UPDATE
Instead of either deleting this review, or editing it, I decided I would leave it up for prosperity sake and amend it with this update.
I have read that the Speedaholic has arrow guides to line up the halves, so I thought maybe the Di Base 2 had something similar. I tried to line up the halves a couple of times by trying to get the gap in white design on the rims to line up. I didn’t succeed getting them to line up like I wanted, but they are opposite each other which is probably just as good.
Anyway, on of the times I unscrewed the yoyo I noticed what looked like a bad chip on the inner wall of the bearing seat, I took a safety pin and poked it and it flopped over, so I picked it out, the darn thing was so dark it practically blended in with the green color of the yoyo.
Put the yoyo back together and gave it a throw, definitely improvement in smoothness, there is still some erratic vibe, but it is definitely lessened. I am still getting snap back with certain tricks, so maybe the flowable silicone needs more time to break in, I don’t know.
All I know is that its playing like an entirely different yoyo now.
The Random Stuff
I got this yoyo about 6 weeks ago mostly on impulse, I had my choice narrowed down between the Di Base 2 and the Cafe Racer. When I made some inquiries about which one was better I got the “they are both good yoyos, it is going to be preference” I chose the Di Base 2 because it looked cool and I read the Cafe Racer had some stability issues.
But I noticed that there aren’t any solid reviews of the Di Base 2, and so after using it exclusively now since getting it, I feel that it is time to report my findings.
The Review
Specifications as given on YYE:
C3YoYoDesign Di Base 2 Stats:
Diameter: 52.4 mm / 2.06 inches
Width: 41.3 mm / 1.63 inches
Weight: 67.6 grams
Bearing Size: Size C (.250 x .500 x .187)
Response: C3 Silicone Response Pads
This thing is definitely undersized, when I put it up to my YYF Boss it is only maybe 2-4mm larger in diameter
-= The Look and Feel =-
After I finally made up my mind to get a Di Base 2 , I had to choose from their color line up, they didn’t have a solid color choice, they were all solid colors with splash, so since I couldn’t decide which colorway I liked the best, I chose the one I knew for sure I didn’t like which was the green/gold combo. Let me just say, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the choices. I can’t ever decide if it reminds me of an emerald covered in some mud, a wicked camouflage pattern or some sort of crazy looking, brightly scaled reptile. Pretty awesome!
The V shape and weighted outer rims give the metal a comfortable weight in the hand. I don’t have ogre sized hands but my fingers are very long and narrow ( Grandma always said I have piano player fingers ) and I practically forget that it is undersized when holding it. It never gets uncomfortable on a catch or when it is sleeping at the end of the string. No complaints in the comfort department.
-= Playability =-
This is the section that has probably given me the most pause for consideration, read on so I can explain. From my experience this yoyo has some erratic issues that may leave you wanting.
The sleep time is above average and it will bind from almost zero spin, I haven’t actually timed it but based on how may tricks and combos I can do before binding it from almost being completely dead, it can sleep well over a minute on a good throw and usually at least 30 to 45 seconds on a bad throw.
The inside wall is very angular giving way to a steep drop into the bearing, this canyon of a gap calls out to be filled with rivers of string.
However the steep drop into the bearing gap, combined with the response system seems to be a flaw in the design causing the balance of play to be off.
First of all , this yoyo tows the line between speedy and floaty very very well, the string you use seems to be the determining factor on how this yoyo plays. I know that this may be a subjective topic, but with the Di Base 2 consistency seems to go right out the window.
I was amazed at how smooth the yoyo was during the initial testing, basic trapezes , sleepers, etc. from slow purposeful throws, no vibe in fact I had to double take the first few times I threw it to make sure it was indeed sleeping.
-= Going AGGRO =-
It wasn’t until I started to get more aggressive with my throws and combos that I started to notice the schizophrenic behavior of this yoyo. This led to much frustration as one might think that if it ran so smooth on the initial day or two of play it would be able to effortlessly handle any trick you could think of.
But the harder I threw it, the more vibe it got. The more string segments I would load into that chasm of a gap, or try to whip some slack around, the more I would start to wince that my knuckles were going to take a beating from a random bind return, normal binds would tend to create snarled knots in the string.
Clearly, this was not good.
I grabbed my YYF OneStar that has a Center Trac bearing and quickly ran through the tricks that were giving me issues, pulled them off with no problems. Interesting.
So I decided to swap the bearings. After taking apart both yoyo’s I noticed that the response system in the Di Base 2 is QUITE A BIT LARGER than the response system in my One Star, I confirmed this with my YYF BOSS as well.
So the walls of both the OneStar and the Boss have less surface area covered by a response system, but the entire inner wall of the Di Base 2 is dedicated to the response!
Perhaps this is why I am having such a problem.
I swap to the Center Trac bearing, results are better, but now more vibe , the yoyo still will snap back when least expected, still not good. I take the Di Base 2 apart, and remove the friction stickers and go for some flowable silicon , I order a crucial center trac bearing and hope that the combination of flowable silicone a center trac and non-oversized string fix my problem. The overly large response area still has me concerned though.
Since I had the Di Base 2 completely apart I decided to try and tune out the vibe, the axle is quite short and I found out you cant go much past 2 or 3 quarter turns without making the yoyo so lose it ends up unscrewing itself during play, none of the settings were better than it being tightened all the way down. I am used to vibe in my throws anyway, but my OCD kind of kicked in and I wanted it to be as smooth on the hard throws as it was on the lighter throws, because to me it seemed very odd that it wasn’t.
So after all the tweaking, and adjusting, I have an undersized metal throw, with siliconed response and a Center Trac bearing that is super smooth on light throws, vibey on harder throws and pretty erratic with when it decides to snapback.
Is this a fun yoyo? Absolutely, it looks great and as long as you know what you are getting into, it , plays well as long as you can figure out which tricks to avoid, and expect some vibe if you throw it hard.
Was it what I was looking for in a metal, $60.00 yoyo? No, it definitely did not meet my expectations ( or delusions of grandeur, lol ), if it was in the $40.00 to $45.00 price range I would definitely say it was as great as individually wrapped buttered toast.
So in conclusion this is a yoyo that could be epically awesome, but it falls short due to some design flaws. It’s hard for me to put into words, its like having mouthwatering food so close you practically taste it from the smell, but you can’t ever enjoy eating it.
-= Are we doing this star rating thing? =-
Sure, why not. After all , you have read this far right? 
A combination of price point and design flaws keep this yoyo from being better than it is.
3.5 out of 5 stars