I thought i was going to want the Himalayan rock salt colorway but that safari is killer looking
It’s still the Himalayan rock salt for me.
Really knocked it out of the park with these new colorways! I love how earthy and subdued they are, it suits the relaxed feel you guys were going for with the Noahs. Now to be conflicted about which one I want…
Speaking of colorways – do you guys want to see other tones explored? I’ve heard some love for our splashes like the Cosmic Smoothie and our washes (Kanagawa Wave, Pompeii) – want to hear from you all what tones and shades you guys are feeling for 2022 : )
Also, late to this, but I’m curious about how the blast would look and feel with some pale, moderately saturated colors. Shades of pale purple (something like Pantone 2635C?) or light green (maybe Pantone 2288C?) would be cool to see. Of course, I’d probably be happy with any colors you choose
I like the new colorways and I think I have my pick. Before I commit though, are there any plans for a second run with blue or purple tones?
@Bdumas @BearingWithMe thanks guys! : )
@kight thanks man! pales are tones we want to do, but they’re hard to nail – we’ve actually had a few failed attempts. but the benefit of not repeating colorways across a design is we always get to try something new next run, so who knows – we might nail it a couple of runs in the future!
@aszyd hey! we don’t have any plans for a Noah rerun just yet
Spoils
a. flawed, imperfect;
b. invaluable treasure, loot
Alongside the Noahs release, we’ll be putting up Spoils Grade Pomelos and Cloudberries.
Spoils are our equivalent of the industry’s B Grade; perfectly functional units made imperfect by anodisation defects, surface imperfections, slight vibe, or machining marks.
Spoils Grade units do not meet the standards of our QC process, but as their flaws do not affect play, they are perfect for the player looking to jam heavy without the anxiety of keeping them pristine.
Spoils come with grade-specific packaging, and the same kit included with usual releases.
For those preferring pristine options, we’ll be putting up a couple of release-grade Khunos and Gojis that we found in our archives as well.
We’ve received a few messages over the weekend regarding string wearing on a couple of Noahs, and we thought it best to put this out here for anyone who swing by to pick one up.
The Noahs come with a deeper blast than what is usually featured with our designs, which gives it a lovely clay-like finish. The additional texture, however, can be a bit more abrasive on strings.
For all Noah users, we recommend taking some time to lighten the blast on areas that make the most contact with your strings.
You can do this by rubbing the response step and inner walls with a piece of old denim to alleviate any abrasiveness. We recommend doing this for a few minutes, and it should be perfect for play after a good buffing.
If there’s anything more we can help with, please don’t hesitate to reach out in our DMs — rest assured we’ll take care of you.
Received my Noah today. I honestly can’t believe these are still in stock. This throw plays like nothing I’ve ever had in the past. Super floaty, and smooth as butter.
The new Saturn pads are perfect. Not too soft, so they won’t wear out too quick, but also not as hard as the pads that were in their earlier throws that require a ton more break-in; a good compromise. Nice, snappy binds. I tend to throw the green “pro” pads from Rewind in a lot of my throws that come with harder response pads, but the Saturn pads may be my new favorite. Very interested to see how they break in. Popped a set into my Goji and I’m SO MUCH happier with the binds I’m getting with the new pads.
After spending some more time with this throw, I have some thoughts. I threw in the brass side effects that are included. It tends to stay on plane a bit better, seems to be a bit more stable, and retains more speed. Also SUPER fun. I already have an organic style throw (MCMO) with brass SFX in it, so I decided to switch back to the aluminum set… I really don’t have anything in my arsenal as floaty as the Noah with aluminum ultralights…
I did replace the stock bearing with a NSK concave, lubed with V4M (out of force of habit, I’ve just had great success with the NSK bearings and I love the dead smoothness of them). I also lubed the taper with V4M.
As far as string goes, I love the Zipline Case 050, but I’m currently running a Zipline Skyline III and the binds are just insane. Haven’t had issues with the string wearing out quick, but I haven’t owned it long enough to see yet. We’ll see how things fare over the next few days. If it ends up chewing through my string, I’ll do the buffing method mentioned above. I love the finish of this throw.
Overall, I’m just blown away by this thing. Very unique take on an organic shape. Very active on the string. Sooo smooth and so much fun. This will get A TON of play in the coming months.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CZhQTkWg6JH/?utm_source=ig_embed
Unbelievably excited to share our first member of the team – Evegeniy Kochergin.
Evegeniy is a Spinkult Ambassador, the founder of сегмент44, a photodocumentary of the throwing scene, and bronze finalist in Russia.
He also just has flow for days.
Evgeniy headlines the first of a few to join our player team. They are incredible people as well as exceptional players and artists, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to introduce them in due course.
Please join me in welcoming Evgeniy!
I’ve been eyeing up Atmos throws for a while and the Noah in particular seemed up my alley. I ended up buying one after your review here. Very happy I jumped on it, I must have gotten one of the last couple as it went out of stock right after!
You sure did! Thank you so much.
And thank you @mmal for such a kind review!
I’m still waiting on Noah to arrive!
Maybe the package got a bit ripped open and the postal carrier realized there was a pretty hot yo-yo inside. I can see them now all gathered around playing with their new find.
Introducing – the Ari.
SPECS
dia 57mm
wid 48mm
weight 65g
material Grade 5 Titanium
–
The Ari continues what our first non-organic model, the Khuno, began.
The essence of the Khuno, conceptually speaking, is the intersection of customizability and performance. Its essence, in terms of its playfeel, is in stability, power, and an easy pace.
The same constitutes the soul of the Ari, which began as a project aimed towards being a consolidation of those parameters within a simplified frame.
