Total personal preference. I do not like how they feel, I do not like how they play, and I do not like how they sound. The key word in all that is “I”. Just because I do not particularly enjoy specialty bearing does not mean you should follow my lead. Others have said it and I will echo their sentiment, if you have not played one then you should totally do so. There is no better way to find your preferred feel than by trying out all the available options. The only way I know what type of string and what type of bearing I prefer is by trying everything and anything I could get my hands on.
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its really kinda odd for me. in my Nessie i can’t stand profiled bearings. it just makes the bind feel “cheap” or something but in my cascade they feel great. I like them in most of my other yoyos though.
Realistically, the answer is a curved bearing is ‘worth getting’. Because it is worth the cost so you can decide exactly how ‘you’ feel about how it plays for you.
Think of it this way. You go shopping for a new pair of shoes. You take your best 3 friends with you. Your best friends, amazingly have the Exact same size/shape feet as you.
You narrow down all the shoes you like the looks of, to 3 pairs. You ask your 3 friends to try the shoes on for you. I mean after all, their feet are exactly the same as yours. They all willingly put the shoes on, walk around with them and then give you their exact feelings on the shoes and how they would probably feel on your same size feet.
One serious problem. Their feet are not to connected to your Brain.
The functionality of most things can be technically and accurately concluded, to a point. But there is also the individual element. How something functions and feels to you.
Regardless of your skill level, both flat and curved and grooved and center trac bearings have strengths and downsides.
And no two guys on this board, play at exactly the same level, using exactly the same ‘touch’.
So no matter if one guy tells you he has 5 yoyos that he bought stock with curved bearings and he loves them, but suggests it really isn’t worth getting them.
I would say, one curved bearing is worth getting.
After all, how many Mysteries can you solve for 10 bucks?
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I have spare profiled bearings lying around… I would take a OD 10-ball any day. Nice and smooth. You have to love it. I play a profiled bearing in my classic because it seems to give it more weight for some reason. Its weird. Go to a local club or somethin and try different things. People will usually be able to spare a bearing if you like it
Well, I don’t know about you, but for $10 I could finally understand the relationship between The Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.
I didn’t know they had a bookstore in Walmart.
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You don’t need a flared bearing whatsoever. It all comes down to skill. You have a flat bearing, you’ll learn to to put the strings in the position you need to get the maximum spintime.
Did you go to Wal-Mart just to take a picture of that?
Nope, I don’t have that kind of time. Google is always helpful.
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It was probably comforting to know that they have reading material at your comprehension level. And you found out without even leaving your house. FTW!
With irrefutable investigative skills, allowing you to land on such pertinent to the thread information, no doubt, discovering the connection between the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, should be a piece a cake.
You da man.
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Well, that just summed up my long ramble that I was going to post
this, kids, is why he is proffesional, and the guy he quoted is not
they’re nice for beginners, but I feel they don’t do a lot to help with more advanced tricks involving multiple string layers. The bearing just piles the strings on top on one another. Another thing is that low rpm binds are harder to pull off with the concave bearings.
I really don’t think they are only for beginners.
Innovation happens for a reason.
With this logic, we dont need wide metal yo-os. With enough skill you can do everything on old narrow plastic yo-yo 
I personally think curved bearing offer clear improvement, so when I want to play with best performing yo-yo, I put there curved bearing.
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Try doing any fancy trick with an old wooden yo-yo, see how much you can do. If you practice enough with an old throw and get where you can pull off tricks you’ll be somewhere. It improves your smoothness and your ability to position the strings correctly.
Any yoyo sold in a country that honors the ridiculous curved-bearing patent; has flat-bearings.
The vast majority of yo-yo’s sold in countries that do not enforce this ridiculous patent have curved bearing, because they are better.
The only reason we have flat-bearings in yo-yo’s is to avoid a stupid patent that never should have been awarded in the first place.
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I’ll chime in here for a bit.
I remember when I was starting out and had attended my first contest (worlds 07), I had the idea that centering kk bearings were supposed to be a huge aid.
I ended up spending some time talking to some of the Japanese players and one of them mentioned that he hated such bearings due to it messing with suicides and not feeling “real”.
Having been throwing only a kk for up to that time on a hitman, I was curious about this and ended up putting a flat bearing in to feel the difference. I can say that after a long time of thinking the kk was what I needed, the flat did indeed feel more “real” as that player had described. Something about feeling the yoyo through the string better I think, and I did notice it opened up suicides a bit more. I do wish I remember who that player was. He was mainly an offstring player but his 1a was very good.
That said though, he did mention that kk bearings help with horizontal. I can’t say much there as I don’t really do any lol
Oh well that’s my view on things!
I really wish you would stop spouting off your opinions as fact. There is no such thing as “better” when comparing flat bearings to string centering bearings. I personally do not like string centering bearings but that is my preference.
I would LOVE to see what you are basing these “facts” on.