I had a few hours under the stars (plus planets and one big Moon) this evening.
All I can say about my new EbonyStar bearings - SMOOTH................!!!!
Bought an el-cheapo 6mm plossl today so I ramped up to 400x with the 2x Barlow, on Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Moon, Jewelbox. Had no trouble nudging the scope in alt or az - no "stiction", just silky smooth start and stop - I love it!