What we’ve adapted from the Khuno is fairly clear – the tri-stepped W profile, the Side Effects compatibility, and its general measurements. Those variables felt core to the form factor, and so we’ve kept them constant in this iteration. What we’ve overhauled is more subtle, and requires a closer look.
To be clear, not every design needs a titanium analog. Certain designs are made such that titanium versions of its aluminum counterparts can be a bit gratuitous – for instance, a titanium Goji, while interesting as a concept, might not really be compelling in its play. Given its character as a material, titanium lends a flexibility where a design needs to be optimized in certain extremes – such as parking a disproportionate amount of mass in an area relative to the rest of its structure.
Where the Ari surfaced as a compelling concept was in the possibility of achieving that same intersection of customizability and performance in a simplified, monometal physique.
To maintain a degree of performance (read: spin, stability) while allowing for a variable mid-weight, the Khuno compensates for this with generous rim weight. Stainless steel rings serve to increase rim weight perfectly well, but add another variable in machining, construction, assembly, and more importantly, tuning for the user. Any Side Effect design requires tuning; throwing bimetal construction to the mix adds to that experience.
Given its unique density and strength properties, titanium allowed us to simplify our construction while advancing that sweet convergence between adaptability and performance.
The Ari sports a full frame, coming in at 57mm and 48mm.
The lightest version of the Ari, with Aluminium Ultra Lights installed, clocks just 65g.
The seeming consensus with Khuno players is that it feels lighter than its weight suggests, and is surprisingly sprightly and fast. My addition to that sentiment is that it paces well – it’s not sluggish as typical of its weight, and it’s also not frenzied and uncontrolled. It moves easy and matches your pace.
This also applies to the Ari, which accelerates and decelerates precisely on the dime, despite its full frame.
Heavier options are available out of box, for those who prefer a heartier diet. The included Brass Ultra Lights take the Ari up to 67.1g; with caps, you have the option of going up to ~72.5g (AL ULs) or ~74.7g (Brass ULs).
The heavier setups might seem indulgent – but my favored configuration is actually with the AL ULs and caps installed. I never thought I’d gravitate towards a 72.5g throw, but it moves effortlessly.
On that tangent – caps are a core component of this form factor that we’ve also updated with the Ari.
The Khuno (as did the Gravity) featured injection-molded blank caps, which were produced primarily for plastic Duncan models. These blank caps came with a tiny stub where the piece breaks off the mold. For most use cases this little stub isn’t an issue – there generally is enough flex in a plastic body to accommodate tiny imprecisions, and so the caps can be pressed in, albeit with a tight fit.
However, the titanium and aluminum bodies of the Gravity and Khuno are rigid, and are less tolerant to imprecisions in the cap structure. The solution for these caps so far have been tool-processing the stub and the entire circumference of the cap by hand, with every cap then being hand-tested with a Gravity or Khuno halve for a tight fit. Still, hand-processed injection-molded plastic bodies are far from precise. Where a multi-part design is concerned, precision is essential.
For the Ari, we machined polycarbonate caps for precise fit and balance. These new caps are an absolute ease to install and remove, and play incredibly smooth.
These machined caps are backward compatible with Khunos.
They will be included with future batches of Khunos and other cap-enabled designs, but we’ve also made additional quantities available for current Khuno users to purchase.
Small detail here – we also altered the flat rim of the Khuno for a rounder finish. This allows for more mass at the rims, while providing a more comfortable catch. We also think it looks great.
Going from Khuno to Ari was a process of advancement by simplification, and we’re proud of how it turned out.
The Ari is unreservedly our best performing design to date.
It’s distinct from our relaxed, fun-oriented designs like the Pomelo and Goji, or more purist, organic slants in the Noah, but it’s also an affirmation of our tinkering in the performance segment of design. It’s the latest culmination of many thoughts we’ve had about the W shape, what we find interesting and significant about that design space, and where we could go with it.
It’s been heavily tested by Yuji, our newest team addition, who’s found it a “contest killer”. If you’ve seen him in action with it, well… I take his word for it.
The etymological roots of Ari are multiple – in Persian it means “to bring rain”; in Greek it gestures towards a “high” nature, of superiority; in Hebrew it means “lion”. Given Khuno draws its name from the Incan God of Storm, Ari feels fitting for its conceptual successor.
Aris come equipped with premier kit in Yoyorecreation’s NSK DS Platinum Bearing, Saturn Pads, and Zipline Strings’ Case Study #50s.
One Drop’s Aluminum Ultra Lights come installed, and we also include an additional pair of Brass Ultra Lights.
We also include a cap removal tool. (It screws onto both Side Effects, and pops the caps off through the holes.)
Note : We hand-tune each Ari for smooth play before we send them out, but as it is with any Side Effects design, players should expect that, should faint vibe occur, some degree of tuning is part of the game.
Thank you for sticking to the end of another of our design write-ups. We hope you enjoy the Ari as much as we did making them.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Will the caps be available for purchase even for those who don’t have a Khuno? I’d love a pair of them but unfortunately I’m just not in the market for a titanium at the moment.
Of course!
Awesome, I’m seriously looking forward to them! I’ve been wanting pair of nicer plastic caps for a long time now. The ones that came with the Gravity are fantastic, it’s a shame they were so limited.
What colours/blasts will be available? I can’t wait for this one
@mable Thank you! Just slight note – these are a little bit heavier than Freehand caps. Those weigh in roughly 3.1g or so, these come in at 3.8g. Bit more meat!
@DapperWooona Colorways and finish information real soon! Appreciate you.
There are gonna be colorways other than raw! Damn nice.