Honest question. I have a fairly beat up Civility… I have smoothed and polished the rims to smooth it out. When I got it it had a Koncave bearing in it (obviously swapped it out for a flat…just kidding).
However I have wondered since I got it if it would be better with the original ceramic that it was designed with. Or would a ceramic bearing in any of my throws be worth it.
Are they smoother? Spin faster? Spin longer? I was thinking of using a ceramic centering bearing in one yoyo to “train” on. One that maximized the spin and stability for learning new tricks.
Assuming you are talking about pure ceramic. I have been testing a bunch out for a few months and my take away is I would only use them in a few very specific instances. In summary, there is not “performance” boost that would be noticeable, or at least small enough that other effects are more important to consider. (If you are talking about hybrids, my experience is they are indistinguishable from normal bearings).
Somehow my batch of ceramics (bought from different locations), are all on the tight side. So if I got a loose bearing post, i test out a ceramic to see if that would reduce some vibe.
Second is, if I have a yoyo I really wish it would be .5-1 gram lighter, i would switch to a ceramic.
Other than that I wouldn’t use ceramics, cuz there are significant downsides. Worst is, somehow, if I let a ceramic bear sit for a long time, sometimes it just randomly becomes slightly responsive. So, don’t forget your first test throws. Second is its fragile, and it being usually very tight, I have actually cracked one trying to remove it. Third, its loud, sometimes that doesn’t matter, but sometimes it does. overall, ceramics is really hit or miss, and even when you get a good one, its higher maintenance than your usual bearings. Its easier to maintain, because you can just clean it with soap and water, but why even bother with cleaning it, when you can just pop in a normal bearing and not think about it for years.
Edit: but when its working well, especially after some dark matter lube, does that thing spin gud.
My experience has been the same as @Skwan. I don’t find them worth the expense or trouble, and I’ve definitely had reliability issues with them. Even if the price was the same I’d stick to high quality steel.
@Skwan@d34dj3d
Thank you gentlemen for your responses. Every once in a while I start to convince myself that if I use a ceramic bearing I’ll suddenly be better. Thanks for grounding me.
Been there done that (literally). I got a few yoyos that I got attached to playing with the reduced weight of the ceramic. It is such a difficult choice to put a steel bearing back in. Sometimes when you get the urge to play that yoyo, and you find it slightly responsive on first throw, its such a downer. One of these days I will get over this sunk costs fallacy, and put steel bearing back into them.
It was fun trying out each yoyo with a slightly reduced center weight, kinda like side effects for all yoyos. But that novelty wore out eventually.
As I was reading through I was thinking of side effects as well. Some times its nice to swap out an ultralight set and put in a brass set and visa versa. Makes it feel like a different throw all together.
Yea, exactly, except its 0.5 gram. So it was only interesting if you don’t try out side effects. But, sometime when that 0.5 gram hits a sweet spot, what can you do.
I wouldn’t say better - especially when compared to DS bearings - definitely a different play-feel…you can get good concave full ceramics from china at a reasonable price
Same as @Skwan for me, too. I have a full ceramic I got from China in my Overture. It was a bit on the tighter side—actually smoothed out my Overture a little—and plays fine but I don’t see much of an improvement over a reliable SS bearing like a Boss Rage. I paid $13 for mine. Definitely wouldn’t pay that again (though happy I satisfied my curiosity).
I do like the hybrid ceramic bearings from MFD but I’ve had a bit of a reliability issue with a couple of them. That said, I’m sure MFD Ray would have replaced them if I reached out (I didn’t, but he’s been awesome when I’ve reached out for other stuff). But when they work, they’re nice. Not so much an improvement as simply a different feel, and IMO much more reasonable price-wise than full ceramic.
Yes, all of this. Ceramics are extremely cantankerous and I … strongly don’t recommend them. In fact I can’t think of a solid reason to ever use them, to be honest with you.
I mean I guess if you wanted to minimize weight to an absurd degree, ceramics are lighter for sure but really not worth the downsides.
Here are the reasons I tell myself to keep me sane. I have 4 yoyos with them on right now.
I spent 20 USD on it, I spent an hour tuning this yoyo with this specific placement of bearing and axle to have the least vibe, and applied dark matter lube just right (after reapplying washing out 3-4 times). And I just spent hours “playing it out” from the 2-3 times it has gone semi-responsive. There is no way i am throwing out all these effort and switching to another bearing. Pretty sure i am going to go nuts if it goes responsive again.
Have you tried dark matter lube? I find running them dry being a complete no go. Can’t go through a month without it going responsive. Thin Lube is okay i guess, but once it goes responsive, I can never play through it. Dry lube seems to work okay? it takes a few try, but once you get lucky, it may work. I got 4 yoyo with ceramic left (i switch back to steel once they go responsive, i got maybe 10 total?), and 2 of them stayed unresponsive for about 2 months now.
I was going to say this as well. I think in general, ceramic bearings fit a bit tighter, and can be used for this very purpose.
My opinion is, buy a couple and see for yourself. It’s nice to have options to test out different setups in different yoyos. You never know what combo might turn a “meh” yoyo into a “YEAH!” yoyo…
As has been said, don’t expect an across the board performance boost.
It seems the impression across the board is hit or miss. I may still give one a shot. If anyone has a decent example they would like to pass on I would be happy to purchase it.
Also what about hybrids like the MFD bearing or the Terrapin?
I have only really used OD 10 ball flats, YYE 10 ball flats, YYF center trac, generic center trac, a Difeyo Koncave, and a grooved that came with a BST yoyo.
To be honest, that’s already a pretty large sample size. Having tried a bunch of different bearings/brands (G2, Rain City Skills, OD flats, YYF Center Track, Buddha, MFD, Airetic, generic MYY-style from China, ceramic from China, DS bearing), there’s not much different from brand to brand. Some are a bit smoother than others, some are a touch more reliable than others, some are more expensive than others. But for the most part, once they’re in a yoyo, they tend to spin gud about equally barring lock up etc.
I assume you mean ceramic hybrid, as that’s what comes in the Civility. IMO, that bearing, the YYT Ceramic Center Trac Ultimate, is the only ceramic hybrid bearing that doesn’t suck. It’s loud though. I would only use thin lube on it. If it starts to become responsive, remove the shields and play it dry—playing dry can re-polish the race, file down damage to the ball retainer and simply clean it. Leave the shields off, as they just collect dirt.
I’ve never tried a full ceramic, so I have no opinion of them. But I’d personally buy an NSK Center Trac, DS, or Concave over any ceramic.
Ryan thank you for your input and detailed advice, much appreciated. I’m probably trying to convince myself that I will get better if I use a better bearing . Finding any fault other than me😄.
Happy to help. I’ve tried a lot of bearings. Partly because spin time makes learning easier, so yes it can make you better😀 and partly because I’m a bit sensitive to the feel of a yo-yo.
Bearings, pads, and string, anything that has the slightest scraping/scratchy feel to it is like nails on a chalkboard to me—I think it’s actually a sensory thing that was caused by a medication I was on years ago. Some ceramic bearings are definitely in that category. The Dif-e-yo ceramic gives me shivers, for one. It’s also impossible to keep clean. Every time I got it playing smoothly, it lasted like an hour, and that’s not even exaggeration. Could be it’s just a bad bearing, but I doubt it, as I’ve had two other ceramics that were just as problematic to keep clean. The YYT Ceramic is the exception, and is what a ceramic hybrid is supposed to be like. I have several of them and they’re very good. If they were cheaper I’d buy more. It’s noise is the only thing I don’t like about it, but in some yo-yos (YYF Atlas for one) the sound is muffled a bit and it’s extremely nice then.