de-shielded. Once I buy a new yoyo, first thing I do is de-shield it’s bearing.
They do though. I wish they didn’t, but they do.
You said, ’ I like to leave them in because it’s not hard to take them out’?
Uh, oh… Ok
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Oh, sorry about the confusion. I meant that when I need to take them out to clean or lube, its not a big deal
I feel like the shields slow the spin on some of my cheaper stock bearings. All in my head? Strong chance, and I’m pretty sure that is not the case, but i keep them out of my cheap bearings.
My Terrapin X ceramics run shielded. No reason to take them off since you don’t lube them, and it keeps extra dirt out so I can go longer between cleaning, and I can avoid damage to the ceramic (not sure if balls are entirely ceramic or just coated)
Steve Brown always says to leave your bearings alone. I was able to clean my ctx with the shields and it turned out completely fine!